Winner of the 2022 Nautilus Book Award in Religion / Spirituality of Western Thought (#24B) Mark Clavier examines a series of paradoxes that lie at the heart of Christian faith: eternity and time, silence and words, and wonder and the commonplace. In an intellectual reflection on an overnight trek on Cadair Idris in Wales and other wilderness walks, he explores the oft-hidden connections between faith, society, and nature. Each reflection ranges widely through history, folklore, poetry, philosophy, and theology to consider what these paradoxes can teach us about God, ourselves, and our world. Drawing on the recent upsurge in interest in the personal experience of landscapes and memory, this book invites readers to walk with Clavier in the Appalachians, Norway, Iceland, the Alps, and around Britain as he discovers the ways in which Christianity is profoundly earthed. By weaving together nature-writing, memoir, social commentary, and theological reflection A Pilgrimage of Paradoxes uses a memorable mountain journey in the ancient landscape of Wales to draw readers into reflecting about what it means to belong. Please find the study guide for this book here: https://convivium-brecon.com/a-pilgrimage-of-paradoxes/

The call to repentance is central to the message of early Christianity. While this is undeniable, the precise meaning of the concept of repentance for early Christians has rarely been investigated to any great extent, beyond studies of the rise of penitential discipline. In this study, the rich variety of meanings and applications of the concept of repentance are examined, with a particular focus on the writings of several ascetic theologians of the fifth to seventh centuries: SS Mark the Monk, Barsanuphius and John of Gaza, and John Climacus. These theologians provide some of the most sustained and detailed elaborations of the concept of repentance in late antiquity. They predominantly see repentance as a positive, comprehensive idea that serves to frame the whole of Christian life, not simply one or more of its parts. While the modern dominant understanding of repentance as a moment of sorrowful regret over past misdeeds, or as equivalent to penitential discipline, is present to a degree, such definitions by no means exhaust the concept for them. The path of repentance is depicted as stretching from an initial about-face completed in baptism, through the living out of the baptismal gift by keeping the Gospel commandments, culminating in the idea of intercessory repentance for others, after the likeness of Christ's innocent suffering for the world. While this overarching role for repentance in Christian life is clearest in ascetic works, these are not explored in isolation, and attention is also paid to the concept of repentance in Scripture, the early church, apocalyptic texts, and canonical material. This not only permits the elaboration of the views of the ascetics in their larger context, but further allows for an overall re-assessment of the often misunderstood, if not overlooked, place of repentance in early Christian theology.

This is a marriage register, allowing four entries to each page.

How might our worship recapture and reflect the enchanted world of God's nearness in Jesus Christ? In this first volume in IVP Academic's Dynamics of Christian Worship series, John D. Rempel offers a vision for this kind of transformative worship. A theologian and minister in the Mennonite Church, Rempel considers the role of the sacraments and ritual within the Free Church tradition. While the Free Churches rightly sought to cleanse the church of the abuses of sacramentalism, in that process they also set aside some of the church's historic practices and the theology behind them, which ultimately impoverished their worship. In response to this liturgically thin space, Rempel appeals to the incarnation of Christ, whose taking on of flesh can help us perceive the sacramental nature of our faith and worship. By embracing life-giving and peacemaking practices, the worship of not only the Free Church tradition but of the whole body of Christ might be transformed and become enchanted once again. The Dynamics of Christian Worship series draws from a wide range of worshiping contexts and denominational backgrounds to unpack the many dynamics of Christian worship-including prayer, reading the Bible, preaching, baptism, the Lord's Supper, music, visual art, architecture, and more-to deepen both the theology and practice of Christian worship for the life of the church.

The Christian church confesses "one baptism." But the church's answers to how, whom and when to baptize, and even what it means or does, are famously varied. This book provides a forum for thoughtful proponents of three principal evangelical views to state their case, respond to the others, and then provide a summary response and statement. Sinclair Ferguson sets out the case for infant baptism, Bruce Ware presents the case for believers' baptism, and Anthony Lane argues for a mixed practice. As with any good conversation on a controversial topic, this book raises critical issues, challenges preconceptions and discloses the soft points in each view. Evangelicals who wish to understand better their own church's practice or that of their neighbor, or who perhaps are uncertain of their own views, will value this incisive book.

Eucharistic adoration is part of Catholic tradition. In many parts of the world, perpetual adoration is flourishing as never before. Presented here for any who respect the Blessed Sacrament, the reflections found in "Eucharistic Contemplation" provide a distinct style for prayer and veneration.

