Faithful Reason


Book Description

In Faithful Reason, noted philosopher John Haldane lays out his thoughts on Christianity in daily life.




Faithful Reason


Book Description

Many evangelical Christians have faith in the Bible, but struggle with confidence in its ethical principles. Some believe that biblical morals are not as effective as secular ideologies in promoting human well-being and societal progress. Others feel that using the Bible as a basis for moral arguments lacks persuasive power in public discussions. In Faithful Reason: Natural Law Ethics for God’s Glory and Our Good, Andrew T. Walker argues that developing a comprehensive Christian ethic is not simply a matter of appealing to biblical authority, but also of understanding the way that God has ordered creation and our place within it. In this work, he provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to natural law ethics from an evangelical perspective. In the first section of Faithful Reason, Walker develops a robust framework of natural law ethics, guided by biblical and theological evidence. In the second section, this framework is applied to various contemporary ethical issues within dignity ethics, embodied ethics, personal ethics, social ethics, and political ethics. Through a natural law framework, readers are empowered to reason through the particulars of any situation and develop a godly ethical response.




Faithful Reason


Book Description

In Faithful Reason, the noted Catholic philosopher John Haldane explores various aspects of intellectual and practical life from a perspective inspired by Catholic thought and informed by his distinctive philosophical approach: 'Analytical Thomism'. Haldane's discussions of ethics, politics, education, art, social philosophy and other themes explain why Catholic thought is still relevant in today's world, and show how the legacy of Thomas Aquinas can benefit modern philosophy in its efforts to answer fundamental questions about humanity and its place within nature. Drawing on a Catholic philosophical tradition that is committed to concepts of the world's intrinsic intelligibility and the objectivity of truth, Faithful Reason's bold and insightful perspectives provide rich matter for debate, and food for further thought.




Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization


Book Description

"Gregg's book is the closet thing I've encountered in a long time to a one-volume user's manual for operating Western Civilization." —The Stream "Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization offers a concise intellectual history of the West through the prism of the relationship between faith and reason." —Free Beacon The genius of Western civilization is its unique synthesis of reason and faith. But today that synthesis is under attack—from the East by radical Islam (faith without reason) and from within the West itself by aggressive secularism (reason without faith). The stakes are incalculably high. The naïve and increasingly common assumption that reason and faith are incompatible is simply at odds with the facts of history. The revelation in the Hebrew Scriptures of a reasonable Creator imbued Judaism and Christianity with a conviction that the world is intelligible, leading to the flowering of reason and the invention of science in the West. It was no accident that the Enlightenment took place in the culture formed by the Jewish and Christian faiths. We can all see that faith without reason is benighted at best, fanatical and violent at worst. But too many forget that reason, stripped of faith, is subject to its own pathologies. A supposedly autonomous reason easily sinks into fanaticism, stifling dissent as bigoted and irrational and devouring the humane civilization fostered by the integration of reason and faith. The blood-soaked history of the twentieth century attests to the totalitarian forces unleashed by corrupted reason. But Samuel Gregg does more than lament the intellectual and spiritual ruin caused by the divorce of reason and faith. He shows that each of these foundational principles corrects the other’s excesses and enhances our comprehension of the truth in a continuous renewal of civilization. By recovering this balance, we can avoid a suicidal winner-take-all conflict between reason and faith and a future that will respect neither.




Quitting Church


Book Description

“Every pastor should read this. . . . Every believer who has ever despaired of church, been tempted to quit, or struggled with guilt over leaving should, too” (Rod Dreher). Americans still believe in God, but they are leaving the church in record numbers. Why are the faithful fleeing? Julia Duin, a veteran journalist and a Christian, has collected the research and added insights from interviews with disillusioned followers, as well as from her own story. In this engrossing account of churches in decline, Duin visits numerous churches and explores a number of factors underlying the social shift away from church: irrelevant teaching, the neglect of singles, the marginalization of women, and a lack of authentic spiritual power. She also journeys into house churches and emergent congregations. Duin’s careful analysis is sure to help church leaders and churchgoers examine how they might better serve their communities and create inviting spiritual homes for people of all kinds. “Engaging . . . as religion editor for the Washington Times, [Duin] is in her element marshaling statistics, interviewing authors and clergy, and commenting on the trend of faithful evangelicals who increasingly vote with their feet by leaving their churches.” —Publishers Weekly




Faithful


Book Description

Now in paperback, two fiercely avid Red Sox fans document one of the most eagerly anticipated baseball seasons of all time. From devoted fans O'Nan and King comes this unique chronicle of one baseball team's journey from spring training to post-season play.




