Timeless and fresh insights into the priorities, practices, and strategies of vibrant, ministering churches.

The Practices of a Healthy Church: Biblical Strategies for Vibrant Church Life and Ministry

Meek, Esther Lightcap

MacNair, Donald J.

Religion & Spirituality

Presbyterian & Reformed Pub. Co

Knowing is less about information and more about transformation; less about comprehension and more about being apprehended. This radical book develops the notion of covenant epistemology--an innovative, biblically compatible, holistic, embodied, life-shaping epistemological vision in which all knowing takes the shape of interpersonal, covenantal relationship. Rather than knowing in order to love, we love in order to know. Meek argues that all knowing is best understood as transformative encounter. Creatively blending insights from a diverse range of conversation partners--including Michael Polanyi, Michael D. Williams, Lesslie Newbigin, Parker Palmer, John Macmurray, Martin Buber, and James Loder--Meek offers critically needed ""epistemological therapy"" in response to the pervasive and damaging presumptions that those in Western culture continue to bring to efforts to know. The book's innovative approach--an unfolding journey of discovery-through-dialogue--itself subverts standard epistemological presumptions of timeless linearity. While it offers a sustained and sophisticated philosophical argument, Loving to Know's texts and textures interweave loosely to effect therapeutic epistemic transformation in the reader. ""Nobody acquainted with philosophical epistemology would associate it with eloquence or passion. So Loving to Know is extraordinary, because this is epistemology presented with both eloquence and passion, addressed to the person 'on the street' but at the same time raising issues that professional philosophers should take account of. In a most creative way, Professor Meeks takes Michael Polanyi's epistemology, which she perceptively and lucidly summarizes, into new terrain. She argues that to come to know as we ought to come to know is to keep covenant. It is to be faithful both to the known and to oneself, the knower. So take and read. And when you do, you will learn that how the book came about is itself an example of the theory, as is the innovative structure of the discussion. The formation and presentation of the theory display the theory."" --Nicholas Wolterstorff Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology Yale University ""Esther Meek has given a good gift in Loving to Know, continuing her lifelong reflections on a more human and truthful understanding of knowledge. Drawing on the best of scholarship, she is her own scholar too, offering a unique vision of a covenant epistemology, a way of knowing that is deeply personal and responsible, because it is profoundly relational. A book for every one of us, as we take up the most perennial of human questions, viz. what will we do with what we know?"" --Steven Garber Director The Washington Institute ""This book is a tour de force of clarity, depth, and compelling wisdom. Esther Meek argues that we become what we love and that if we love truth then we must love to engage in the interpersonal dialogue of seeing the world well through the prism of another's heart. Her premise is lived out through dialogue with a range of authors that makes my head spin. She seizes their wisdom and yet pursues it further to the person of Christ than any I have read. This is an epistemologically therapeutic embrace of how to live well in the world of divergent thought that nevertheless longs to reveal Jesus as the center of all true wisdom. It is a breathtaking and beautiful labor."" --Dan B. Allender Professor of Counseling Psychology and Founding President Mars Hill Graduate School ""Loving to Know is a marvelous follow-up to Meek's Longing to Know. Like her earlier work, this is clearly the work of a masterful, compassionate teacher inviting a wide audience to reflect on the nature of knowledge. Here is epistemology for the people, so to speak. In the process, through a rich set of conversation partners, Meek puts her own stamp on a Reformed epistemology that makes love and covenant central to our account of knowing. An excellent achievement."" --James K.A. Smi

