It is now generally accepted that the nature of human thought has much to do with the structure and function of the human body. In Spirituality in the Flesh, Robert C. Fuller investigates how our sensory organs, emotional programs, sexual sensibilities, and neural structures shape religious phenomena. Why is it that some religious traditions assign spiritual currency to pain? How do neurochemically-driven emotions such as fear shape our religious actions? What is the relationship between chemically altered states of consciousness and religious innovation? The body has recently become a subject of investigation among scholars of religion. Many such studies focus on the concept of the body as a cultural construct. Whereas these treatments helpfully demonstrate how cultures construct ideas about the body, Fuller asks how the body itself influences religious concepts. Seeking to establish a middle ground between purely materialistic or humanistic arguments, he skillfully pairs scientific findings with religious truths. Both perspectives could learn from the other: Fuller takes scientific interpreters to task for failing to understand the inherently cultural aspects of embodied experience even as he chides most religion scholars for ignoring new knowledge about the biological substrates of human behavior. Comfortable with the language of scientific analysis and sympathetic to the inherently subjective aspects of religious events, Fuller introduces the biological study of religion by joining our unprecedented understanding of bodily states with an experts knowledge of religious phenomena. Culling insights from scientific observations, historical allusions, and literary references, Spirituality in the Flesh provides fresh understandings that promise to enrich our appreciation of the embodied religious experience.

Latter-day Saints have a paradoxical relationship to the past; even as they invest their own history with sacred meaning, celebrating the restoration of ancient truths and the fulfillment of biblical prophecies, they repudiate the eighteen centuries of Christianity preceding the founding of their church as apostate distortions of the truth. Since the early days of Mormonism, Latter-day Saints (LDS) have used the paradigm of apostasy and restoration in their narratives about the origin of their church. This has generated a powerful and enduring binary of categorization that has profoundly impacted Mormon self-perception and relations with others. Standing Apart explores how the idea of apostasy has functioned as a category to mark, define, and set apart "the other" in Mormon historical consciousness and in the construction of Mormon narrative identity. The volume's fifteen contributors trace the development of LDS narratives of apostasy within the context of both Mormon history and American Protestant historiography. They suggest ways in which these narratives might be reformulated to engage with the past, as well as offering new models for interfaith relations. This volume provides a novel approach for understanding and resolving some of the challenges the LDS church faces in the twenty-first century.

1875. When Kathryn Walsh arrives in tiny Calvada, a mining town nestled in the Sierra Nevadas, falling in love is the farthest thing from her mind. Banished from Boston by her wealthy stepfather, she has come to claim an inheritance from the uncle she never knew: a defunct newspaper office on a main street overflowing with brothels and saloons, and a seemingly worthless mine. Moved by the oppression of the local miners and their families, Kathryn decides to relaunch her uncle’s newspaper―and then finds herself in the middle of a maelstrom, pitted against Calvada’s most powerful men. But Kathryn intends to continue to say―and publish―whatever she pleases, especially when she knows she’s right.

Matthias Beck, owner of a local saloon and hotel, has a special interest in the new lady in town. He instantly recognizes C. T. Walsh’s same tenacity in the beautiful and outspoken redhead―and knows all too well how dangerous that family trait can be. While Kathryn may be right about Calvada’s problems, her righteousness could also get her killed. But when the handsome hotelier keeps finding himself on the same side of the issues as the opinionated Miss Walsh, Matthias’s restless search for purpose becomes all about answering the call of his heart.

Everyone may be looking to strike it rich in this lawless boomtown, but it’s a love more precious than gold that will ultimately save them all.

Do you really know the Holy Spirit? And what does the answer mean for your faith?

In The Familiar Stranger, Tyler Staton draws on Scripture, tradition, and spiritual practices to help you step into a genuine relationship with the Holy Spirit and discover a fully alive spirituality.

For a generation searching desperately for an experiential spirituality, there's good news: the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence to empower and transform is freely available. Yet, confusion and unfamiliarity surround the Holy Spirit, leading too many Christians either to sideline him or misunderstand what he means for their spiritual lives.

In The Familiar Stranger, Staton reintroduces this oft-neglected person of the Trinity, tracing the story of the Holy Spirit as it unfolds throughout the Bible, and inviting believers to close the gap between what Scripture reveals about the Holy Spirit and their lived experience. Along the way, readers will:

- dig into key biblical images and metaphors that reveal the Holy Spirit's nature, roles, and personality;
- learn about common misperceptions that keep believers and churches from experiencing the fullness of the Holy Spirit's power and presence;
- discover how the Spirit brings discernment and access to miraculous power to partner with God in the work he's doing in the world;
- reckon with the indispensable role of spiritual experience for walking with God; andunderstand how both Word and Spirit work together to draw people into a vibrant, intimate knowledge of God.

The Familiar Stranger will challenge, inform, and encourage believers from every background to become more deeply acquainted with the Person and work of the Holy Spirit - and experience his transformative, life-giving power in their lives.

In this volume von Balthasar turns to the works of the lay theologians, the poets and the philosopher theologians who have kept alive the Grand Tradition of Christian theology in writings formally very different from the works of the Fathers and the great Scholastics. This volume contains studies of Dante, John of the Cross, Pascal, Hamann, Soloviev, Hopkins and Peguy.

Experience Jesus Really, Finding Refuge Strength and Wonder Through Everyday Encounters with God

In this present age we are all becoming disciples of the Internet. We are addicted to distraction. We idolize our instant access to a never-ending avalanche of information. We think we're finally holding the keys to a better life.
But if that's true, why are we wrestling with ever-increasing levels of anxiety, dissatisfaction, and despair? The fact is, we live in a world of weary, skeptical pragmatism--and it's keeping us from experiencing the God we are dying without.

John Eldredge presents a powerful alternative to the soulless, disenchanted world we find ourselves living in today: the path of the ordinary mystic. Readers who join Eldredge on this journey will:

• Regain childlike faith in the reality of God's constant, available presence to those who seek him;
• Discover the biblical foundations for the mystical tradition in Christianity; and
• Learn practices, habits, and prayers that will transform their ability to hear the voice of Jesus in their day-to-day lives.

Every human yearns to return to Eden, to a state of unbroken communion with the God who created us for adventure and intimacy with him. The mystic is awake to the truth that God is still with us--and we experience the refuge of his powerful, healing presence if we learn to open our hearts to him.

As a trauma-informed professional life coach, Janell Rardon spends a good deal of her day-to-day work with brokenness--broken families, broken relationships, broken hearts and souls. In response to the pleas of her clients, she developed a set of emotional health tools that help them repair the broken parts of their lives. In Stronger Every Day, she shares those powerful tools with you. In this heartlifting book, she helps you to - transform pain into meaning - experience secure attachment with God - shape healthy thoughts - shift from shame to self-compassion - practice healthy assertiveness - set mental and emotional boundaries - understand triggers and defense mechanisms - regulate emotional highs and lows - cultivate healthy human connection With inspiring Scriptures, quotes, prayers, personal stories, and case studies, Rardon sets you on the path of emotional health so that you can be stronger than ever--every day.