Author : Kimberly Johnson
Publisher : Persea Books
Page : 84 pages
File Size : 20,20 MB
Release : 2008-05-27
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN :
Dazzling....She writes with Milton open at her elbow but with the real dirt of a real Utah under her fingertips.--The Yale Review No poet writing today confronts the perplexities of the divine with more pizzazz than Kimberly Johnson. In A Metaphorical God, Johnson showcases her gifts for mining language for its hidden gems and its gospel (my tongue is a fovent choir, / a cloven fire), using what she unearths to delve deep into mysteries both epistemological and holy.
Author : Gail Ramshaw
Publisher : LiturgyTrainingPublications
Page : 144 pages
File Size : 46,43 MB
Release : 1995-03
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781568541280
A collection of 26 thought-provoking meditations on the name of God.
Author : Mark Schaefer
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 50,73 MB
Release : 2018-08-23
Category : Religion
ISBN : 153265345X
The world is full of people who are very certain--in politics, in religion, in all manner of things. In addition, political, religious, and social organizations are marketing certainty as a cure all to all life's problems. But is such certainty possible? Or even good? The Certainty of Uncertainty explores the question of certainty by looking at the reasons human beings crave certainty and the religious responses we frequently fashion to help meet that need. The book takes an in-depth view of religion, language, our senses, our science, and our world to explore the inescapable uncertainties they reveal. We find that the certainty we crave does not exist. As we reflect on the unavoidable uncertainties in our world, we come to understand that letting go of certainty is not only necessary, it's beneficial. For, in embracing doubt and uncertainty, we find a more meaningful and courageous religious faith, a deeper encounter with mystery, and a way to build strong relationships across religious and philosophical lines. In The Certainty of Uncertainty, we see that embracing our belief systems with humility and uncertainty can be transformative for ourselves and for our world.
Author : David Brown
Publisher : Oxford University Press on Demand
Page : 299 pages
File Size : 26,95 MB
Release : 2008-03-20
Category : History
ISBN : 0199231834
In this wide-ranging book that moves from Greek drama to modern poetry, David Brown explores the ways in which the poetry and drama of the past were rooted in religious questions. He posits that their creative potential needs to be rediscovered to bring present-day worship and experience of God alive.
Author : Paul Avis
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 197 pages
File Size : 10,59 MB
Release : 2013-01-11
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1134609388
'A mere metaphor', 'only symbolic', 'just a myth' - these tell tale phrases reveal how figurative language has been cheapened and devalued in our modern and postmodern culture. In God and the Creative Imagination, Paul Avis argues the contrary: we see that actually, metaphor, symbol and myth, are the key to a real knowledge of God and the sacred. Avis examines what he calls an alternative tradition, stemming from the Romantic poets Blake, Wordsworth and Keats and drawing on the thought of Cleridge and Newman, and experience in both modern philosophy and science. God and the Creative Imagination intriguingly draws on a number of non-theological disciplines, from literature to philosophy of science, to show us that God is appropriately likened to an artist or poet and that the greatest truths are expressed in an imaginative form. Anyone wishing to further their understanding of God, belief and the imagination will find this an inspiring work.
Author : Sallie McFague
Publisher : Fortress Press
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 38,35 MB
Release : 1982-01-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781451418002
". . . a liberating book about a liberating theological approach."--Christianity and Crisis"Metaphorical Theology is a brilliant piece of writing which will make an important contribution both to new thinking on he nature of religious language and also to the dialogue between Christianity and Feminist Theology."--Rosemary Radford RuetherGarrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary"The great virtue of Professor McFague's book is that it tackles [some] crucial problems in an extremely perceptive and creative way . . . .All in all it is a most timely book both for the theological and for the church at large."--Maurice WilesRegius Professor of DivinityChrist Church, Oxford University
Author : Gail Ramshaw
Publisher : LiturgyTrainingPublications
Page : 144 pages
File Size : 28,33 MB
Release : 1995
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781568540719
A collection of 26 thought-provoking meditations on the name of God.
