This inspirational diary of insights and reflections by the artist/bookseller/conservator Leo Madrigal (Lorenzo de la Paz) addresses logically and with compassion every topic vital to an overall philosophy of life.

Tracing a dialectical path, The Maturing of Monotheism emphasises the plausibility of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and kindred forms of monotheism and responds to anti-theistic challenges of our day. These include materialism, determinism, the denial of objective value, the pervasiveness of evil, and predictions of human individual and collective extinction. The book reviews traditional metaphysical ways of arguing for monotheism but employs a cumulative, more experiential approach. While agnosticism affects humanity's most basic beliefs, Garth Hallett demonstrates that there remains ample room for rational, theistic faith. Of keen interest to students and researchers alike, The Maturing of Monotheism offers new insights and approaches in this steadily advancing field.

In Orthodoxy, Gilbert K. Chesterton explains how and why he came to believe in Christianity and more specifically the Catholic Church's brand of orthodoxy. In the book, Chesterton takes the spiritually curious reader on an intellectual quest. While looking for the meaning of life, he finds truth that uniquely fulfills human needs. This is the truth revealed in Christianity. Chesterton likens this discovery to a man setting off from the south coast of England, journeying for many days, only to arrive at Brighton, the point he originally left from. Such a man, he proposes, would see the wondrous place he grew up in with newly appreciative eyes. This is a common theme in Chesterton's works, and one which he gave fictional embodiment to in Manalive. A truly lively and enlightening book!

In today's world, the boundaries within which Christian theologians operate are becoming ever more permeable, and Christian theology is increasingly influenced and challenged by multiple "outside" factors. In Western Europe, two such factors stand out in particular: the so-called "turn to religion" in continental philosophy and religious diversity. Theologians working with contemporary continental philosophers and theologians engaging the multireligious world tend to work quite separately from one another. The aim of the present book is therefore to initiate a conversation between these two groups of theologians. The question of truth was chosen because it is both a key issue in contemporary-philosophical debates (in the continental and analytic traditions) and one that arises in complex and problematic ways in the praxis of, and theoretical reflection on, interreligious dialogue. Some of the pressing questions that are addressed by the contributors to this volume are: What is truth? What is theological truth? How does the issue of truth arise from interreligious encounter? To what extent can or should the nature of truth be discussed explicitly during interreligious dialogue? Or should the question of truth be rather postponed in the interest of successful interreligious encounter? Is there a hermeneutical concept of truth and, if so, how can it be of help for theological reflection on the question of truth and on the role and place of truth in the context of dialogue between religions?

In recent decades a new movement has arisen, bringing the conceptual tools of analytic philosophy to bear on theological reflection. Called analytic theology, it seeks to bring a clarity of thought and a disciplined use of logic to the work of constructive Christian theology. In this introduction to analytic theology for specialists and nonspecialists alike, Thomas McCall lays out what it is and what it isn't. The goal of this growing and energetic field is not the removal of all mystery in theology. At the same time, it insists that mystery must not be confused with logical incoherence. McCall explains the connections of analytic theology to Scripture, Christian tradition and culture, using case studies to illuminate his discussion. Beyond mere description, McCall calls the discipline to a deeper engagement with the traditional resources of the theological task.

In "Abba's Way, " Jesus returns to set the world's religions straight.

Abba is the shockingly-familiar Aramaic name for God that Jesus uses in the Lord's Prayer. Jesus argues that this very Abba is within each of us, ready to change our lives for the better. If we only have eyes to see.

In 70 brief poetic essays, Jesus explains how we can move the world from its present violent precipice to a global society built around negotiation, individual achievement and openness to the presence of Abba in each person.

On the occasion of the publication of Stephen C. Rose's 'The Grass Roots Church," "The New York Times" called the author a new Martin Luther whose theses might change today's world.

Cosmology and Self in the Apostle Paul challenges the traditional reading of Paul. Troels Engberg-Pedersen argues that the usual, mainly cognitive and metaphorical, ways of understanding central Pauline concepts, such as 'being in Christ', 'having God's pneuma (spirit), Christ's pneuma, and Christ himself in one', must be supplemented by a literal understanding that directly reflects Paul's cosmology.
Engberg-Pedersen shows that Paul's cosmology, not least his understanding of the pneuma, was a materialist, bodily one: the pneuma was a physical element that would at the resurrection act directly on the ordinary human bodies of believers and transform them into 'pneumatic bodies'. This literal understanding of the future events is then traced back to the Pauline present as Engberg-Pedersen considers how Paul conceived in bodily terms of a range of central themes like his own conversion, his mission, the believers' reception of the pneuma in baptism, and the way the apostle took the pneuma to inform his own and their ways of life from the beginning to the projected end.
In developing this picture of Paul's world view, an explicitly philosophically oriented form of interpretation ('philosophical exegesis') is employed, in which the interpreter applies categories of interpretation that make sense philosophically, whether in an ancient or a modern context. For this enterprise Engberg-Pedersen draws in particular on ancient Stoic materialist and monistic physics and cosmology - as opposed to the Platonic, immaterialist and dualistic categories that underlie traditional readings of Paul - and on modern ideas on 'religious experience', 'self', 'body' and 'practice' derived from Foucault and Bourdieu. In this way Paul is shown to have spelled out philosophically his Jewish, 'apocalyptic' world view, which remains a central feature of his thought.
The book states the cosmological case for the author's earlier 'ethical' reading of Paul in his prize-winning book, Paul and the Stoics (2000).

