Human Relationships And The Experience Of God

Author : Michael St. Clair
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 111 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2004-09-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781592448661

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Human Relationships and the Experience of God by Michael St. Clair Pdf

When people are interested in the spiritual life they are, 'de facto', saying: I deeply value relationships - relationships with themselves, others, and God. Spirituality and an appreciation of the relationships they have go hand in hand.Given this, when we turn to contemporary psychology, the school of thought which seems so naturally relevant and supportive to those interested in spiritual maturity is object relations theory. However, since this sophisticated approach to understanding the human person is quite complex in that it stands on the psychological shoulders of a great deal of previous psychoanalytic thought and practice, to mine this theoretical jewel and apply it to further the appreciation of one's own or someone else's spiritual life has been quite difficult for most people. And so, the development of a basic work on object relations theory and the spiritual life has been sorely needed.With this in mind, Michael St. Clair, the author of the widely-read and respected book 'Object Relations and Self Psychology', and a person possessing extensive theological background as well as graduate-level teaching and clinical experience in pastoral counseling and the integration of psychology and religion, was asked to prepare a book on the topic.The result is a volume that presents not only principles that are understandable and enlightening, but also psychological illustrations that offer a clear connection with religious experience. In addition, although St. Clair doesn't skirt the issues and controversies or subtle nuances that are open to question when one attempts an integration of psychology and spirituality from a particular vantage point, first and foremost this book is a practical work. In this regard it serves to be stimulating in one's reflection about the spiritual life: one's own and that of those persons who come to us for guidance.This volume provides a real service to those of us who wish to see in an intelligent way what contributions modern psychology from an object relations perspective can make to our efforts to walk honestly and faithfully with God as we walk with others.

Author : T.M. Luhrmann
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2022-04-26
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780691234441

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How God Becomes Real by T.M. Luhrmann Pdf

The hard work required to make God real, how it changes the people who do it, and why it helps explain the enduring power of faith How do gods and spirits come to feel vividly real to people—as if they were standing right next to them? Humans tend to see supernatural agents everywhere, as the cognitive science of religion has shown. But it isn’t easy to maintain a sense that there are invisible spirits who care about you. In How God Becomes Real, acclaimed anthropologist and scholar of religion T. M. Luhrmann argues that people must work incredibly hard to make gods real and that this effort—by changing the people who do it and giving them the benefits they seek from invisible others—helps to explain the enduring power of faith. Drawing on ethnographic studies of evangelical Christians, pagans, magicians, Zoroastrians, Black Catholics, Santeria initiates, and newly orthodox Jews, Luhrmann notes that none of these people behave as if gods and spirits are simply there. Rather, these worshippers make strenuous efforts to create a world in which invisible others matter and can become intensely present and real. The faithful accomplish this through detailed stories, absorption, the cultivation of inner senses, belief in a porous mind, strong sensory experiences, prayer, and other practices. Along the way, Luhrmann shows why faith is harder than belief, why prayer is a metacognitive activity like therapy, why becoming religious is like getting engrossed in a book, and much more. A fascinating account of why religious practices are more powerful than religious beliefs, How God Becomes Real suggests that faith is resilient not because it provides intuitions about gods and spirits—but because it changes the faithful in profound ways.

Author : Anne Robertson
Publisher : Church Publishing, Inc.
Page : 159 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2009-04-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780819226877

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God with Skin On by Anne Robertson Pdf

You may be the only Jesus some people ever meet! Suppose that the 2:00 am feeding of your infant daughter was not just meeting a physical need but also was teaching her that God’s provision could be trusted? And suppose her cries for succor were also teaching you to respond to the cries of Jesus when he presents himself as “the least of these”? Based on the Great Commandment, this book examines relationships common to us all—those of intimacy, authority, rivalry, and otherness— and shows how learning to love within those relationships affects our relationship with God. Supported by biblical examples and references to psychological studies, this book examines all our basic relationships—family relationships, relationships with authority figures, friends and enemies, companion animals, even virtual relationships—to show how learning to love within those relationships is truly divine work. In a culture where relationships are often divisive and exploitative, and where the call to love enemies often seems impractical, this book offers the reminder that every relationship provides an opportunity to love God in the other and to be “God with skin on” for that person in return.

