In Vigilant Faith: Passionate Agnosticism in a Secular World, Daniel Boscaljon takes up the contemporary challenges to faith by skepticism and secularism. He proposes a model of faith for believers and unbelievers alike—a passionate agnosticism—that is rooted in a skeptical consciousness. Skepticism and faith are structurally similar, he writes, in that they share an "unknowing" quality. The author argues that vigilance—the act of keeping watch, a spiritual practice in its own rig...

The essays in Paul Ricoeur and the Hope of Higher Education: The Just University discuss diverse ways that Paul Ricoeur’s work provides hopeful insight and necessary provocation that should inform the task and mission of the modern university in the changing landscape of Higher Education. This volume gathers interdisciplinary scholars seeking to reestablish the place of justice as the central function of higher education in the twenty-first century. The contributors represent diverse backg...

At present the battle over who defines our future is being waged most publicly by secular and religious fundamentalists. Hope and the Longing for Utopia offers an alternative position, disclosing a conceptual path toward potential worlds that resist a limited view of human potential and the gift of religion. In addition to outlining the value of embracing unknown potentialities, these twelve interdisciplinary essays explore why it has become crucial that we commit to hoping for values that...

Teaching Religion and Literature provides a practical engagement with the pedagogical possibilities of teaching religion courses using literature, teaching literature classes using religion, and teaching Religion and Literature as a discipline. Featuring chapters written by award winning teachers from a variety of institutional settings, the book gives anyone interested in providing interdisciplinary education a set of questions, resources, and tools that will deepen a classroom’s...

The landmark bestseller that changed the way we think about love: "Every line is packed with common sense, compassion, and realism" ( Fortune ).The Art of Loving is a rich and detailed guide to love—an achievement reached through maturity, practice, concentration, and courage. In the decades since the book's release, its words and lessons continue to resonate. Erich Fromm, a celebrated psychoanalyst and social psy...

The New York Times –bestselling author and social philosopher explores the function of ethics and morality in the human psyche: "A fascinating volume . . . magnificent in its implications" ( Saturday Review ).Are we primarily determined by nature or nurture? What are the best ways that people can live productively? In Man for Himself, renowned social philosopher Erich Fr...

"An eye-opening critique of contemporary [education] approaches . . . shows in concrete forms how to be a teacher and learner in the search for truth." —Henri J. M. Nouwen, theologian and author of The Return of the Prodigal Son and The Way of the HeartThis primer on authentic education explores how mind and heart can work together in the learning process. Moving beyond the bankruptcy of our current model of education, Parker Palmer finds the soul ...

How does worship work? How exactly does liturgical formation shape us? What are the dynamics of such transformation? In the second of James K. A. Smith's three-volume theology of culture, the author expands and deepens the analysis of cultural liturgies and Christian worship he developed in his well-received Desiring the Kingdom. He helps us understand and appreciate the bodily basis of habit formation and how liturgical formation--both "secular" and Christian--affects our fundame...

This world is a battlefield in the arena of ideas. The prize is the heart and mind of humankind. In this book, Ronald Nash outlines the Christian way of looking at God, self, and the world. He holds that worldview up against the tests of reason, logic, and experience, particularly discussing the problems of evil and the alleged "nonsense" of the historic Christian doctrines and of Jesus' incarnation and resurrection. He finds the Christian worldview sound and urges Christians to equip them...

'Best single source on Kierkegaard I've seen. Excellent short biography of his life and family. Fantastic explanation of how to approach Kierkegaard's ideas… I did spend a lot of time on the Danish philosopher's work as a graduate student (particularly Fear and Trembling) and I do wish that I had had this at the time' (Austin Cline, online review at atheism.about.com; full review at http://atheism.about.com/od/bookreviews/fr/Kierkegaard.htm)'A reader's delight … his presentation of ...

Iris Murdoch was one of the great philosophers and novelists of the twentieth century and The Sovereignty of Good is her most important and enduring philosophical work. She argues that philosophy has focused, mistakenly, on what it is right to do rather than good to be and that only by restoring the notion of ‘vision’ to moral thinking can this distortion be corrected. This brilliant work shows why Iris Murdoch remains essential reading: a vivid and uncompromising style, a commitment to fo...

An exploration of what religion and spirituality mean to us as humans by the New York Times –bestselling author and social psychologist."A daring book to have cast into the midst of the world's excitements, for it will itself breed new excitements. . . . It is not a book to be missed by those interested in man's spiritual growth." — New York TimesIn 1950, Erich Fromm atte...