School of Practical Christianity

God

Armstrong, Karen The Case for God

A nuanced exploration of the part that religion plays in human life, drawing on the insights of the past in order to build a faith that speaks to the needs of our dangerously polarized age.

Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that it called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable? Why is it that atheists and theists alike now think and speak about God in a way that veers so profoundly from the thinking of our ancestors?

Answering these questions with the same depth of knowledge and profound insight that have marked all her acclaimed books, Armstrong makes clear how the changing face of the world has necessarily changed the importance of religion at both the societal and the individual level.  Yet she cautions us that religion was never supposed to provide answers that lie within the competence of human reason; that, she says, is the role of logos. The task of religion is “to help us live creatively, peacefully, and even joyously with realities for which there are no easy explanations.” She emphasizes, too, that religion will not work automatically. It is, she says, a practical discipline: its insights are derived not from abstract speculation but from “dedicated intellectual endeavor” and a “compassionate lifestyle that enables us to break out of the prism of selfhood.”

Armstrong, Karen A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

In this stunningly intelligent book, Karen Armstrong, one of Britain's foremost commentators on religious affairs, traces the history of how men and women have perceived and experienced God, from the time of Abraham to the present. From classical philsophy and medieval mysticism to the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the modern age of skepticism, Karen Armstrong performs the near miracle of distilling the intellectual history of monotheism into one superbly readable volume destined to take its place as a classic.

Miles, Jack God: A Biography

What sort of "person" is God? Is it possible to approach him not as an object of religious reverence, but as the protagonist of the world's greatest book--as a character who possesses all the depths, contradictions, and abiguities of a Hamlet? In this "brilliant, audacious book" (Chicago Tribune), a former Jesuit marshalls a vast array of learning and knowledge of the Hebrew Bible to illuminate God--and man--with a sense of discovery and wonder.

Philliips, J.B. Your God Is Too Small: A Guide for Believers and Skeptics Alike

In Your God Is Too Small, J. B. Phillips explains that the trouble facing many of us today is that we have not found a God big enough for our modern needs. In a world where our experience of life has grown in myriad directions, and our mental horizons have been expanded to the point of bewilderment by world events and scientific discoveries, our ideas of God have remained largely static. It is nearly impossible, Phillips argues, for an adult to worship the conception of God that exists in the mind of a child of Sunday-school age, the "God-in-a-box" notion, limiting God to such inadequate conceptions as "Resident Policeman," "Grand Old Man," "Meek-and-Mild," and "Managing Director." As a result of these insufficient ideas of God, many people live with an inner dissatisfaction, without any faith at all.

Your God Is Too Small explores the ways in which we can find a truly meaningful and constructive God for ourselves, big enough to account for our current experience of life and big enough to command our highest admiration and respect.

Wright, Robert The Evolution of God

In this sweeping narrative that takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archaeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy. He explains why spirituality has a role today, and why science, contrary to conventional wisdom, affirms the validity of the religious quest. And this previously unrecognized evolutionary logic points not toward continued religious extremism, but future harmony.

Nearly a decade in the making, The Evolution of God is a breathtaking re-examination of the past, and a visionary look forward.

Jesus

Borg, Marcus J. Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith

Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining.

For questioning believers, doubters, and reluctant unbelievers alike, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time frees our understanding of Jesus' life and message from popular misconceptions and outlines the way to a sound and contemporary faith: "For ultimately, Jesus is not simply a figure of the past, but a figure of the present. Meeting that Jesus—the living one who comes to us even now—will be like meeting Jesus again for the first time."

Crossan, John Domininc and Jonathan L. Reed Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts

There have been phenomenal advances in the historical understanding of Jesus and his world and times, but also huge, lesser known advances in first–century Palestine archaeology that explain a great deal about Jesus, his followers, and his teachings. This is the first book that combines the two and it does it in a fresh, accessible way that will interest both biblical scholars and students and also the thousands of lay readers of Biblical Archaeology Review (150,000+ circulation), National Geographic, and other archaeology and ancient history books and magazines. Each chapter of the book focuses on a major modern archaeological or textual discovery and shows how that discovery opens a window onto a major feature of Jesus's life and teachings.

