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Making Sense of God

Making Sense of God PDF Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525954155
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.

Making Sense of God

Making Sense of God PDF Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525954155
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.

Possession and Persuasion

Possession and Persuasion PDF Author: Robert Hach
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1462812546
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
Possession and Persuasion: The Rhetoric of Christian Faith is a rhetorical analysis of Christian history and theology initially prompted by my experience in a fundamentalist Christian sect. The story of this experience is briefly told in the prologue, "The Rhetoric of Surrender," which describes the "surrender" of my life to God through a commitment to an authoritarian Christian sect in Gainesville, Florida, in 1972, when I was a freshman at the University of Florida. I spent the following fifteen years, first, as a student recruit, trainee, and then leader in the founding church in Gainesville, and then, as a recruiter and trainer in other parts of the U.S. until I finally left the movement (now called the International Churches of Christ) in 1987. I subsequently combined graduate study in rhetoric with a continuing interest in biblical and historical scholarship in an effort to understand how my religious experience fit into the broader context of Christian history and theology. I concluded that the New Testament language of faith, originally formulated to persuade hearers of the Christian message by means of understanding, had been radically redefined and its effects rhetorically reengineered by the ecclesiastical Christianity which had gradually emerged after the first century; this process of rhetorical reinvention produced a language of faith that possessed its hearers by means of a mystical form of indoctrination, in the interest of building a religious empire. The degree to which ecclesiastical Christianity, throughout its history, has taken its faith-language seriously--my experience having been produced by a movement that took this language to its logical conclusion --is the degree to which its adherents experience a religious bondage that amounts to the antithesis of the spiritual freedom and social equality of the original experience of Christian faith. Part I, "Faith as Possession," addresses critical changes made by post-apostolic theologians in the apostolic discourse of the New Testament about the message of Jesus, specifically with reference to the rhetorics of "authority" (Chapter One), "knowledge" (Chapter Two), and "justice" (Chapter Three). This rhetorical reengineering of apostolic language facilitated the rise of the institutional Church, which rapidly replaced the apostolic message as the authorized mediator between God and humanity in general and between God and the community of faith in particular. That is, the dynamic of persuasion by an eschatological message was rapidly replaced by the dynamic of possession by an ecclesiastical system. The redefinition and reconceptualization of these apostolic terms amounted to the rhetorical invention of Christianity, a form of Greco-Roman mythology which has little in common with the faith of Jesus as it is revealed in the New Testament. The faith of Christianity became, and continues to be to varying degrees, a form of possession insofar as it consists of, in both a mystical and an institutional sense, belonging to "the Church," which relieves its members of their responsibility for their own identity and destiny. Part II, "Faith as Persuasion," explores the rhetoric of three apostolic ideals, which have generally received little more than lip service by post-apostolic Christianity: "understanding" (Chapter Four), "anticipation" (Chapter Five), and "freedom" (Chapter Six). These concepts are integral to persuasion as the modus operandi of the apostolic Christian faith. Understanding is a prerequisite to authentic persuasion in that persuasion, or belief, without understanding is the essence of possession. In that the meaning and power of the Christian message are a matter of the hope of resurrection to life in the coming kingdom of God, anticipation is the logical response to being understandingly persuaded of the truth of the message. And insofar as internal bondage characterizes life without hope

Reason & Religious Belief

Reason & Religious Belief PDF Author: Michael L. Peterson
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 364

Book Description
Drawing from both classical and contemporary discussions, the authors examine topics of religious experience, faith and reason, theistic arguments, the problem of evil, religious language, miracles, life after death, and much more. The volume is enhanced by study questions and suggestions for further reading. The book also may serve as a companion to the authors' 1996 anthology, PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.

The Logic of Religion

The Logic of Religion PDF Author: Jude P. Dougherty
Publisher: Catholic University of America Press + ORM
ISBN: 0813218217
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 185

Book Description
The philosopher and author of Western Creed, Western Identity offers a probing history of important writings on the logic of religion. The Logic of Religion offers a sweeping history of philosophical perspectives on religion from ancient Greek and Roman writings to medieval Christian thought to modern Western philosophy and beyond. Even among those who find no evidence for the existence of God, such as Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud, we encounter discussions of the nature of religion and its function in society. This study begins in antiquity with Socrates, Plato, Cicero, and Seneca. It then moves through Augustine to the Middle Ages as represented by Averroes and Aquinas. By so proceeding, philosopher Jude P. Dougherty gives the reader insight into the logic of religion as conceived before and after the advent of Christianity. Subsequent investigation leads to the works of David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and G. W. F. Hegel, each of whom spoke to the implications of religion in the practical order, and of Sigmund Freud’s negative assessment of religion in The Future of an Illusion. Although the focus of this study is primarily Western religion, attention is also paid to certain Eastern modes of thought such as Buddhism and Confucianism. Throughout, readers will find many interesting philosophical observations of the nature of belief, worship, ritual, sacrifice, doctrine, theology, and community.