"Eucharistic Contemplation" is not another book of eucharistic devotions" as has been the style for the past few centuries. The prayers are not directed to Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar, full of sentiments, feelings, petitions, thanksgiving, praise, or reparation. Rather, these 32 reflections focus on contemplation as a simple, straightforward, and honest prayer. Every short reading leads to moments of silent contemplation. They are meant to serve principally for moments of prayer, yet define the meaning of what contemplation, and specifically eucharistic contemplation, are to people of faith praying before the Blessed sacrament.

Prepared and delivered in the parish of San Francisco de Borja, in Lima, Peru, these reflections on the Eucharist use actual prayers from the Church's sacramentary and rites. Each reflection follows the process of Eucharistic contemplation. The first reading should be studied slowly to have a basic understanding of the text. Then, the reader is invited to search out the various scriptural background references, especially from the Old Testament. A re-reading of the text, with pauses, and time for deep silence concludes the meditation.

Chapters are *The Mystery of the Love of God, - *Eucharistic Contemplation, - *Mystery/Memorial of Christ, - *United in Blood with One Past, - *The Blood of Christ, - *The Seven Offerings of the Blood of Christ, - *Bread as Living Remembrance, - *Proclaim the Mystery of Faith, - *O Holy Banquet, - *Blood of the Covenant, - *'Remove the Sandals From Your Feet, For the Place on Which You Are Standing is Holy Ground, '- *'I AM WHO I AM, '- *The Meeting Tent, - *'And He Lived Among Us, '- *The Wedding of Cana, - *Bread in the Wilderness, - *The Ark of the Covenant, - *Christ, the Propitiation For Our Sins, - *Christ, the One and Only Sacrifice, - *Advent, - *The Beginning and the End, - *'Let Us Go Up to the House of the Lord, '- *Zen Meditation and the Eucharist, - *Pope John Paul II in the Cenacle of Jerusalem, - *Grace, the Fullness of the Christian Life, - *The Eucharist Where There Is No Eucharist, - *Bread For the Journey, - *The Eucharist and the Servant of the Lord, - *The Eucharist and the Lord of Miracles, - *Mary and Martha, - *Mary and the Eucharist, - *The Eucharist and Prayers of Petition. -

"Ernest Rally, CPPS, PhD, is the administrator of two parish schools at San Francisco deBorja parish in Lima, Peru.""

'What Christ Jesus taught is not what is most important, but rather what he has given humanity. His resurrection is the birth of a new faculty within human nature.' -- Rudolf Steiner In this book experienced Christian Community priest and teacher, Michael Debus, helps readers to understand the heart of religious consciousness and practical life -- the sacraments. He does so by exploring the following questions and more: -- Is baptism merely a symbolic act, or is it a reality that affects one's life? -- How should we understand the transformation of bread and wine? -- How can rituals express spiritual realities? Debus makes these complex concepts accessible to anyone who wants to understand the background and sacraments of The Christian Community. He also weaves together a discussion of historical theological developments with the evolution of consciousness. This is an insightful book for readers looking to understand the spiritual foundations of The Christian Community and its place in theological history, and its role in Christianity today.

In a sacramental ecology, divine grace is to be found in the evolutionary emergence of life. The 'Epic of Evolution' is the scientific story that reveals that we live in an approximately 14 billion year old universe on a planet that is approximately 4.6 billion years old and that we are a part of the ongoing process of life that has existed on Earth for roughly 4 billion years. Nature's Sacrament focuses on the religious and ecological significance of the evolutionary epic in an effort to seamlessly connect the ecological value attributed as a part of an understanding of the evolutionary connectedness of life on Earth, with the Divine grace understood to be present in Christian sacramental worship. David C. McDuffie is a faculty member in the Religious Studies Department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where his primary teaching schedule includes courses in World Religions, Religion in America, Christian History, Religion and Environment, and Religion and Politics. Broadly, his research and teaching interests involve the subject area of Religion and Culture, which includes but is not limited to the relationships between religion and politics, science, and health care. This is his first book.

Each chapter gives material for the members of the group to read in advance. There is a framework or plan for a group meeting, with detailed ideas for activities and discussion. There is also general advice about group processes, including recruiting and running such groups. There is a framework for prayer, and biblical themes to be considered in context. The sessions are equally for seekers and confirmation candidates, and for teenagers as well as adults.