Harvey, Andrew Son of Man: The Mystical Path to Christ

Named one of the Best Books of 1998 by Publishers Weekly, here is the seminal work on the Christ of the early mystics and saints by the bestselling author of Hidden Journey and coauthor of the classic The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. For the first time in any of his books, Harvey provides spiritual exercises--centuries-old rites previously available only to a few--that allow the reader direct experience with the mystical Christ. Son of Man also includes an easily accessible section of classic readings and meditations on the nature of Christ, making it the comprehensive experience in the Christ of the new millennium.

Levine, Amy-Jill The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus

In the The Misunderstood Jew, scholar Amy-Jill Levine helps Christians and Jews understand the "Jewishness" of Jesus so that their appreciation of him deepens and a greater interfaith dialogue can take place. Levine's humor and informed truth-telling provoke honest conversation and debate about how Christians and Jews should understand Jesus, the New Testament, and one other.

Newell, J. Philip Christ of the Celts: The Healing of Creation

“I explore the Celtic image of Christ as the Memory of what we have forgotten. He remembers the dance of the universe and the harmony that is deep within all things. He is the Memory also of who we are.“ — from the Prelude

“Diagnosing the human soul with a longing for peace in the face of fear and fragmentation nurtured by global political forces and fundamentalisms, Newell offers the ancient traditions of Celtic Christianity as a way forward in healing humankind and the earth“ — Publishers Weekly

“This graceful, wise, and important book is a superb introduction to the treasures of Celtic Christianity for our time.“ — Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity

Spong, John Shelby Jesus for the Non-Religious

Spong invites his readers to look at Jesus through the lens of both the Jewish scriptures and the liturgical life of the first-century synagogue. Dismissing the dispute about Jesus' nature that consumed the church's leadership for the first 500 years of Christian history as irrelevant, Spong proposes a new way of understanding the divinity of Christ: as the ultimate dimension of a fulfilled humanity. Traditional Christians who still cling to dated concepts of the past will not be comfortable with this book; however, skeptics of the twenty-first century will not be quite so certain that dismissing Jesus is the correct pathway to walk. Jesus for the Non-Religious may be the book that finally brings the pious and the secular into a meaningful dialogue, opening the door to a living Christianity in the post-Christian world.

Living

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship

One of the most important theologians of the twentieth century illuminates the relationship between ourselves and the teachings of Jesus

What can the call to discipleship, the adherence to the word of Jesus, mean today to the businessman, the soldier, the laborer, or the aristocrat? What did Jesus mean to say to us? What is his will for us today? Drawing on the Sermon on the Mount, Dietrich Bonhoeffer answers these timeless questions by providing a seminal reading of the dichotomy between "cheap grace" and "costly grace." "Cheap grace," Bonhoeffer wrote, "is the grace we bestow on ourselves...grace without discipleship....Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the girl which must be asked for, the door at which a man must know....It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."

The Cost of Discipleship is a compelling statement of the demands of sacrifice and ethical consistency from a man whose life and thought were exemplary articulations of a new type of leadership inspired by the Gospel, and imbued with the spirit of Christian humanism and a creative sense of civic duty.

Life Together

After his martyrdom at the hands of the Gestapo in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer continued his witness in the hearts of Christians around the world. In Life Together we have his experience of Christian community. This story of a unique fellowship in an underground seminary during the Nazi years reads like one of Paul's letters. It gives practical advice on how life together in Christ can be sustained in families and groups. The role of personal prayer, worship in common, everyday work, and Christian service is treated in simple, almost biblical, words. Life Together is bread for all who are hungry for the real life of Christian fellowship.

Borg, Marcus J. The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith

World-renowned Jesus scholar Marcus J. Borg shows how we can live passionately as Christians in today's world by practicing the vital elements of Christian faith.

