The Weakness of God

The Weakness of God
Author: John D. Caputo
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2006-04-27
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0253013518

The author of What Would Jesus Deconstruct? makes “a bold attempt to reconfigure the terms of debate around the topic of divine omnipotence” (Choice). Applying an ever more radical hermeneutics—including Husserlian and Heideggerian phenomenology, Derridian deconstruction, and feminism—John D. Caputo breaks down the name of God in this irrepressible book. Instead of looking at God as merely a name, Caputo views it as an event, or what the name conjures or promises in the future. For Caputo, the event exposes God as weak, unstable, and barely functional. While this view of God flies in the face of most religions and philosophies, it also puts up a serious challenge to fundamental tenets of theology and ontology. Along the way, Caputo’s readings of the New Testament, especially of Paul’s view of the Kingdom of God, help to support the “weak force” theory. This penetrating work cuts to the core of issues and questions—What is the nature of God? What is the nature of being? What is the relationship between God and being? What is the meaning of forgiveness, faith, piety, or transcendence?—that define the terrain of contemporary philosophy of religion. “Caputo comes out of the closet as a theologian in this work.” —Catherine Keller, Drew University “Caputo has a gift for explaining Continental philosophy’s jargon succinctly and accurately, and despite technical and foreign terms, this book will engage upper-level undergraduates. Includes scriptural and general indexes . . . Highly recommended.” —Choice

The Living God and the Fullness of Life

The Living God and the Fullness of Life
Author: Jürgen Moltmann
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2015-11-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1611646634

Modern humanity has accepted a truncated, impoverished definition of life. Focusing solely on material realities, we have forgotten that joy, purpose, and meaning come from a life that is both immersed in the temporal and alive to the transcendent. We have, in other words, ceased to live in God. In this book, renowned theologian Jürgen Moltmann shows us what that life of joy and purpose looks like. Describing how we came to live in a world devoid of the ultimate, he charts a way back to an intimate connection with the biblical God. He counsels that we adopt a "theology of life," an orientation that sees God at work in both the mundane and the extraordinary and that pushes us to work for a world that fully reflects the life of its Creator. Moltmann offers a telling critique of the shallow values of consumerist society and provides a compelling rationale for why spiritual sensibilities and encounter with God must lie at the heart of any life that seeks to be authentically human.

Hope When It Hurts

Hope When It Hurts
Author: Sarah Walton
Publisher: The Good Book Company
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2017-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1784980749

Thirty biblical meditations for women that offer hope in times of suffering. Thirty biblical meditations for women that offer hope in times of suffering. Hurt is real. But so is hope. Kristen and Sarah have walked through, and are walking in, difficult times. So these thirty biblical reflections are full of realism about the hurts of life-yet overwhelmingly full of hope about the God who gives life. This book will gently encourage and greatly help any woman who is struggling with suffering-whether physical, emotional or psychological, and whether for a season or for longer. It is a book to buy for yourself, or to buy for a member of your church or friend. For anyone who is hurting, this book will give hope, not just for life beyond the suffering, but for life in the suffering. Each chapter contains a biblical reflection, with questions and prayers, and a space for journaling.

Mercy for Today

Mercy for Today
Author: Jonathan Parnell
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2020-01-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1535959266

You cannot make it without God’s mercy. Do we just need God’s grace in dark and shameful moments? Are prayers for mercy only for those times when we really mess up? Jonathan Parnell says we need God’s mercy all the time. In fact, contrary to many church cultures, Parnell shows that asking God for mercy should be as regular as asking God for our daily bread. There’s no doubt that David was in a terrible predicament when he first prayed the words of Psalm 51. It was a dark and shameful moment in the Bible, and one so dark and shameful it seldom feels relevant to us today. But David’s most desperate prayer is really a prayer for all of us—and not just for our worst moments, but for our every moment. In these pages, you'll discover: how to pray a daily, memorable prayer derived from Psalm 51 how to practice daily repentance and soul care how to pursue God and experience his joy in the Christian life This is God’s mercy, and it’s Mercy for Today.