From Truth and truth


Book Description

We begin philosophising (cf. Fides et Ratio, 3, 30) without realising that we are philosophers; but, in time, we discover our own identity as philosophers and, at the same time, come to critically examine it. What, therefore, is the interrelationship between reason and sense; indeed, is not “sense”, subtly sensitive through reason? Questions, then, arise out of our life, our observations and from what we learn. But it is not only about being ready, well-trained or perfect in our reasoning; rather, it is about taking up the impulse and the task of seeking the truth. On the one hand, then, we can question everything and end up with nothing; but, on the other hand, there are many points of departure: experience; maxims; and the wisdom which comes through “many advisers” (Prov 15: 22).Ideas abound about what might be the case; but a philosophical investigation is also about coming into the presence of “being”. Many people have gone before and go with us, and will come after us; and, therefore, this book marks a contribution to understanding both the “activity” of philosophising and the conversation about what “is” (cf. Fides et Ratio, 44). We discover that to exist is to search through the apparent contradictions in our experience and to find, eventually, that there are both good foundations and buildings begun, and also great unanswered or unsatisfactorily answered questions. There is an ongoing work, too, to establish the mystery of the person “implicated” in human action. Therefore, there is both the inveterate call of the subject to be investigated, and, at the same time, the ever-present need of the grace of perseverance to pursue it.This book is also about the slow discovery of the beautiful but inadequate nature of natural truth. The wonder of natural truth is that it exists like the literal sense: a kind of foundational reasoning; however, just as Revelation perfects natural truth, so the human person is a living expression of the “whole” literal and spiritual sense of created being. Hence the title of this volume, Faithful Reason, makes explicit a “witness” to what is beyond itself.




Faithful Presence


Book Description

Two-term governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam reveals how faith--too often divisive and contentious--can be a redemptive and unifying presence in the public square. As a former mayor and governor, Bill Haslam has long been at the center of politics and policy on local, state, and federal levels. And he has consistently been guided by his faith, which influenced his actions on issues ranging from capital punishment to pardons, health care to abortion, welfare to free college tuition. Yet the place of faith in public life has been hotly debated since our nation's founding, and the relationship of church and state remains contentious to this day--and for good reason. Too often, Bill Haslam argues, Christians end up shaping their faith to fit their politics rather than forming their politics to their faith. They seem to forget their calling is to be used by God in service of others rather than to use God to reach their own desires and ends. Faithful Presence calls for a different way. Drawing upon his years of public service, Haslam casts a remarkable vision for the redemptive role of faith in politics while examining some of the most complex issues of our time, including: partisanship in our divided era; the most essential character trait for a public servant; how we cannot escape "legislating morality"; the answer to perpetual outrage; and how to think about the separation of church and state. For Christians ready to be salt and light, as well as for those of a different faith or no faith at all, Faithful Presence argues that faith can be a redemptive, healing presence in the public square--as it must be, if our nation is to flourish.




Our Reason for Being


Book Description

Ecclesiastes is a persuasive speech with a rhetoric so unique that it can be easily misunderstood. It speaks powerfully to believers as well as nonbelievers because it addresses the question of the meaning of life in the most satisfying way. The heart of this book is an expositional commentary that interprets Ecclesiastes as authoritative Scripture. It seeks to recover the rhetoric of the speech in terms of its comprehensive message on the meaning of life as well as its compelling force to get the message across. Preceding the expositional commentary is an introduction to Ecclesiastes that presents a new approach to outlining and reading Ecclesiastes as a coherent speech. It also presents an overview of the “forest”—the overall rhetorical flow of the speech from beginning to end. This is to prevent one from getting lost when immersed in the “trees” of the expositional commentary. Following the expositional commentary are two topical studies to give Ecclesiastes the breadth and depth of coverage it deserves. The first is an interdisciplinary exposition on the meaning of life. The second is an interpretive essay to defend exegetically the interpretation of Ecclesiastes as a coherent speech.




Faithful Reason


Book Description

Among contemporary evangelical Christians there is no shortage of confidence in the Bible. Rather, what many often lack is a confidence in the ethics we espouse from the Bible. Many feel that the claims of biblical morality cannot be rationally articulated in ways that better benefit human flourishing and the common good than what secular competitors offer. Others feel that appeal to the Bible as the basis for morality has little rhetorical force in the public square.