Stories are the most basic mode of human communication. Writers, painters, sculptors, artists, and indeed, people of all walks of life live by the telling of their stories. Christianity itself is deeply rooted in storytelling the vast majority of the Hebrew Scriptures, for example, consist of stories, and Jesus proclaimed and taught about the Reign of God through stories and parables. At the heart of the Christian faith are stories, not concepts, propositions, or ideas. In the Beginning Were Stories, Not Texts laments the fact that Christian theology is all too often expressed in terms of abstract systems of concepts and ideas, and offers an alternative way of addressing the substance of Christian faith through narrative rather than abstraction. Through stories, both biblical and non-biblical, the author offers a bold and invigorating rethinking of the task of the modern Christian theologian.

An informative look at the theory, computer implementation, and application of the scaled boundary finite element method This reliable resource, complete with MATLAB, is an easy-to-understand introduction to the fundamental principles of the scaled boundary finite element method. It establishes the theory of the scaled boundary finite element method systematically as a general numerical procedure, providing the reader with a sound knowledge to expand the applications of this method to a broader scope. The book also presents the applications of the scaled boundary finite element to illustrate its salient features and potentials. The Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method: Introduction to Theory and Implementation covers the static and dynamic stress analysis of solids in two and three dimensions. The relevant concepts, theory and modelling issues of the scaled boundary finite element method are discussed and the unique features of the method are highlighted. The applications in computational fracture mechanics are detailed with numerical examples. A unified mesh generation procedure based on quadtree/octree algorithm is described. It also presents examples of fully automatic stress analysis of geometric models in NURBS, STL and digital images. Written in lucid and easy to understand language by the co-inventor of the scaled boundary element method Provides MATLAB as an integral part of the book with the code cross-referenced in the text and the use of the code illustrated by examples Presents new developments in the scaled boundary finite element method with illustrative examples so that readers can appreciate the significant features and potentials of this novel method--especially in emerging technologies such as 3D printing, virtual reality, and digital image-based analysis The Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method: Introduction to Theory and Implementation is an ideal book for researchers, software developers, numerical analysts, and postgraduate students in many fields of engineering and science.

A clinical handbook for practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that provides quick and easy reference to the selection of herbs for treatment and their action alone and in combination. This is a handbook from two eminent teachers from the Nanjing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine who have between them accumulated over 60 years of clinical practice and teaching. They emphasise how to combine herbs and differentiate between single herbs and formulae depending on the treatment strategy adopted. It contains case histories illustrating how to adapt formulae in practice.A practical, easy-to-use guide for the busy practitioner or student A glossary explains unfamiliar terms Information in tables - for quick identification of herbs and combination of herbs Illustrated with line diagrams showing where the herbs act on the body The authors teach at China's leading college of TCM

Description: The Christian Bible is fundamentally a story. Writers, painters, sculptors, artists, and indeed, people of all walks of life live by the telling of their stories. Stories are the most basic mode of human communication. Thus it is vital to ask why Christians and above all Christian theologians so often fail to express their faith in terms of story. The vast majority of the Hebrew Scriptures, for example, consist of stories. Jesus proclaimed and taught about the Reign of God through stories and parables. At the heart of the Christian faith are stories, not concepts, propositions, or ideas. Given the deep rootedness of the Christian faith in storytelling, this book seeks to address the fact that Christian theology has too often taken the form of concepts, ideas, and systems. This book is an attempt to speak of Christian faith and theology in stories rather than systems. Through stories, both biblical and non-biblical, this book shows how we might reimagine the task of Christian theology in the life of faith today. At its heart is the conviction that in the beginning there were stories and that, in the end and indeed, beyond the end, are stories, not texts, ideas, and concepts. Endorsements: ""A consummate storyteller, C. S. Song has been at the leading edge of contemporary Christian theology for several decades now. This latest work is essential reading for anyone who has grown weary of systematic formulations. Song's faithful narrative is a story well told."" -James Treat University of Illinois ""C. S. Song has been a consistent and prolific writer of story theology. He has given us rich material over the years. Here is more. His work is brilliant, imaginative, metaphorical, instructive, and faithful."" -Archie Smith Jr. Pacific School of Religion and Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley ""C. S. Song the Griot chants with the entrancing cadence of an old-hand peddler of tales. Story-telling is a human practice of meaning-making, he reminds us, and through webs of stories we catch potent expressions of divine mystery and human struggle. Uninvested in cultural-linguistic expositions for narrative classification and hermeneutic regulation, Song simply invites readers/listeners into story worlds across time and cultures so that we may live into the fantastical nature of God-talk and human-talk."" -Mai-Anh Le Tran Eden Theological Seminary, St. Louis About the Contributor(s): C. S. Song is Chair Professor of Theology at Yu Shan Theological Seminary and Chang Jong Christian University in Taiwan.