For the millions of people who have turned away from many traditional beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible, but still long for a relevant, nourishing faith, Borg shows why the Christian life can remain a transforming relationship with God. Emphasizing the critical role of daily practice in living the Christian life, he explores how prayer, worship, Sabbath, pilgrimage, and more can be experienced as authentically life-giving practices.

Borg reclaims terms and ideas once thought to be the sole province of evangelicals and fundamentalists: he shows that terms such as "born again" have real meaning for all Christians; that the "Kingdom of God" is not a bulwark against secularism but is a means of transforming society into a world that values justice and love; and that the Christian life is essentially about opening one's heart to God and to others.

Hanh, Thich Nhat Living Buddha, Living Christ - 10th Anniversary Edition of the classic text, updated, revised, and featuring a Mindful Living Journal

Buddha and Christ, perhaps the two most pivotal figures in the history of humankind, each left behind a legacy of teachings and practices that have shaped the lives of billions of people over two millennia. If they were to meet on the road today, what would each think of the other's spiritual views and practices? In this classic text for spiritual seekers, Thich Nhat Hanh explores the crossroads of compassion and holiness at which the two traditions meet, and he reawakens our understanding of both.

James, William The Varieties Of Religious Experience: A Study In Human Nature

The Varieties Of Religious Experience: A Study In Human Nature, written by legendary author William James, is widely considered to be one of the greatest classic texts of all time.

Lewis, C. S. The Screwtape Letters: How a Senior Devil Instructs a Junior Devil in the Art of Temptation

C. S. Lewis was one of the greatest Christian writers of our age. His Screwtape Letters still stirs considerable controversy. He wrote from the perspective of a devil giving advice to another devil in how to tempt a Christian. In doing so, he reveals to us how we let evil into our own lives. Lewis's work has influenced three generations of Christian thinkers and will continue to be a seminal Christian work.

Miles, Sara Jesus Freak: Feeding Healing Raising the Dead

“I came late to Christianity,” writes Sara Miles, “knocked upside down by a mid-life conversion centered around eating a literal chunk of bread. I hadn't decided to profess an article of doctrine, but discovered a force blowing uncontrollably through the world.”

In this book, Sara Miles tells what happened when she decided to follow the flesh and blood Jesus by doing something real. For everyone afraid to feed hungry strangers, love the unlovable, or go to dark places to bless and heal, she offers hope. She holds out the promise of a God who gave a bunch of housewives and fishermen authority to forgive sins and raise the dead, and who continues to call us to action. And she tells, in vivid, heartbreakingly honest stories, how the ordinary people around her are transformed by taking up God's work in the world.

Sara Miles offers a fresh, fully embodied faith that sweeps away the anxious formulas of religion to reveal the scandalous power of eating with sinners, embracing the unclean, and loving the wrong people. Jesus Freak: Feeding Healing Raising the Dead is her inspiring book for undomesticated Christians who still believe, as she writes, “that Jesus has given us the power to be Jesus.“

Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion

Early one morning, for no earthly reason, Sara Miles, raised an atheist, wandered into a church, received communion, and found herself transformed–embracing a faith she’d once scorned. A lesbian left-wing journalist who’d covered revolutions around the world, Miles didn’t discover a religion that was about angels or good behavior or piety; her faith centered on real hunger, real food, and real bodies. Before long, she turned the bread she ate at communion into tons of groceries, piled on the church’s altar to be given away. Within a few years, she and the people she served had started nearly a dozen food pantries in the poorest parts of their city.

Take This Bread is rich with real-life Dickensian characters–church ladies, millionaires, schizophrenics, bishops, and thieves–all blown into Miles’s life by the relentless force of her newfound calling. Here, in this achingly beautiful, passionate book, is the living communion of Christ.