Author : Meghan O'Gieblyn
Publisher : Anchor
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 38,44 MB
Release : 2022-07-12
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0525562710
A strikingly original exploration of what it might mean to be authentically human in the age of artificial intelligence, from the author of the critically-acclaimed Interior States. • "At times personal, at times philosophical, with a bracing mixture of openness and skepticism, it speaks thoughtfully and articulately to the most crucial issues awaiting our future." —Phillip Lopate “[A] truly fantastic book.”—Ezra Klein For most of human history the world was a magical and enchanted place ruled by forces beyond our understanding. The rise of science and Descartes's division of mind from world made materialism our ruling paradigm, in the process asking whether our own consciousness—i.e., souls—might be illusions. Now the inexorable rise of technology, with artificial intelligences that surpass our comprehension and control, and the spread of digital metaphors for self-understanding, the core questions of existence—identity, knowledge, the very nature and purpose of life itself—urgently require rethinking. Meghan O'Gieblyn tackles this challenge with philosophical rigor, intellectual reach, essayistic verve, refreshing originality, and an ironic sense of contradiction. She draws deeply and sometimes humorously from her own personal experience as a formerly religious believer still haunted by questions of faith, and she serves as the best possible guide to navigating the territory we are all entering.
Author : David Tacey
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 383 pages
File Size : 20,67 MB
Release : 2017-09-08
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 1351493809
Biblical stories are metaphorical. They may have been accepted as factual hundreds of years ago, but today they cannot be taken literally. Some students in religious schools even recoil from the "fairy tales" of religion, believing them to be mockeries of their intelligence. David Tacey argues that biblical language should not be read as history, and it was never intended as literal description. At best it is metaphorical, but he does not deny these stories have spiritual meaning. Religion as Metaphor argues that despite what tradition tells us, if we "believe" religious language, we miss religion's spiritual meaning. Tacey argues that religious language was not designed to be historical reporting, but rather to resonate in the soul and direct us toward transcendent realities. Its impact was intended to be closer to poetry than theology. The book uses specific examples to make its case: Jesus, the Virgin Birth, the Kingdom of God, the Apocalypse, Satan, and the Resurrection. Tacey shows that, with the aid of contemporary thought and depth psychology, we can re-read religious stories as metaphors of the spirit and the interior life. Moving beyond literal thinking will save religion from itself.
Author : Marc Zvi Brettler
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 219 pages
File Size : 15,79 MB
Release : 1989-10-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781850752240
This is the first attempt in biblical studies to apply the tools developed by theoreticians of metaphor to the common biblical metaphor of God as king. The extent to which elements of human kingship are projected onto God is investigated, and several significant conclusions emerge: 1. Royal characteristics that have a diminutive connotation are generally not projected onto God. 2. God's nature as greatest king is emphasized through use of superlatives. For example, his garb is enormous and he has a large number of royal attendants. God is not limited by the metaphor. 3. When the entailments of the metaphor would have conflicted with Israelite proscriptions, such as the iconic prohibition, the metaphor is avoided. 4. The metaphor is predominant enough to influence Israel's depiction of human kingship. For example, the term gadol ('great', 'majestic') is appropriated by God the king and is not used of the Israelite king. 5. There is no single metaphor 'God is king'; as Israelite kingship changes, the metaphor undergoes parallel changes. Also, biblical authors emphasize different aspects of God's kingship in specific contexts. The lack of a complete fit between human kingship (the vehicle) and God as king (the tenor) is consistent with the tensive view of metaphor, which predominates in contemporary scholarship. The literary study has other benefits. By enumerating the parallels between human and heavenly messengers, it finds that 'angels' should be construed as projections of royal officials. The analysis of human enthronement rituals as they are projected onto God suggests that there was no annual 'enthronement festival' which celebrated God becoming king. The systematic study of the metaphor also opens new avenues for exploring a number of issues in the study of Israelite religion.
