The Impossible Question reveals the unique approach of a profound thinker and teacher; it will prove invaluable to those who wish to gain insight into his philosophy or into themselves. Jiddu Krishnamurti was born in southern India in 1895 and died in 1986. The essence of his teachings is that societal change and world peace can only occur through a complete change of individual consciousness.

    Often, our attempts to interpret the imagery of the book of Revelation seem to carry us far away from our day-to-day existence. David Dark challenges this narrow understanding in Everyday Apocalypse, calling his readers back to the root of the word, which is "revelation." Through readings of Flannery O'Connor stories and savvy discussion of The Matrix themes, Dark calls us to imagine the apocalypse as a more watchful way of being in the world. He draws on the sometimes unlikely wisdom of popular culture-including The Simpsons and films like The Truman Show-to highlight how the imagination can expose our moral condition. Ultimately, Dark presents apocalypse as honest self-assessment and other-centeredness in the here and now. This engaging book holds enormous appeal for readers interested in the pursuit of everyday spirituality. It will delight lovers of literature, popular music, and movies, as well as anyone concerned with a Christian response to popular culture.

    Fascinating and upbeat, Heaven, the Heart's Deepest Longing thoroughly explores the psychological and theological dimensions of this search for total joy and for the ultimate reality that grounds it.

    That was the moment... I understood. Really understood. Crisis, change, all the myriad upheavals that blister the spirit and leave us groping– they aren't voices simply of pain but also of creativity. And if we would only listen, we might hear such times beckoning us to a season of waiting, to the place of fertile emptiness.Blending her own experiences with an intimate grasp of contemplative spirituality, Sue Monk Kidd relates the passionate and moving tale of her spiritual crisis at midlife, when life seemed to have lost meaning and how her longing for hasty escape from the pain yielded to a discipline of "active waiting." Comparing her experience to the formative processes inside a chrysalis on a wintry tree branch, Kidd reflects on the fact that the soul is often symbolized as a butterfly. The simple cocoon, a living parable of waiting, becomes an icon of hope for the transformation that the author sought. Kidd charts her re–ascent from the depths and offers a new understanding of the passage away from the self, which is based upon others' expectations, to the true self of God's unfolding intention. Her wise, inspiring book helps those in doubt and crisis recognize the opportunity to "dismantle old masks and patterns and unfold a deeper, more authentic self."

    But although he lived in the German golden age of Goethe, Schiller and Mozart, he also believed that art was in terminal decline.To resolve this apparent paradox, as Michael Inwood explains in his incisive Introduction, we must understand the particular place of aesthetics in Hegel's vast intellectual edifice. Its central pillars consist of logic, philosophy of nature and philosophy of spirit. Art derives its value from offering a sensory vision of the God-like absolute, from its harmonious fusion of form and content, and from summing up the world-view of an age such as Homer's. While it scaled supreme heights in ancient Greece, Hegel doubted art's ability to encompass Christian belief or the reflective irony characteristic of modern societies. Many such challenging ideas are developed in this superb treatise; it counts among the most stimulating works of a master thinker.Table of ContentsIntroductory Lectures on Aesthetics Introduction A Note on the Translation and CommentaryINTRODUCTORY LECTURES ON AESTHETICSChapter I: The Range of Aesthetic Defined, and Some Objections against the Philosophy of Art Refuted[α Aesthetic confined to Beauty of Artβ Does Art merit Scientific Treatment?γ Is Scientific Treatment appropriate to Art?δ Answer to βε Answer to γ]Chapter II: Methods of Science Applicable to Beauty and Art[1. Empirical Method - Art-scholarship(a) Its Range(b) It generates Rules and Theories(c) The Rights of Genius2. Abstract Reflection3. The Philosophical Conception of Artistic Beauty, general notion of]Chapter III: The Conception of Artistic BeautyPart I - The Work of Art as Made and as Sensuous1. Work of Art as Product of Human Activity[(a) Conscious Production by Rule(b) Artistic Inspiration(c) Dignity of Production by Man(d) Man's Need to produce Works of Art]2. Work of Art as addressed to Man's Sense[(a) Object of Art - Pleasant Feeling?(b) Feeling of Beauty - Taste(c) Art-scholarship(d) Profounder Consequences of Sensuous Nature of Art(α) Relations of the Sensuous to the Mind(αα) Desire(ββ) Theory(γγ) Sensuous as Symbol of Spiritual(β) The Sensuous Element, how Present in the Artist(γ) The Content of Art Sensuous]Part II - The End of Art3. [The Interest or End of Art(a) Imitation of Nature?(α) Mere Repetition of Nature is -(αα) Superfluous(ββ) Imperfect(γγ) Amusing Merely as Sleight of Hand(β) What is Good to Imitate?(γ) Some Arts cannot be called Imitative(b) Humani nihil - ?(c) Mitigation of the Passions?(α) How Art mitigates the Passions(β) How Art purifies the Passions(αα) It must have a Worthy Content(ββ) But ought not to be Didactic(γγ) Nor explicitly addressed to a Moral Purpose(d) Art has its own Purpose as Revelation of Truth]Chapter IV: Historical Deducation of the True Idea of Art in Modern Philosophy1. Kant[(a) Pleasure in Beauty not Appetitive(b) Pleasure in Beauty Universal(c) The Beautiful in its Teleological Aspect(d) Delight in the Beautiful necessary though felt]2. Schiller, Winckelmann, Schelling3. The IronyChapter V: Division of the Subject[1. The Condition of Artistic Presentation is the Correspondence of Matter and Plastic Form2. Part I - The Ideal3. Part II - The Types of Art(α) Symbolic Art(β) Classical Art(γ) Romantic Art4. Part III - The Several Arts(α) Architecture(β) Sculpture(γ) Romantic Art, comprising(i) Painting(ii) Music(iii) Poetry5. Conclusion]Commentary