Philosophy, Reasoned Belief, and Faith

Philosophy, Reasoned Belief, and Faith PDF Author: Paul Herrick
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
ISBN: 0268202672
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 624

Book Description
This clear, readable introduction to philosophy presents a traditional theistic view of the existence of God. There are many fine introductions to philosophy, but few are written for students of faith by a teacher who is sensitive to the intellectual challenges they face studying in an environment that is often hostile to religious belief. Many introductory texts present short, easy-to-refute synopses of the traditional arguments for God’s existence, the soul, free will, and objective moral value rooted in God’s nature, usually followed by strong objections stated as if they are the last word. This formula may make philosophy easier to digest, but it gives many students the impression that there are no longer any good reasons to accept the beliefs just mentioned. Philosophy, Reasoned Belief, and Faith is written for philosophy instructors who want their students to take a deeper look at the classic theistic arguments and who believe that many traditional views can be rigorously defended against the strongest objections. The book is divided into four sections, focusing on philosophy of religion, an introduction to epistemology, philosophy of the human person, and philosophical ethics. The text challenges naturalism, the predominant outlook in the academic world today, while postmodernist relativism and skepticism are also examined and rejected. Students of faith—and students without faith—will deepen their worldviews by thoughtfully examining the philosophical arguments that are presented in this book. Philosophy, Reasoned Belief, and Faith will appeal to Christian teachers, analytic theists, home educators, and general readers interested in the classic arguments supporting a theistic worldview.

Logic and Theism

Logic and Theism PDF Author: Jordan Howard Sobel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139449982
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 676

Book Description
This is a wide-ranging 2004 book about arguments for and against beliefs in God. This book will be a valuable resource for philosophers of religion and theologians and will interest logicians and mathematicians as well.

Why Would Anyone Believe in God?

Why Would Anyone Believe in God? PDF Author: Justin L. Barrett
Publisher: Cognitive Science of Religion
ISBN:
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Book Description
Because of the design of our minds. That is Justin Barrett's simple answer to the question of his title. With rich evidence from cognitive science but without technical language, psychologist Barrett shows that belief in God is an almost inevitable consequence of the kind of minds we have. Most of what we believe comes from mental tools working below our conscious awareness. And what we believe consciously is in large part driven by these unconscious beliefs. Barrett demonstrates that beliefs in gods match up well with these automatic assumptions; beliefs in an all-knowing, all-powerful God match up even better. Barrett goes on to explain why beliefs like religious beliefs are so widespread and why it is very difficult for our minds to think without them. Anyone who wants a concise, clear, and scientific explanation of why anyone would believe in God should pick up Barrett's book.

The Logic of Religious Persuasion

The Logic of Religious Persuasion PDF Author: John H. Whittaker
Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 136

Book Description
Steering between a psychological treatment of religious persuasion on the one hand and the arguments of natural theology on the other, this original book outlines a new direction in the philosophy of religion. By showing that a religion's nobility, its promise of purpose, and its ability to settle us into selfhood enliven its teachings, this essay expands the notion of reasonable believing, forcing it to include some forgotten aspects of good judgment.

Why We Believe

Why We Believe PDF Author: Agustin Fuentes
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 030024925X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Book Description
A wide-ranging argument by a renowned anthropologist that the capacity to believe is what makes us human Why are so many humans religious? Why do we daydream, imagine, and hope? Philosophers, theologians, social scientists, and historians have offered explanations for centuries, but their accounts often ignore or even avoid human evolution. Evolutionary scientists answer with proposals for why ritual, religion, and faith make sense as adaptations to past challenges or as by-products of our hyper-complex cognitive capacities. But what if the focus on religion is too narrow? Renowned anthropologist Agustín Fuentes argues that the capacity to be religious is actually a small part of a larger and deeper human capacity to believe. Why believe in religion, economies, love? A fascinating intervention into some of the most common misconceptions about human nature, this book employs evolutionary, neurobiological, and anthropological evidence to argue that belief—the ability to commit passionately and wholeheartedly to an idea—is central to the human way of being in the world.

Fool's Talk

Fool's Talk PDF Author: Os Guinness
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830898506
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Book Description
Our world is changing dramatically, yet many Christians still rely on cookie-cutter approaches to evangelism and apologetics. In his magnum opus, Os Guinness presents the art and power of creative persuasion—the ability to talk to people who are closed to what we are saying. Discover afresh the persuasive power of Christian witness.