Loving to Know

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Wipf and Stock

In refreshing challenge to the common presumption that knowing involves amassing information, this book offers an eight-step approach that begins with love and pledge and ends with communion and shalom. Everyday adventures of knowing turn on a moment of insight that transforms and connects knower and known. No matter the field--science or art, business or theology, counseling or athletics--this little manual offers a how-to for knowing ventures. It offers concrete guidance to individuals or teams, students or professionals, along with plenty of exercises to spark the process of discovery, design, artistry, or mission. ""Readers of this Little Manual for Knowing are embarking on an adventure that may make a decisive difference in their learning and in all of their lives."" Gideon Strauss, Executive Director, Max De Pree Center for Leadership, Fuller Theological Seminary ""With this pearl of great value, Esther Meek lovingly and confidently shepherds us on a pilgrimage, a reconsidering and recovery of what it means to know. For those who commit to the journey, the hoped-for gifts await."" Bruce A. Vojak, Associate Dean of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and author of Serial Innovators ""This brilliant little manual captures the depth and simplicity of Esther Meek's work and invites the reader to apply wisdom to real-life complexities and problems."" Dan B. Allender, Professor of Counseling Psychology and Founding President, The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology ""Esther Meek distills deep wisdom with a care scholarly and pastoral at once. Any who wish to see the world more truly will be grateful for her illuminating intervention."" Eric Miller, Professor of American History, Geneva College, and award-winning author of Hope in a Scattering Time: A Life of Christopher Lasch ""A Little Manual for Knowing--essential reading for every university, every business, every church, and every home."" Makoto Fujimura, artist Esther Lightcap Meek is Professor of Philosophy at Geneva College in western Pennsylvania, and Instructor of Apologetics at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas. She is author of Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People (2003) and Loving to Know: Introducing Covenant Epistemology (2011).

A Little Manual for Knowing

Is knowledge discovered, or just invented? Can we ever get outside ourselves to know how reality is in itself, independent of us? Philosophical realism raises the question whether in our knowing we connect with an independent reality--or only connect with our own mental constructs. Far from being a silly parlor game, the question impacts our lives concretely and deeply. Modern Western culture has been infected with antirealism and the doubt, skepticism, subjectivism, relativism, and atheism that attends it--not to mention distrust and arbitrary (mis)use of reality. Premier scientist-turned-philosopher Michael Polanyi stepped aside from research to offer an innovative account of knowing that takes its cue from how discovery actually happens. Polanyi defied the antirealism of the twentieth century, sounding a ringing note of hope in his repeated claim that in discovery, we know we have made contact with reality because "we have a sense of the possibility of indeterminate future manifestations." And that sense marks contact with reality, because it is the way reality is: abundant, generous, and fraught with as-yet-unnameable possibilities. This book examines that distinctive claim, contrasting it to the wider philosophical discussions regarding realism and antirealism in the recent decades. It shows why Polanyi's outlook is superior, and why that matters, not just to scientific discoverers, but to us all.

Contact with Reality: Michael Polanyi's Realism and Why It Matters

Cascade Books

Is knowledge discovered, or just invented? Can we ever get outside ourselves to know how reality is in itself, independent of us? Philosophical realism raises the question whether in our knowing we connect with an independent reality--or only connect with our own mental constructs. Far from being a silly parlor game, the question impacts our lives concretely and deeply. Modern Western culture has been infected with antirealism and the doubt, skepticism, subjectivism, relativism, and atheism that attends it--not to mention distrust and arbitrary (mis)use of reality. Premier scientist-turned-philosopher Michael Polanyi stepped aside from research to offer an innovative account of knowing that takes its cue from how discovery actually happens. Polanyi defied the antirealism of the twentieth century, sounding a ringing note of hope in his repeated claim that in discovery, we know we have made contact with reality because ""we have a sense of the possibility of indeterminate future manifestations."" And that sense marks contact with reality, because it is the way reality is: abundant, generous, and fraught with as-yet-unnameable possibilities. This book examines that distinctive claim, contrasting it to the wider philosophical discussions regarding realism and antirealism in the recent decades. It shows why Polanyi's outlook is superior, and why that matters, not just to scientific discoverers, but to us all. ""In this lively book, Esther Lightcap Meek does more than simply make a compelling case for Polanyi's realism in the context of dominant epistemologies and philosophies of science; she also brings out a beautiful dimension of Polanyi's thought that is not often seen, deepening its metaphysical underpinnings through creative engagement with contemporary thinkers. This book makes a much-needed contribution to the reception of Polanyi--and offers a fresh, new way to think about reason more generally."" --D. C. Schindler, Associate Professor of Metaphysics and Anthropology, Pontifical John Paul II Institute, Washington, DC ""Justifiably renowned for her previous explorations of the knowing process, Meek here guides us expertly through Michael Polanyi's epistemology and commends to us a renewed and humble appreciation of the generosity of reality itself. In an era of 'post-truth' and 'alternative facts,' this account of how we may discover what is real is very welcome indeed."" --Murray Rae, Professor, Department of Theology and Religion, University of Otago, New Zealand ""In this inspiring work, Meek brings us back to the most fundamental point of all: 'the natural trust and communion with reality that lies at the heart of humanness.' This book is a philosophical celebration of that relation, in the idiom of Michael Polanyi, and all who are drawn to this topic will find it a compelling read."" --Oliver Davies, Professor of Christian Doctrine, King's College London ""Meek's fans will welcome this extension of her covenant epistemology to the metaphysics of realism, in careful conversation with contemporary philosophy. Polanyi's claim that knowing always bears indeterminate future manifestations is her theme, and it reaches an exciting climax in her comparison of Polanyi with Catholic thinkers Schindler and von Balthasar. This is an original, important contribution to preserving Mystery and furthering hope in the modern age, and deserves the widest readership. Take and read."" --David Rutledge, Pitts Professor Emeritus of Religion, Furman University; Past President, The Polanyi Society Esther Lightcap Meek is Professor of Philosophy at Geneva College. Her other books include Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People (2003); Loving to Know: Introducing Covenant Epistemology (2011); and A Little Manual for Knowing (2014). www.longingtoknow.com

