LITMIR.BIZ

The question, «Are we alone in the cosmos?» has been answered. We are not alone.
Geologist-paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, stated, as early as the mid-1920s, that intelligent life likely exists elsewhere and distinguished scientists of today, including Harvard biologist, E. O. Wilson; Cambridge cosmologist, Stephen Hawking; astrophysicist and noted UAP researcher, Jacques Vallee; astronomer, Allen Hynek; and many others concur. The oral traditions of Native American elders teach that they have interacted periodically with Star People who are respected ancestors. Credible witness-participants today describe abductions by benevolent and malevolent Others. Discoveries by the Kepler, Hubble, and Gaia space telescopes, ground-based arrays of radio telescopes, and TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) suggest that in the Milky Way, twenty-five billion planets are in the life-friendly Goldilocks Zone.
In Third Displacement: Cosmobiology, Cosmolocality, Cosmosocioecology, author John Hart links experiences with research in science-based and Spirit-focused books and articles–including narratives about close encounters with Visitors from elsewhere in space (ETI) or Others from other cosmos dimensions (IDI)–in examination of the claim that Intelligent ExoEarth life exists, that Otherkind has visited humankind.

Подробнее

In this new introduction and guide to Paul's Letter to the Philippians, Nijay K. Gupta makes the background, messages, and theological importance of this text understandable and interesting to lay readers and students. Reading Philippians includes Gupta's own English translation of Philippians. In his discussion of the value and significance of this text for Christians todat, he incorporates fascinating historical case studies, modern analogies from pop culture, and practical advice and exercises for Christian formation for today.

Подробнее

Renowned New Testament scholar Gordon Fee explores the meaning of Christian witness and service in every area of life. Focusing on the implications of every Christian's calling to belong to Christ, Fee reframes our contemporary quest for a more seamless, integrated faith. His careful examination of the context and message of Paul's letters sheds light on how a Christian identity is lived out in home, workplace, and church.

Подробнее

Are we Methodists ready for the work of God to be unleashed? Are we ready for Methodism to be the catalyst of yet another New Pentecost? God has decisively acted in Christ, and Christ says, «Do this.» Therefore, there is only one real answer, since «not ready» is not a valid response. For United Methodism to be revived, there can be no more such excuses. Christ showed us his presence and power through Constant Word and Sacrament praxis during the time of the Acts 2 church. Christ then again showed us his same divine presence and power through Constant Word and Sacrament praxis during the Methodist-Evangelical Revival. We have now been given two millennia to view this work of God. We Methodists were born of this work of God. How much more being made ready to unleash it do we require?

Подробнее

In these short, accessible essays, Alford writes about the personal «Why I Pray,» as well as the political «Simone Weil and Donald Trump.» He makes some difficult theologians, such as Karl Barth and Soren Kierkegaard, accessible, while not hesitating to criticize them. Alford argues the genius of Christianity is in God making himself vulnerable so as to know what it is to be human; otherwise, God stands at a terrible distance from humanity. From this perspective, Christianity is about the teachings of Christ, and God's willingness to suffer. The resurrection, so central to most Christians, becomes less important. Myriad religious thinkers are considered, including Albert Camus, Thomas Merton, Reinhold Niebuhr, Rudolf Bultmann, and Paul Tillich, among others, including Simone Weil. Also addressed is the relationship between religion and psychology, as well as the status of natural law. Notable is the author's attitude, which combines respect for great thinkers and a willingness to call them out as wrong, confused, or misguided. Unafraid of atheism, Alford thinks many of the so-called new atheists judge religion as though it were a science, a confusion of categories. Once a philosopher of science, he knows the scope and limits of scientific explanation better than most.

Подробнее

If you are searching for a straightforward retelling of the book of Genesis in a modern idiom, this is not the book for you. If you are looking exclusively for a poetic rendering of the simple text, you've picked up the wrong book. If you are primarily after a textual commentary, you'll expect one that is far more expansive. If, however, you are after a lively, dramatic, highly original, and entertaining retelling of the Genesis stories in rhymed verse, which skillfully synthesizes both critical literary analysis and exotic, folkloristic, and occasionally whimsical elements–then this book is a must! The general reader will be charmed by what one influential British poet, Ann Sansom, has described as its «close rhymes and steady rhythm [which] are indeed very musical.» The student of Bible and folklore will be especially interested in the detailed «Notes to the Text,» providing the sources for and rationales of the many supplements to the familiar traditional text.

Подробнее

Epochal voices in the reception history of 2 Thessalonians: an invective against the proud from the dais of a basilica in Constantinople; an indictment of clerical simony in a Carolingian monastery that nearly faded from historical memory; a theologically integrative vision of the epistle from Reformation Zurich. These readings participate in «beauty» all the while opening up new questions for later readers of Paul's letter, and their «meaning» is located in their fittingness to the form of Christ. This work offers a truly interdisciplinary methodology that brings together the wayward children of biblical and theological studies.

Подробнее

James's epistle is usually remembered for being very practical and for inviting its readers to acts of mercy and compassion. And yet, the same letter also claims that it is not possible to love God and to love «the world.» In other words, James encourages his readers to develop two seemingly opposite attitudes at the same time: to reject the world and to be involved in it. Vincent Hirschi shows that James contains crucial insights on how the church can be at the same time a positive social force and a prophetic voice challenging the society she serves. Through careful exegesis and attention to details, he explores the relationships between the personal and communal dimensions of faith, on the interplay between development of character and social action, and proposes a detailed analysis of the role of the church in James's letter.

Подробнее

This volume probes the nature of gratitude as a virtue and identifies its moral value in the Christian life in order to enhance pastoral effectiveness in ministering to those gripped by sins of desire. Such impulses are explored in terms of the seven deadly sins, which this inquiry regards as distorted desires for the good God provides. Utilizing a method of mutual critical correlation, this volume brings philosophical and psychological claims about gratitude into conversation with the Christian tradition. On the basis of an ontology of communion in which humans are inextricably situated in giving-and-receiving relationships with God, others, and the world, this inquiry defines gratitude as a social response involving asymmetrical, agapic reciprocity, whereby a recipient freely, joyfully, and fittingly salutes a giver for the gift received in order to establish, maintain, or restore a personal and peaceable relationship. Critiquing especially the reductions of gratitude by Aristotle and Jacques Derrida, this inquiry recommends gratitude as a virtue which, when embodied, practiced, and ritualized especially, though not exclusively, in the Eucharist, has potential to repel the destructive idolatries generated by the seven deadly sins and thus function as a crucial ingredient in human social flourishing. Familiarity with the virtue of gratitude as a vital ingredient in moral flourishing therefore equips pastors for greater ministerial effectiveness.

Подробнее

Karl Barth's famous account of the doctrine of election in his mammoth Dogmatics has been described as the heart of his theology–a great hymn to the grace of God in Christ. Discover the person who initially stimulated Barth's mammoth reworking of the «classical» view of the doctrine–pastor/theologian Pierre Maury (1890-1956). Their close friendship and especially a seminal paper Maury gave in 1936 entitled «Election and Faith» helped stimulate Barth's reflection. Discover some never-before-translated works of Maury as well as a revision of a previously published piece on predestination. In this revised and expanded second edition, seven theologians reflect on the significance of these works for us today from historical, textual, pastoral, and theological standpoints, and seek to draw conclusions for us in our contemporary setting.

Подробнее