Way Back to God: The Spiritual Theology of Saint Bonaventure

Bonaventure was a great pastor and preacher, and also a very effective teacher. His writing shows clarity and conviction, and his authority arose from his profound grasp of Scripture and patristic monastic tradition. The force behind how he wrote sprang from his keen sense of the significance of Francis and Clare and all that flowed from them, not least into his own spiritual life and experience as a person of deep contemplative and mystical prayer. Way Back to God is a comprehensive conspectus and study of how Bonaventure taught Christian theology and applied it to spiritual life. It is intended to be a guide through most of his writings (though not as a substitute for reading them). It provides a bridge into his thought, and also a remarkable hand-book of Christian theology in its bearing upon spiritual life. Douglas Dales' new work enables Bonaventure's distinctive spiritual theology to be seen as a whole, as well as making his writings, in Latin or English, accessible and attractive.

Religion & Spirituality

Dales, Douglas

Christian Books & Bibles

James Clarke

The Reformation era has long been seen as crucial in developing the institutions and society of the English-speaking peoples, and study of the Tudor and Stuart era is at the heart of most courses in English history. The influence of the Book of Common Prayer and the King James version of the Bible created the modern English language, but there has been no collection of contemporary documents available to show how the momentous social and political changes took place. Gerald Bray's comprehensive collection covers the period from 1526 to 1700. The book contains many texts previously relatively inaccessible, along with others more widely known. The book also provides informative appendixes, including comparative tables of the different articles and confessions, showing their mutual relationships and dependence. Containing fifty-eight documents covering all the main Statutes, Injunctions and Orders, Prefaces to prayer books, Biblical translations and other relevant texts, Documentsof the English Reformation is an invaluable resource for students, and a useful aide memoire for scholars in Theology, the English Church, and late medieval and early modern English history.

Documents of the English Reformation (3) (Library of Ecclesiastical History)

History

Bray, Gerald

World

In Blind Evolution?: The Nature of Humanity and the Origin of Life, Professor David Frost challenges the dominant worldview derived from Darwin's evolutionary theories and perpetuated in Richard Dawkins's atheistic propaganda for Neo-Darwinism: that our universe has 'at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference'. Frost deploys recent findings from a range of scientific studies that shake Neo-Darwinism to its foundation. Citing entertaining examples, from the inner workings of a single cell to the animal kingdom at large, from elephants and giraffes to the Japanese pufferfish, Frost maintains that Darwinian premises are wholly inadequate to engage with life or to provide a framework for our experiences of joy and sorrow, the problem of suffering, and the stark realities of good and evil. Reflecting on the nature of existence, Frost points to a mode of human understanding parallel to scientific enquiry through the path of 'vision' accessed via the nous (or spiritual intellect). He argues that 'vision' is as much essential to our understanding of creation as is scientific enquiry - reality is best approached through a complementary partnership of both.

Blind Evolution?: The Nature of Humanity and the Origin of Life

FROST, DAVID

Science & Math

The aim of the book is to contribute to the development of Christian bioethics. Particularly, it constitutes a Christian critique of the sovereign bioethics - he kind of bioethics that shapes the relevant discussions in the public arena, and unjustifiably imposes particular values, boundaries and conditions on the discussion relevant to bioethical dilemmas - with special reference to the issues surrounding euthanasia. This critique is made, firstly, on the ground of the assumption that all theories of human existence, including sovereign bioethics share a common ground - all theories serve their own needs of self-presentation through presenting their subjective principles as objective and therefore as appropriate for power claims over human life. This is exemplified through a thorough analysis of the current discussion on euthanasia. Such a procedure is an innovative way on how current bioethics should be examined and evaluated. Such a critique of the sovereign bioethics is further developed on the ground of the patristic tradition and particularly the works of John Damascene and Symeon the New Theologian. Within such a context, the fundamental elements of a Christian anthropology regarding the constitution of man, the character of pain and death as well as the importance of the free will in man are discussed. This discussion is culminated in the presentation of the character of the Christian voluntary death along with its implications from a bioethical point of view.