Contact with Reality

Knowing is less about information and more about transformation; less about comprehension and more about being apprehended. This radical book develops the notion of covenant epistemology--an innovative, biblically compatible, holistic, embodied, life-shaping epistemological vision in which all knowing takes the shape of interpersonal, covenantal relationship. Rather than knowing in order to love, we love in order to know. Meek argues that all knowing is best understood as transformative encounter. Creatively blending insights from a diverse range of conversation partners--including Michael Polanyi, Michael D. Williams, Lesslie Newbigin, Parker Palmer, John Macmurray, Martin Buber, and James Loder--Meek offers critically needed "epistemological therapy" in response to the pervasive and damaging presumptions that those in Western culture continue to bring to efforts to know. The book's innovative approach--an unfolding journey of discovery-through-dialogue--itself subverts standard epistemological presumptions of timeless linearity. While it offers a sustained and sophisticated philosophical argument, Loving to Know's texts and textures interweave loosely to effect therapeutic epistemic transformation in the reader.

Loving to Know: Covenant Epistemology

In refreshing challenge to the common presumption that knowing involves amassing information, this book offers an eight-step approach that begins with love and pledge and ends with communion and shalom. Everyday adventures of knowing turn on a moment of insight that transforms and connects knower and known. No matter the field-science or art, business or theology, counseling or athletics-this little manual offers a how-to for knowing ventures. It offers concrete guidance to individuals or teams, students or professionals, along with plenty of exercises to spark the process of discovery, design, artistry, or mission.

Your artistry involves you intimately with the world around and beyond you. So your artistry involves profound but simple philosophical matters. As a human person, you are artful and philosophical, at the core of your being. Doorway to Artistry offers a playful, everyday philosophical approach necessary for life, integration, healing, and thriving in artistry. It reflects on the real and how we are involved with it, especially in our creative effort. In short, the real hospitably welcomes us, and in our artistry we reciprocate in noble courtesy. Human persons were made for this communion with the real. Find in this book a hospitable welcome to belong at home beyond where you are.

Doorway to Artistry: Attuning Your Philosophy to Enhance Your Creativity

Arts & Photography

Doorway to Artistry

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Meek, Esther Lightcap. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Meek, Esther Lightcap

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Meek, Esther Lightcap. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Practices of a Healthy Church: Biblical Strategies for Vibrant Church Life and Ministry

Loving to Know

A Little Manual for Knowing

Contact with Reality: Michael Polanyi's Realism and Why It Matters

Contact with Reality

Loving to Know: Covenant Epistemology

A Little Manual for Knowing

Doorway to Artistry: Attuning Your Philosophy to Enhance Your Creativity

Doorway to Artistry