Pagels, Elaine Adam, Eve, and the Serpent: Sex and Politics in Early Christianity

Deepens and refreshes our view of early Christianity while casting a disturbing light on the evolution of the attitudes passed down to us

Rohr, Richard Falling Upward

In Falling Upward, Fr. Richard Rohr seeks to help readers understand the tasks of the two halves of life and to show them that those who have fallen, failed, or "gone down" are the only ones who understand "up." Most of us tend to think of the second half of life as largely about getting old, dealing with health issues, and letting go of life, but the whole thesis of this book is exactly the opposite. What looks like falling down can largely be experienced as "falling upward." In fact, it is not a loss but somehow actually a gain, as we have all seen with elders who have come to their fullness.

The Naked Now

For Christians seeking a way of thinking outside of strict dualities, this guide explores methods for letting go of division and living in the present. Drawn from the Gospels, Jesus, Paul, and the great Christian contemplatives, this examination reveals how many of the hidden truths of Christianity have been misunderstood or lost and how to read them with the eyes of the mystics rather than interpreting them through rational thought. Filled with sayings, stories, quotations, and appeals to the heart, specific methods for identifying dualistic thinking are presented with simple practices for stripping away ego and the fear of dwelling in the present.

Sleeth, Natalie Go Green, Save Green: A Simple Guide to Saving Time, Money, and God's Green Earth

Many people want to “go green” but put it off because they believe it's too time consuming and too expensive. Not so! Nancy Sleeth and her family have been living an eco-friendly lifestyle for years saving both time and money. Now, for the first time, she divulges hundreds of practical, easy-to-implement steps that you can take to create substantial money savings while protecting the earth. Sleeth also demonstrates how going green helps people live more God-centered lives by becoming better stewards of financial and natural resources. Chapter titles include: (1) Home, (2) Lawn and Garden, (3) Work, (4) Transportation, (5) Food, (6) Sabbath, (7) Holidays, (8) Entertainment, (9) School, (10) Church, (11) Nature, and (12) Community.

Wilber, Ken A Brief History of Everything

A Brief History of Everything is an altogether friendly and accessible account of men and women's place in a universe of sex, soul, and spirit, written by an author of whom New York Times reporter Tony Schwartz says: "No one has described the path to wisdom better than Ken Wilber."

Wilber examines the course of evolution as the unfolding manifestation of Spirit, from matter to life to mind, including the higher stages of spiritual development where Spirit becomes conscious of itself. In each of these domains, there are recurring patterns, and by looking closely at them, we can learn much about the predicament of our world—and the direction we must take if "global transformation" is to become a reality.

Wilber offers a series of striking and original views on many topics of current interest and controversy, including the gender wars, modern liberation movements, multiculturalism, ecology and environmental ethics, and the conflict between this-worldly and otherworldly approaches to spirituality. The result is an extraordinary and exhilarating ride through the Kosmos in the company of one of the great thinkers of our time.

Prayer and Contemplation

Bourgeault, Cynthia Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening

Practitioners of Centering Prayer are known for the great enthusiasm they bring to the practice of this ancient discipline. Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening is a complete guidebook for all who wish to know the practice of Centering Prayer. Cynthia Bourgeault goes further than offering an introduction, however. She examines how the practice is related to the classic tradition of Christian contemplation, looks at the distinct nuances of its method, and explores its revolutionary potential to transform Christian life. The book encourages dialogue between Centering Prayer enthusiasts and those classic institutions of Christian nurture—churches, seminaries, and schools of theology—that have yet to accept real ownership of the practice and its potential.

Keating, Thomas Open Mind, Open Heart - 20th Anniversary Edition

Open Mind, Open Heart will take you into a world where God can do anything, into a realm of the greatest adventure—"Where one is open to the Infinite and hence to infinite possibilities." The 20th anniversary edition consists of a substantial new preface, an expanded glossary, some changes in terminology, and a reordering of several chapters.

Rohr, Richard Everything Belongs

This popular and bestselling book of the renowned Franciscan challenges people to move beyond the comfort of a settled life toward an understanding of themselves that is rooted in their connection to God. Only when they rest in God can they find the certainty and the freedom to become all that they can be. Contemplation has its place at the heart of Christianity, a place that allows people to experience how “everything belongs.”