The Selfless Way of Christ

The Selfless Way of Christ
Author: Henri Nouwen
Publisher: Orbis Books
Total Pages: 65
Release: 2011-10-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 157075943X

"When I first came across Nouwen's phase 'downward mobility, ' it struck me as radical, counterintuitive, and profoundly true. His reminder of Jesus' message goes against nearly everything in modern life, but ignoring it has led to most of the urgent problems we now face: global warming, poverty, and a deep sense of alienation. Perhaps it is not too late to change, and Henri Nouwen has shown the way." Philip Yancy In this short work, Henri Nouwen offers a penetrating reflection on the challenge of the spiritual life, especially the call to imitate Christ's example of "downward mobility." Illustrated with drawings by Vincent van Gogh, The Selfless Way of Christ is an inspiring guide for ministers and everyone walking the path of discipleship.

Glorious Weakness

Glorious Weakness
Author: Alia Joy
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2019-04-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1493416251

As a girl, Alia Joy came face to face with weakness, poverty, and loss in ways that made her doubt God was good. There were times when it felt as if God had abandoned her. What she didn't realize then was that God was always there, calling her to abandon herself. In this deeply personal exploration of what it means to be "poor in spirit," Joy challenges our cultural proclivity to "pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps." She calls on readers to embrace true vulnerability and authenticity with God and with one another, showing how weakness does not disqualify us from inclusion in the kingdom of God--instead, it is our very invitation to enter in. Anyone who has struggled with feeling inadequate, disillusioned, or just too broken will find hope. This message is an antidote to despair, helping readers reclaim the ways God is good, even when life is anything but.

Weakness Is the Way

Weakness Is the Way
Author: J. I. Packer
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 89
Release: 2013-05-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433536862

Most people think of weakness as purely negative, but true Christianity embraces weakness as a way of life. In this collection of meditations on 2 Corinthians, renowned Bible scholar and theologian J. I. Packer reflects on the central importance of weakness for the Christian life. He exhorts readers to look to Christ for strength, affirmation, and contentment in the midst of their own sin and frailty. Now in his mid-eighties, Packer mediates on the truths of Scripture with pastoral warmth and exegetical care, drawing on lessons learned from the experience of growing older and coming face-to-face with his own mortality. Overflowing with wisdom gleaned from a life of obedience to Christ and dependence on his Word, this encouraging book ultimately directs readers to the God who promises to be ever-present and all-sufficient.

Karl Barth

Karl Barth
Author: Christiane Tietz
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 469
Release: 2021
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0198852460

Christiane Tietz relates Karl Barth's fascinating life in conflict - conflict with the theological mainstream, against National Socialism, and privately, under one roof with his wife and his mistress, in conflict with himself

The Insistence of God

The Insistence of God
Author: John D. Caputo
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2013-09-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0253010101

“A tour de force . . . provocative ideas expressed in Heideggerian, Derridean, and Deleuzian rhetoric . . . for a new wave of Christian theologians” (Bibliographia). The Insistence of God presents the provocative idea that God does not exist—God insists. God’s existence is a human responsibility, which may or may not happen. For John D. Caputo, God’s existence is haunted by “perhaps,” which does not signify indecisiveness but an openness to risk, to the unforeseeable. Perhaps constitutes a theology of what is to come and what we cannot see coming. Responding to current critics of continental philosophy, Caputo explores the materiality of perhaps and the promise of the world. He shows how perhaps can become a new theology of the gaps God opens. “John D. Caputo is at the top of his game, and he is not content to reiterate what he has already expressed, but continues to develop his own ideas further by way of a thorough engagement with the fields of theology, Continental philosophy, and religious thought.” —Clayton Crockett, University of Central Arkansas “For those allergic to theological certainty―whether of God’s existence or of God’s death―Caputo delivers storm-fresh relief: the theopoetics of God’s insistence.” —Catherine Keller, Drew University “In my life I have read no more stimulating book of theology. Buckle your seatbelt!” —Dialog “An excellent text that opens the way into new forms of theological thinking. He puts forward an argument that must be wrestled with and brings to light new avenues for both religious and theological thought. Caputo is not for the faint of heart.” —Reviews in Religion and Theology