David S. Cunningham offers a sustained account of the relationship between rhetoric and Christian theology. He addresses various kinds of deconstructionist and literary interests, and discusses the grammatical, probabilistic, audience-centred concerns of Christianity's oldest theologians.

Success by Choice Not By Chance gives a road map which clearly shows the potential for any one to succeed in life whether they came from Tupelo, Mississippi or was born on Wall Street. This book is about Ernie Tucker who defied the laws of success and has lived a charmed life by following the principles of having faith, repetition, imagination and above all persistence. He says "success has no room for excuses - it is all up to you." It is a choice one makes not a chance one takes, because chances is gambling and depends on the roll of the dice. It shows you that if you have a clearly defined objective and is willing to make the necessary sacrifices, in the long run your dream will become your reality. The book entails what he had faced, handled and triumphed over to become the success that he is. It is his dream to leave a legacy to the coming generations of whomsoever wishes to succeed be it family, friend or stranger. Embedded in the pages are elements of the will, wit and determination it took to get him there. It says that success is accessible but it is all up to you. To embrace the principles that took him there, you must follow his proven method for success. It shows you that success is a constant pursuit not an overnight affair. It is in fact for Ernie a true fulfillment of Martin Luther's dream that black men and white men could work together in unity. Since success is not a respecter of persons when Ernie's principles of faith are enacted, regardless of your color, creed, race or national origin, success will be attained when you step out in faith and have a vision of your goals.

This collection of papers represents a wide range of opinions concerning the mental health implications of religious belief and practice.

This substantial anthology is a comprehensive, authoritative collection of the classical and contemporary readings in the philosophy of religion, providing a survey and analysis of the key issues, figures and concepts.
Comprises the most comprehensive and authoritative collection of the classical and contemporary readings in the philosophy of religion.
Provides a survey and analysis of the key issues, figures and concepts.
Examines religious identity, theism and divine attributes, explanations of religion, and theistic arguments.
Includes readings concerned with nontheistic religions, evils and goods, religious values, personal identity, and death.

Scepticism has been the driving force in the development of Greco-Roman culture in the past, and the impetus for far-reaching scientific achievements and philosophical investigation. Early Jewish culture, in contrast, avoided creating consistent representations of its philosophical doctrines. Sceptical notions can nevertheless be found in some early Jewish literature such as the Book of Ecclesiastes. One encounters there expressions of doubt with respect to Divine justice or even Divine involvement in earthly affairs. During the first centuries of the common era, however, Jewish thought, as reflected in rabbinic works, was engaged in persistent intellectual activity devoted to the laws, norms, regulations, exegesis and other traditional areas of Jewish religious knowledge. An effort to detect sceptical ideas in ancient Judaism, therefore, requires a closer analysis of this literary heritage and its cultural context. This volume of collected essays seeks to tackle the question of scepticism in an Early Jewish context, including Ecclesiastes and other Jewish Second Temple works, rabbinic midrashic and talmudic literature, and reflections of Jewish thought in early Christian and patristic writings. Contributors are: Tali Artman, Geoffrey Herman, Reuven Kiperwasser, Serge Ruzer, Cana Werman, and Carsten Wilke.

It has long been thought that Edwards's polemical arguments were aimed against Arminianism -- a doctrine that denied the Calvinist idea of predestination. In this book, Gerald McDermott shows that Edwards's real target was a larger and more influential one, namely deism -- the belief in a creator God who does not intervene in His Creation. To Edwards's mind, deism was the logical conclusion of most, if not all, schemes of divinity that appropriated Enlightenment tenets. McDermott argues that Edwards was an inclusivist who came to realize that salvation was open to peoples beyond the hearing of the Christian gospel.

This complete work unites two of Roman philosopher Boethius's finest works; his Theological Tracts regarding Christianity, and his Consolation of Philosophy which concerns the nature of fortune and dying. The works of Boethius emerged at the symbolic conclusion of the classical era, and the beginning of post-Roman Europe. As such they draw deeply upon extant classical traditions and the religious significance of Christianity; the chaos and upheaval of the author's time colors his writing in a fashion vibrant and compelling. Venerated in Catholicism for his theological studies, it was the philosophical ideas of Boethius that saw his popularity endure for ages. Given his compelling life story - Boethius was among the final Roman politicians to serve as a senator before the collapse of the Western Empire - the author's writings gain an additional, historic context. The famous Consolation was written while Boethius was in jail awaiting what transpired as the death sentence.