Vennard, Jane E. Embracing the World: Praying for Justice and Peace

Embracing the World is your guide to finding a deeper relationship with God through prayer and to seeing how your prayers can contribute to healing the world. Author Jane E. Vennard helps you understand how best to use your spiritual gifts and graces to serve God as well as the cause of peace and social justice on earth.Embracing the World reveals the twofold nature of prayer as both contemplation and action. Vennard explains that prayer is a cycle where prayer leads to service and service leads to reflection and back to God. Throughout the book, she explores many different forms of outward-reaching prayer and includes a wealth of vivid descriptions, helpful explanations, captivating stories, and biblical and theological reflections.

Religions and Denominations

Alsan, Reza No god but God (Updated Edition): The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam

In No god but God, internationally acclaimed scholar Reza Aslan explains Islam—the origins and evolution of the faith—in all its beauty and complexity. This updated edition addresses the events of the past decade, analyzing how they have influenced Islam’s position in modern culture. Aslan explores what the popular demonstrations pushing for democracy in the Middle East mean for the future of Islam in the region, how the Internet and social media have affected Islam’s evolution, and how the war on terror has altered the geopolitical balance of power in the Middle East. He also provides an update on the contemporary Muslim women’s movement, a discussion of the controversy over veiling in Europe, an in-depth history of Jihadism, and a look at how Muslims living in North America and Europe are changing the face of Islam. Timely and persuasive, No god but God is an elegantly written account that explains this magnificent yet misunderstood faith.

Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity

A forceful and accessible discussion of Christian belief that has become one of the most popular introductions to Christianity and one of the most popular of Lewis's books. Uncovers common ground upon which all Christians can stand together.

MacCulloch, Diarmaid Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years

A product of electrifying scholarship conveyed with commanding skill, Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity goes back to the origins of the Hebrew Bible and encompasses the globe. It captures the major turning points in human history and fills in often neglected accounts of conversion and confrontation in Africa, Latin America and Asia. And it uncovers the roots of the faith that galvanized America, charting the surprising beliefs of the founding fathers, the rise of the Evangelical movement and of Pentecostalism, and the recent crisis within the Catholic Church. Bursting with original insights and a great pleasure to read, this monumental history will not soon be surpassed.

The Reformation

At a time when men and women were prepared to kill—and be killed—for their faith, the Reformation tore the Western world apart. Acclaimed as the definitive account of these epochal events, Diarmaid MacCulloch’s award-winning new history brilliantly re-creates the religious battles of priests, monarchs, scholars, and politicians—from the zealous Martin Luther to the radical Loyola, from the tortured Cranmer to the ambitious Philip II.

Drawing together the many strands of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and ranging widely across Europe and the New World, MacCulloch reveals as never before how these dramatic upheavals affected everyday lives—overturning ideas of love, sex, death, and the supernatural, and shaping the modern age.

McLaren, Brian A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I am a...

Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, catholic, green, incarnational, depressed- yet hopeful, emergent, unfinished Christian si a confession and manifesto from a senior leader in the emerging church movement. A Generous Orthodoxycalls for a radical, Christ-centered orthodoxy of faith and practice in a missional, generous spirit. Brian McLaren argues for a post-liberal, post-conservative, post-protestant convergence, which will stimulate lively interest and global conversation among thoughtful Christians from all traditions. In a sweeping exploration of belief, author Brian McLaren takes us across the landscape of faith, envisioning an orthodoxy that aims for Jesus, is driven by love, and is defined by missional intent. A Generous Orthodoxy rediscovers the mysterious and compelling ways that Jesus can be embraced across the entire Christian horizon. Rather than establishing what is and is not 'orthodox,' McLaren walks through the many traditions of faith, bringing to the center a way of life that draws us closer to Christ and to each other. Whether you find yourself inside, outside, or somewhere on the fringe of Christianity, A Generous Orthodoxy draws you toward a way of living that looks beyond the 'us/them' paradigm to the blessed and ancient paradox of 'we.'