Euthanasia and Patristic Tradition: Reading John Damascene and Symeon the New Theologian on Christian Bioethics

Bekos, Ioannis

Euthanasia and Patristic Tradition presents secular and Christian bioethics as opposing forces in dialogue, highlights the importance of the Christian Patristic tradition in revealing disguised characteristics of bioethics in our era, and challenges the idea of individualism in modern societies through the development of a Christian individualism. While the book is focussed on euthanasia, it also offers important perspectives on other ethical dilemmas. Ioannis Bekos applies Panagiotis Kondylis's theory for the emergence of worldviews as a function of power where all ethical theories have been proved to be subjective. Bringing together bioethical theories and just war theory, he exposes the disguised power claims of modern bioethics over human existence. Then, through an account of the history of thought, society, and politics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Bekos delivers a profound critique of the idea of common morality, popular theories such as principlism and contractualism, ethicists like Peter Singer, and philosophers like Habermas. Using the works of St John Damascene and St Symeon the New Theologian, Bekos shows the fundamental elements of a Christian anthropology regarding the constitution of man, the character of pain and death, and the importance of the free will in man, offering a critique of modern bioethics.

Where should God be in thinking about society, or society in thinking about God? This book shows how philosophy can help non-philosophers with these questions. It shows that intelligence is the product, not the source, of society and language, and the rationality of individuals is inevitably conditioned by the distinctive customs and beliefs of their societies. Addressing the idea that religion can impede the smooth running of society, it argues that the Western concept of religion is taken from Christianity and cannot usefully be extended to non-European cultures. But any society will be threatened by a sub-society with customs conflicting with those of the whole in which it exists, and Jews, Christians and Muslims have sometimes formed such sub-societies. Charlton proceeds to consider how our dependence upon society fits with traditional beliefs about creation, salvation and life after death, and offers a synthesis that is new without being unorthodox. He indicates where Christian customs concerning birth, death, sex and education conflict with those of secular liberalism and considers which culture, Christian or secular liberal, has the better chance of prevailing in a globalised world.

Society and God: Culture and Creed from a Philosophical Standpoint

Charlton, William

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Sino-Vatican Relations: From Denunciation to Dialogue

For those interested in Christianity in China, the state-church relationship, and the present Communist regime and its attitude towards religion, Sino-Vatican Relations offers a wealth of information and insights. This work traces the tortuous history of the relationship between the Chinese government and the Roman Catholic Church, from denunciation of Communism by the Church, to seeking dialogue by recent pontiffs such as John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. Besides examining the religious policy of China since 1949 and how the Chinese government deals with religious revivals, this work also traces the history of the church regarding the appointment of bishops in Europe from its early days to modern times. Monarchies in Europe have always been involved in the appointment of bishops. Thus, the recent agreement between Pope Francis and the Chinese authorities regarding the appointment of bishops has historical precedents. The overall aim of this work is to help readers to get the right information needed to have a well-informed opinion on the complex matter of the Sino-Vatican Relations, particularly on the agreement signed by Pope Francis with Beijing in 2018.

Mong, Ambrose

Asia

Basilio Petra sees Christos Yannaras (b. 1935) as a philosopher and theologian whose refiguring, on the one hand, of Heidegger's refusal to define being in ontic terms and, on the other, of Wittgenstein's willingness to admit the inexpressible character of the mystical has led him to articulate a powerful vision of true human existence. This bold interpretation outlines the passage from an ontic 'mode of nature' governed by necessity to a 'mode of self-transcendence and self-offering' beyond the limitations of decay and death. In his native Greece, Yannaras revolutionised the way theology had been done for much of the twentieth century. This book examines the trajectory of Yannaras' thought from his initial encounter with Heidegger's philosophy to his formulation (via the tradition of the Greek Fathers) of a modern critical ontology. It is for both advanced students of philosophy and the growing scholarly audience interested in Yannaras' work. Written in accessible language that does not compromise intellectual rigour, it is the only survey of the development of Yannaras' philosophical thought as a whole.

Christos Yannaras: The Apophatic Horizon of Ontology

Reference

Petra, Basilio

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

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Books by James Clarke

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Way Back to God: The Spiritual Theology of Saint Bonaventure

Way Back to God: The Spiritual Theology of Saint Bonaventure

Documents of the English Reformation (3) (Library of Ecclesiastical History)

Blind Evolution?: The Nature of Humanity and the Origin of Life

Euthanasia and Patristic Tradition: Reading John Damascene and Symeon the New Theologian on Christian Bioethics

Euthanasia and Patristic Tradition: Reading John Damascene and Symeon the New Theologian on Christian Bioethics

Society and God: Culture and Creed from a Philosophical Standpoint

Society and God: Culture and Creed from a Philosophical Standpoint

Sino-Vatican Relations: From Denunciation to Dialogue

Christos Yannaras: The Apophatic Horizon of Ontology