Author : Henry Yoder
Publisher : Tate Publishing
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2010-08
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781616636821

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Longing for Eden by Henry Yoder Pdf

Most of us recognize intuitively and by observation that we are broken. We enter adulthood carrying emotional scars from our childhood that directly affect our ability to live healthy adult lives and invariably get passed on to our own children, continuing the vicious cycle-a cycle author Henry Yoder dates back to the garden of Eden. But most of us also have the intuition deep within ourselves that life was meant to be more than our experience of brokenness, that this brokenness was not originally intended. Where does that intuition come from? Is it purely wishful thinking you haven't been able to put away, even through all your pain? Or is it possible that God has pressed His image into you so deeply that even after all you've experienced, the Longing for Eden is still in your soul? Join Henry Yoder as he describes God's original intention for you as a creature formed in God's image and likeness, invites you to examine the cause of your brokenness, and offers a way forward toward the wholeness you long for.

Author : Drew Hunter
Publisher : Crossway
Page : 156 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2018-09-20
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781433558221

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Made for Friendship by Drew Hunter Pdf

God made you for friendship. Friendship is one of the deepest pleasures of life. But in our busy, fast-paced, mobile world, we've lost this rich view of friendship and instead settled for shallow acquaintances based on little more than similar tastes or shared interests. Helping us recapture a vision of true friendship, pastor Drew Hunter explores God's design for friendship and what it really looks like in practice—giving us practical advice to cultivate the kinds of true friendships that lead to true and life-giving joy.

Author : Henri J. M. Nouwen
Publisher : Convergent Books
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2018-06-26
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780525573951

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Love, Henri by Henri J. M. Nouwen Pdf

Seven million copies of his books in print! This collection of over 100 unpublished letters from the bestselling author of such spiritual classics as The Return of the Prodigal Son and The Wounded Healer offers deep spiritual insight into human experience, intimacy, brokeness, and mercy. Over the course of his life, Henri Nouwen wrote thousands of letters to friends, acquaintances, parishioners, students, and readers of his work all around the world. He corresponded in English, Dutch, German, French, and Spanish, and took great care to store and archive the letters decade after decade. He believed that a thoughtful letter written in love could truly change someone's life. Many people looked to Nouwen as a long distance spiritual advisor. Love, Henri consists of over a hundred letters that stretch from the earliest years of Henri's career up through his last 10 years at L'Arche Daybreak. Rich in spiritual insights the letters highlight a number themes that emerged in both Henri's work over the years, including vocation, solitude, prayer, suffering, and perseverance in difficult times. These deeply spiritual letters, sometimes poignant, sometimes funny, ulimately demonstrate the rich value of communicating with God through others.

Author : Henry T. Blackaby,Richard Blackaby,Claude V. King
Publisher : B&H Publishing Group
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9780805447538

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Experiencing God (2008 Edition) by Henry T. Blackaby,Richard Blackaby,Claude V. King Pdf

A modern classic--revised with more than 70 percent new material--is based on seven Scriptural realities that teach Christians how to develop a true relationship with the Creator.

Author : Ingvild Rosok
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 314 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2018-01-12
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781532632372

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The Reality of Love by Ingvild Rosok Pdf

Love is one, and love is “all we need.” This book argues against the traditional theological view that God’s love differs from human love. If God is love and love is one, we will find God embodied in all kinds of genuine love experiences. By analyzing Karl Rahner’s theology of love, the author explores how God penetrates and embraces the whole of reality, suggesting implications for Christian spirituality and spiritual direction.

Author : Yudit Kornberg Greenberg
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 793 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2007-11-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781851099818

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Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions [2 volumes] by Yudit Kornberg Greenberg Pdf

This is the first comprehensive resource on the subject of love in the teachings of the world's major religions, cultures, and philosophies. Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions is the first reference work to offer a comprehensive portrait of love in the context of the classic and contemporary literature of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, as well as other cultures and philosophies. Like no volume published to date, it reveals the full richness of religious teachings on love in all its many forms, exploring an extensive range of topics that offer philosophical, psychological, and religious perspectives to guide the quest for the meaning of love. Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions features approximately 300 subject entries, as well as insightful biographic sketches of preeminent thinkers, all written by a multidisciplinary team of some of the foremost scholars on the subject. Entries examine both general and culture-specific interpretations of love: not just the dichotomy of spiritual and physical love, but the full emotional spectrum of love in relationships and practices. Collectively, they encompass love's integral—and sometimes conflicting—role in shaping beliefs and behavior in a vastly diverse world.