Prothero, Stephen God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World

In the twenty-first century, religion remains the single greatest influence in the world. But, argues religion scholar Stephen Prothero, persistent attempts to portray all religions as different paths to the same God overlook the distinct human problem that each seeks to solve. For example:

Islam: the problem is pride / the solution is submission.
Christianity: the problem is sin / the solution is salvation.
Buddhism: the problem is suffering / the solution is awakening.
Judaism: the problem is exile / the solution is to return to God.

God Is Not One is an indispensable guide to the questions human beings have asked for millennia—and to the disparate paths we are taking to answer them today.

Spong, John Shelby Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers In Exile

An important and respected voice for liberal American Christianity for the past twenty years, Bishop John Shelby Spong integrates his often controversial stands on the Bible, Jesus, theism, and morality into an intelligible creed that speaks to today's thinking Christian. In this compelling and heartfelt book, he sounds a rousing call for a Christianity based on critical thought rather than blind faith, on love rather than judgment, and that focuses on life more than religion.

Science

Dalai Lama The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality

Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, Niels Bohr, Einstein. Their insights shook our perception of who we are and where we stand in the world, and in their wake have left an uneasy coexistence: science vs. religion, faith vs. empirical inquiry. Which is the keeper of truth? Which is the true path to understanding reality? After forty years of study with some of the greatest scientific minds, as well as a lifetime of meditative, spiritual, and philosophic study, the Dalai Lama presents a brilliant analysis of why all avenues of inquiry—scientific as well as spiritual—must be pursued in order to arrive at a complete picture of the truth. Through an examination of Darwinism and karma, quantum mechanics and philosophical insight into the nature of reality, neurobiology and the study of consciousness, the Dalai Lama draws significant parallels between contemplative and scientific examinations of reality.

Haisch, Bernard In this engrossing new book, Dr. Bernard Haisch contends that there is a purpose and an underlying intelligence behind the Universe, one that is consistent with modern science, especially the Big Bang and evolution. It is based on recent discoveries that there are numerous coincidences and fine-tunings of the laws of nature that seem extraordinarily unlikely.

A more rational concept of God is called for. As astrophysicist Sir James Jeans wrote, “the Universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine.”

Despite bestsellers by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and Sam Harris that have denounced the evils of religion and proclaimed that science has shown that there is no God, The Purpose-Guided Universe shows how one can believe in God and science.

Peacocke, Arthur All That Is: A Naturalistic Faith for the Twenty-First Century

During the last year of his life, Arthur Peacocke raced against time to formulate a final comprehensive overview of his "emergentist - naturalist - panentheist" perspective. A group of ten specialists in science-and-religion then composed commentaries and critiques of Peacocke's new "Essay in Interpretation." In the last weeks and months of his life, Peacocke drew together a final set of reflections on and replies to their chapters. Peacocke's "Nunc Dimittis," his final theological reflections in the days before his death, completes this volume. Peacocke's brief sketch of how God and nature and humanity interrelate will prove a nascent classic in the field and a touchstone for further reflection. Led by editor Philip Clayton, respondents include: Nancey Murphy, Ann Pederson, Philip Hefner, John Polkinghorne, Karl E. Peters, Donald M. Braxton, Robert John Russell, Keith Ward, Christopher C. Knight, and Willem B. Drees.

Taylor, Barbara Brown The Luminous Web: Essays on Science and Religion

In these essays on the dialogue between science and Christian faith, Barbara Brown Taylor describes her journey as a preacher learning what the insights of quantum physics, the new biology, and chaos theory can teach a person of faith. She seeks to discover why scientists sound like poets and why physicists use the language of imagination, ambiguity, and mystery also found in scripture. In explaining why the church should care about the new insights of science, Taylor suggests ways we might close the gap between spirit and matter, between the sacred and the secular. We live in the midst of a “web of creation” where nothing is without consequence and where all things coexist, even in such a way that each of us changes the world, whether we know it or not. In this luminous web faith and science join on a single path, seeking to learn the same truths about life in the universe. “For a moment,” Taylor writes, “we see through a glass darkly. We live in the illusion that we are all separate ‘I ams.’ When the fog finally clears, we shall know there is only One.”