"Here is a superb example of the new way of doing theology. C. S. Song tells a charming story of long ago and then proceeds to draw some not-so-charming implications for what it means in our time. The 'safe' tale turns out to have devastating impact on what we thought was our own secure world. Scripture, tears, prophetic insight, social analysis, politics, hope -- all of them are incorporated in this deceptively small package." -- Robert McAfee Brown"This is a poignant meditation that cannot be labeled. Song's way of theology is his own; it challenges everyone." -- Charles C. West, Dean and Professor of Christian Ethics, Princeton Theological SeminaryThe drawings included in the book are by the well-known Brazilian artist Claudius S.P. Ceccon.

Song's volume explores the mystery of the Word that from the beginning of time now comes poignantly to us in the stories and testimonies of women, men, and children. Song eloquently fashions a "people hermeneutic" to sketch an account of Jesus' life, ministry, death, and resurrection for our world today.

"Drawing upon a vast storehouse of Asian wisdom, ancient and modern, Song helps us to recover the authentic tradition of Jerusalem...." ? Douglas John Hall, McGill University

For C. S. Song, theology begins with the conviction that God is somehow at work in our lives and our world, often in ways we hardly perceive. Interrogating our own experience in the light of the gospel is, for him, the heart of theology. In this volume he helps readers pose ten of the most anguishing, nettling, perplexing issues of faith, some that arise perennially and others newly sharpened by a postmodern age rife with questions. The questions are: Beginning and End? Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? Is There Life after Death? Healed or Saved? Do All Roads Lead to Rome? With What Can God's Reign Be Compared? Why Church? Is Mission Viable? Are You "Spiritual"? What Do You Say God Is? Song provides a process for readers to ask themselves: What do I believe? As he says, "What you will find here is a process leading from our daily experiences to our awareness of God in the world internal and external to us.... Stories of our life turn out to be stories of God." Includes stories and illustrations from around the world.

C. S. Song here invites Christians to see the whole Christian panoply through a story-centered lens. Focusing on Life, Hope, Faith, and Love, Song delves into each theme or locus (1) as it can be approached in people's experiences or stories, (2) as it appears in related stories from other religious traditions, (3) how its central import can be expressed theologically, and (4) how it can appear in practice. Thus story becomes theology, then theology becomes story. "Central to these stories," says Song, "is the heart that believes in spite of hardships and despair, the heart that struggles to make sense of what seems senseless in life and history." Song's strong narratives and engaging style will make this volume appealing in a variety of settings, especially for introductory students, clergy in search of homiletic material, church groups, and Christians open to insights from non-Western cultures.

This much-hailed volume, here reissued, anchors Song's monumental trilogy--the Cross in the Lotus Land. Against the rich cultural backdrop of Asia, Song's volume explores the mystery of the Word that in the beginning of time now comes into the thick of our times through stories and testimonies of women, men, and children.

Song's theology is a startling rebuke to Christologies centered either in historical-critical searches or church doctrines. For Song, theology is the biography of God, and God's reign is evident in stories of God's saving presence in Jesus. The reign of God in Jesus "becomes manifest through movements of people to be free from the shackles of the past, to change the status quo of the present, and to have a role to play in the arrival of the future".