Author : Keri Kitchen
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 156 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2012-12-16
Category : Love
ISBN : 1468118110

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Love Isn't Selfish by Keri Kitchen Pdf

Because scripture tells us clearly that God is Love (1 John 4:8), we know that God, by very nature, is relational. Love is an action, emotion, state, and characteristic that requires interaction with another being. Love does not exist alone. Scripture also tells us that we have been created in God's image (Genesis 1:27). We were created to love Him in return, though loving Him will never be forced upon us because love isn't selfish. It is this line of thinking that leads me to the belief that the meaning of life is to learn how to love, and then teach others. Considering that our Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) is to go throughout the world and teach others about our Heavenly Father's commands (such as love God and love others; Matthew 22:37-39), we must learn first what Love is- who He is. Every relationship we form gives us the opportunity to learn a bit more about His character in order to have a better understanding of who He really is. Marriage, family, friends, neighbors, and even enemies can teach us much about who God is and who God isn't. This book examines multiple relationships we experience and what valuable information we can gather from those relationships about the character of Love, which is to say, the character of God. It's about learning to be unselfish in a selfish world.

Author : Gregory E. Ganssle
Publisher : InterVarsity Press
Page : 252 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2001-09-28
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0830815511

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God and Time by Gregory E. Ganssle Pdf

Editor Gregory Ganssle calls on four Christian philosophers to present and defend their views on the place of God in a time-bound universe. The positions taken up here include divine timeless eternity, eternity as relative timelessness, timelessness and omnitemporality, and unqualified divine temporality.

Author : Terence E. Fretheim
Publisher : Fortress Press
Page : 144 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2020-09-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781506448374

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God So Enters into Relationships That . . . by Terence E. Fretheim Pdf

Biblical theologian Terence E. Fretheim weaves key insights from Scripture with theological reflections on the nature and activity of God, God's relationship to the world, and the natural order. Relational language and images fill the various forms of communication that ministry leaders must use to speak about God and God's presence and activity in the world. Fretheim shows the importance of using this kind of language to speak to the realities of life and faith. Each chapter of the book explores a unique aspect of God's relationship with humanity and the world, including God's faithfulness, concern for our entire selves, promise to be present in both good and bad times, willingness to listen, sharing of power, and desire to allow an open future for all. Filled with authentic reflections and helpful insights, this is a must-read for all want to know and experience more about the nature of God.

Author : Kurien Kunnumpuram,S.J.
Publisher : St Pauls BYB
Page : 268 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Christianity
ISBN : 8171098339

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The Indian Church Of The Future by Kurien Kunnumpuram,S.J. Pdf

Author : Dong Young Kim
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 425 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2012-07-20
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781621894063

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Understanding Religious Conversion by Dong Young Kim Pdf

Understanding Religious Conversion begins with emphasis on the value of respecting religious/theological interpretations of conversion while coordinating social scientific studies of how personal, social, and cultural issues are relevant to the human transformational process. It encourages us to bring together the perspectives of psychology, sociology, anthropology, and religious studies into critical and mutually-informing conversation for establishing a richer and more accurate perception of the complex phenomenon of religious conversion. The case of St. Augustine's conversion experience superbly illustrates the complicated and multidimensional process of religious change. By critically extending the contributions of the literature within Lewis Rambo's interdisciplinary framework, Dong Young Kim presents a more integrated picture of how personal, social, cultural, and religious/theological components interact with one another in the process of Augustine's conversion. In doing so, he has struggled with how to relocate more effectively and practically the conversion narrative of Augustine within the context of pastoral care and ministry (and the field of the academy)--in order to facilitate a better understanding of the conversion stories of the church members as well as to enhance the experiences of religious conversion within the Christian community.

Author : Wesley Hill
Publisher : ReadHowYouWant.com
Page : 206 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2010-11-29
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781458723949

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Washed and Waiting by Wesley Hill Pdf

Yet many who sit next to us in the pew at church fit that description, says author Wesley Hill. As a celibate gay Christian, Hill gives us a glimpse of what it looks like to wrestle firsthand with God's ''No'' to same-sex relationships. What does it mean for gay Christians to live faithful to God while struggling with the challenge of their homosexuality? What is God's will for believers who experience same-sex desires? Those who choose celibacy are often left to deal with loneliness and the hunger for relationships. How can gay Christians experience God's favor and blessing in the midst of a struggle that for many brings a crippling sense of shame and guilt? Weaving together reflections from his own life and the lives of other Christians, such as Henri Nouwen and Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hill offers a fresh perspective on these questions. He advocates neither unqualified ''healing'' for those who struggle, nor their accommodation to temptation, but rather faithfulness in the midst of brokenness. ''I hope this book may encourage other homosexual Christians to take the risky step of opening up their lives to others in the body of Christ,'' Hill writes. ''In so doing, they may find, as I have, by grace, that being known is spiritually healthier than remaining behind closed doors, that the light is better than the darkness.