Scripture

Borg, Marcus Reading the Bible Again For the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously But Not Literally

One of the vital challenges facing thoughtful people today is how to read the Bible faithfully without abandoning our sense of truth and history. Reading the Bible Again for the First Time provides a much-needed solution to the problem of how to have a fully authentic yet contemporary understanding of the scriptures. Many mistakenly believe there are no choices other than fundamentalism or simply rejecting the Bible as something that can bring meaning to our lives. Answering this modern dilemma, acclaimed author Marcus Borg reveals how it is possible to reconcile the Bible with both a scientific and critical way of thinking and our deepest spiritual needs, leading to a contemporary yet grounded experience of the sacred texts.

Pagels, Elaine The Gnostic Gospels

A provocative study of the gnostic gospels and the world of early Christianity as revealed through the Nag Hammadi texts

Leong, Kenneth S. The Zen Teachings of Jesus

"I left Jesus to search for the Tao when I was sixteen," writes Kenneth Leong. "Now I am forty and realize that I could have found the Tao in Jesus." This is an intriguing book that reveals how Zen philosophy parallels the core message of the gospel. It is the spiritual side of Zen, the art to trust and accept life that coincides with the core of the Gospel message. For power, dogma and doctrine were not Jesus' passion, but the mystery of life and the possibility of love. Sometimes people have overlooked the joy, the humor and the depth of Jesus' teachings—often because they could not surmount the narrow confines of openness to the scripture's power to transform our lives.

Segal, Jerome M. Joseph's Bones: Understanding the Struggle Between God and Mankind in the Bible

Imagine if someone who had never heard of Judaism or Christianity read the Old Testament. How could the relationship between God and humanity possibly be understood? In Joseph's Bones, Segal approaches the Bible from this fresh perspective-one framed by the story of the Israelites' fidelity to Joseph-and finds something unexpected: an account of the human condition that reads like an existential novel about the struggle of mankind against the unpredictable and often unwarranted wrath of God. This is a rarity in Biblical interpretation- brilliant and rigorously argued, "a work of stunning originality."

Spong, John Shelby

The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love

The Bible contains many passages that believers and nonbelievers alike would recognize as appalling theology. Whether these texts are used to discriminate, oppress, or condemn, they distort the truth of Christianity and cast doubt upon the love of God. Now, legendary Episcopal bishop and advocate for liberal Christianity John Shelby Spong addresses these passages, shattering our misconceptions and delivering a new vision of how Christians today can use the Bible.

Spirituality

Bauman, Lynn C. Foundations of Christian Spirituality
The Biblical Tradition: Revised Edition with Study Guide

Spirituality is a worldwide phenomenon - evident everywhere since human beings everywhere exhibit the same deep design of their spiritual origins. Christianity expresses that spirituality in its own unique fashion. This newly revised text offers both beginning and advanced studients an opportunity to investigate and explore the foundations and roots of Christian spirituality as they were expressed early in the tradition and came to be understood and lived throughout the centuries. Based upon Scripture and Tradition, this primer not only lays a foundation, but builds upon it step-by-step so that the material can become part of daily life. Readers are encouraged not only to explore Christian spirituality, but to make it their own through study, reflection, inquiry and contemplative prayer.

McLaren, Brian Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words

In Naked Spirituality, McLaren confronts how the lack of a simple, doable, durable spirituality undermines the very transformation God is calling us to undergo. As a result, our religious structures become tools to maintain the status quo and not catalysts for personal and social change. McLaren presents a four-stage framework for understanding the spiritual life, and he unfolds spiritual practices appropriate to each stage. Each practice is rooted in a simple word: here, thanks, O, sorry, help, please, when, no, why, behold, yes, and silence. Naked Spirituality offers accessible, practical wisdom for living a truly spiritual life. Staying true to Jesus's core message while engaging faithfully with our postmodern world, McLaren presents a proven spiritual program for engaging in and sustaining a meaningful relationship with God.

