The materialist spirituality in Embodied Faith is biblically grounded, and it smells of earth even as it offers a taste of heaven. Taking an observation of St. Benedict as his starting point, Ola Tjrhom maintains that outward forms are fully capable of incorporating and expressing inner spiritual substance. / Tjrhom moves on to identify three crucial features of a materialist spirituality. First, it has a concrete substance primarily the sacraments and the sacramental dimension of our Christian life in its totality. Second, materialist spirituality cannot be lived out in a vacuum, but requires concrete spaces mainly the church and the world, which, though separate, are clearly interconnected. Third, this spirituality is grounded not in airy ideas and concepts but in plain empirical perception in things we can see and hear, smell and taste making it a spirituality eminently suited for our daily lives and the world. / Ola Tjrhom has written a wise book that bridges many gaps: between the material and the spiritual, the Catholic and the Protestant, the mystical and the everyday. His vision of a materialist spirituality is not a call to leave this world nor an invitation to extreme experiences, but a sober proposal for a Christian life that is in but not of the world. Firmly rooted in creation, such a spirituality still yearns for the transformation of all things. Few books are as ecumenical as Tjrhom s, drawing on a variety of Christian traditions in a way that respects each. Persuasively presented, his wide-ranging reflections cover such a range of topics, one is tempted to call it a systematics of spirituality. Michael Root / Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary

This book makes a case, from an ecumenical Christian perspective, for a theological anthropology and a missiology that are based on the essential significance of story, body, imagination, and relationality, in order to understand what it means to be human vis-à-vis God, the other, and creation. Such an interpretation, moreover, enables seeking and pursuing a common life for the whole creation in the force field of God’s radical and transformative reign. To advance its argument, it engages contemporary culture, including cinema and, to a lesser extent, fiction and music.

Why do we celebrate Christmas? Why was Jesus born? What does Jesus' birth have to do with my life? Embodied Light invites you to ponder our Creator's daring adventure of becoming human and coming to earth to live among us. During this 4-week study, you will explore the meaning of incarnation the miracle of our Creator choosing to become human and live among us. The Incarnation also says something to us about our own lives, about what being human means. Using scripture, prayer, and daily reflections, Embodied Light leads you to think about how to follow the fully human, fully divine Jesus with your whole self mind, spirit, and body.

Our bodies have too long been in exile. We listen or pray with our hearts and minds but ignore much of our bodies; we become 'disembodied'. This illuminating book is about honouring what our bodies have to teach us. Brimming with words of wisdom that will allow you to discover what a gift your body is, 'Embodied Prayer' invites you towards wholeness of body, mind, and soul.

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Franciscan Principles -- 2. Imitation and Deviation -- 3. Travels through Catholic Europe -- 4. Toward the Lamb, with the Lamb -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index

Updated with the latest research, this second edition approaches human development from a multidisciplinary perspective. Uniquely inclusive of the moral and faith dimensions of the life cycle, 'Human Development and Faith' examines the interplay of mind, body, family, community, and soul at every stage of development. (Back cover).

In Alone in the World? -- first given as the 2004 Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh -- J. Wentzel van Huyssteen develops the interdisciplinary dialogue that he set out in The Shaping of Rationality (1999), applying this methodology to the uncharted waters between theological anthropology and paleoanthropology. Among other things, van Huyssteen argues that scientific notions of human uniqueness help us to ground theological notions of human distinctiveness in flesh-and-blood, embodied experiences and protect us from overly complex theological abstractions regarding the "image of God." Focusing on the interdisciplinary problem of human origins and distinctiveness, van Huyssteen accesses the origins of the embodied human mind through the spectacular prehistoric cave paintings of western Europe, fifteen of which are reproduced in color in this volume. Boldly connecting the widely separated fields of Christian theology and paleoanthropology through careful interdisciplinary reflection, Alone in the World? will encourage sustained investigation into the question of human uniqueness.