    From here, von Balthasar turns to the central theme of the volume: the question of theological knowledge. He re-examines the nature of Christian believing (here he quickly draws widely on such theological figures as Anselm, Pascal and Newman) which gives due place to the particular kind of 'knowing' which develops within the personal relationship to the believer to the God mediated through the revelation-form of Jesus Christ

    Whatever happened to planes, trains and automobiles? But Father Dave Pivonka knew that the Camino—the ancient pilgrim path to the tomb of Saint James the Apostle in Santiago—offered an opportunity to focus on God in the stripped-down environment typical of the religious journey known as a pilgrimage. Father Dave takes you along with him, eager to show that God wants to take care of you whether or not you can see down the road or, if tired and sore, you're tempted to quit. His Camino hike holds real lessons for your own life's journey.

    Derrida analyzes Patocka's Heretical Essays on the History of Philosophy and develops and compares his ideas to the works of Heidegger, Levinas, and Kierkegaard.A major work, The Gift of Death resonates with much of Derrida's earlier writing and will be of interest to scholars in anthropology, philosophy, and literary criticism, along with scholars of ethics and religion.Collection: Religion and Postmodernism Series

    Buechner is the author of many works of fiction and nonfiction, including Godric (nominated for a Pulitzer Prize) and Telling Secrets.

    The Eastern Tradition ."..has never made a sharp distinction between mysticism and theology; between personal experience of the divine mysteries and the dogma affirmed by the Church." The term "mystical theology" denotes that which is accessible yet inaccessible; those things understood yet surpassing all knowledge.

    This favorite of Percy fans continues to charm and beguile readers of all tastes and backgrounds. Lost in the Cosmos invites us to think about how we communicate with our world.

    This experience with believing young people has allowed him to explore, as he puts it, his "own questions about life in an atmosphere of faith." The author's personal study has centered around three religious issues that hold the greatest meaning for him-faith, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and relationships with people-and the connection among the three: faith prepares us to receive the Atonement; the Atonement purifies and strengthens us; and the Atonement then helps us build our relationships with the Lord and with others. The author felt he might one day publish a series of books centering on these themes. Subsequently, he released his first book, The Believing Heart, in 1986. By the time The Broken Heart was published three years later, the first printing of The Believing Heart had expired. The author was then invited to publish a revised and enlarged edition of that volume to act as a companion to The Broken Heart. This second edition of The Believing Heart, which incorporates two new chapters as well as a substantial revision of the original four, is the result of that process. In these six thought-provoking essays, the author discusses the power available to all who truly believe in Jesus Christ. He outlines the pattern all who hope to increase their spiritual power must follow, including the difficulties they can expect to encounter-life's trials, the hazards of agency, the pull of the world, and so forth. How can we bridge the gap between the ideal and the real? Is it possible for "ordinary" mortals to have encounters with angels? How does one actually nourish the seed of faith and make it come alive? By answering these and other pertinent questions, Bruce Hafen provides insight into the process of increasing personal faith and shows how powerfully the seed of faith is connected to the doctrine of the Atonement. As he explains, "The tree of life waits for us, as it did for Adam and Eve, Lehi and Sariah, at the end of the inviting, but sometimes treacherous and lonely, path of faith. . . . We take our first steps (and many later ones) along this path through our freely chosen desire to have a believing heart-for "even all this can ye do if ye will."

    In poetic terms, it clarifies the underlying principles and existential implications of the belief that when Christians join in the Eucharist and other liturgical celebrations, they do so not as discrete individuals but as interconnected members of the one People of God.

    Like the parables of Jesus, these tales repeatedly unfold new levels of meaning if we are willing to sit with them.

    Is God all-powerful? Is God good? How can God allow so much innocent human suffering?These questions, taken together, have been called the "theodicy problem," and in this book Thomas Long explores what preachers can and should say in response. Long reviews the origins and history of the theodicy problem and engages the work of major thinkers who have posed solutions to it. Cautioning pastors not to ignore urgent theodicy-related questions arising from their parishioners, he offers biblically based approaches to preaching on theodicy, guided by Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares and the "greatest theodicy text in Scripture" -- the book of Job.