Newell, J. Philip Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Sprirtuality

An overview of Celtic spirituality and its implications for us today with chapters on Goodness: Pelagius, Creation: Eriugena, Good in All Things: Carmina Cadelica, Imagination: George MacDonald, Acting: George MacLeod, and Two Ways: John and Peter

Fiction

Borg, Marcus J. Putting Away Childish Things: A Tale of Modern Faith

In Putting Away Childish Things, Marcus Borg weaves his insightful teachings on Christianity into a new form—fiction. In this compelling tale, we meet Kate—a popular religion professor at a liberal arts college in a small midwestern town who thinks her life is right on track. She loves her job, is happy with her personal and spiritual life, and her guilty pleasure consists of passing her afternoons at the local pub with a pint of Guinness and a cigarette. Life is good.

Putting Away Childish Things is an engaging way for readers to learn about the important issues dividing Christians today. Along the way, we join with the characters to ask the hard questions such as what does the Bible really teach? Who is Jesus? What is the nature of faith today?

This is a story that promises to leave us different in the end than when we started, as we learn how even in the twenty-first century, God works in mysterious ways.

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Lewis, C. S. The Great Divorce

What if anyone in Hell could take a bus trip to Heaven and stay there forever if they wanted to? In The Great Divorce C. S. Lewis again employs his formidable talent for fable and allegory. The writer finds himself in Hell boarding a bus bound for Heaven. The amazing opportunity is that anyone who wants to stay in Heaven, can. This is the starting point for an extraordinary meditation upon good and evil, grace and judgment. Lewis's revolutionary idea is the discovery that the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. In Lewis's own words, “If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.”

Hanson, Mark S. and Karen C. Richards Faithful Yet Changing: The Church in Challenging Times

“I have a passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ, a love for the people of God, and an ache for the brokenness of the world,” declares Mark S. Hanson, newly elected presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Here he sets forth his vision for the church-a church faithful to the Scriptures and its tradition, yet changing to meet the new challenges of our diverse, fragmented world. Bishop Hanson issues an urgent call to mission marked by witnessing, worshiping, engaging, equipping, inviting, connecting, changing, and praying. The book invites congregations, pastors, and lay leaders into a "holy conversation" to envision the future of the church and its mission.

Short, Robert L. The Parables of Dr. Seuss

This breezy and engaging book will delight the Dr. Seuss fan in all of us! Robert Short looks at spirituality in the stories of children's book author and illustrator Theodore Dr. Seuss Giesel, arguing that Giesel was a first-class Christian thinker. The book explores Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and others. Short writes in the Introduction, “When I first became acquainted with his books and was struck by the many parallels I saw between his work and what is said in the Bible and by Christian faith, I considered these similarities to be merely happy accidents. Today I still see these parallels as happy, but I m now convinced that they are not merely accidents.”

Books Studied

Thomas, Reverend Oliver "Buzz" Ten Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can't, Because He Needs the Job)

"How did it all begin?" "What happens when we die?" These are just two of the questions Reverend Thomas hears centrist Christians asking as he travels across the United States, and he knows that their voices are not being heard. They're people of faith, not of politics, and they want more from their religion than a voter's guide. Now, Reverend Thomas has written a book that will become the liberal Christian answer to The Purpose Driven Life. Thomas writes sensitively about the reason we were put on this earth, the significance of the Bible, and how one pleases God. He answers difficult, contemporary questions like "What about homosexuality?" and "What about other faiths?" while weaving in a sensible Christian theology for modern living.

God • Jesus • Living • Prayer • Religions • Science • Scripture • Spirituality • Fiction • Other • Books Studied