Anthropology Religion

We have somehow internalized the unbiblical idea that the immaterial aspect of our being (our soul or spirit) is inherently good while the material aspect (our body) is at worst inherently evil and at best neutral - just a vehicle for our souls to get around. So we end up neglecting or disparaging our bodies. But we don't have bodies; we are our bodies. And God created us that way for a reason. Theologian Gregg Allison presents a holistic theology of the human body from conception through eternity to equip us to address pressing contemporary issues related to our bodies.

The philosopher Blaise Pascal called man "the supreme paradox", because compared to all other creatures, he is both the most magnificent and the most miserable. What did Pascal mean? The answer goes to the heart of what the Bible says about man. Man is created in the image of God, but the Bible also tells us that man has fallen into sin and become corrupt. In Are People Basically Good?, Dr. R.C. Sproul explores the nature of mankind by looking at what it means to be made in the image of God, and exploring the nature and effects of the fall.

Poythress uses multiple biblical perspectives to address the origin of humanity, the image of God, body and soul, the creational covenant, free agency, human sexuality, and other truths about humanity.

It may be the twenty-first century but religious tensions and conflicts continue all across the world. Even today, religion continues to play an unparalleled role in the lives of individuals and nations with people and leaders pitting one religious identity against another. But the question that...

Alone among the creatures of the world, man suffers a pang both bitter and sweet. It is an ache for the homecoming. The Greeks called it nostalgia. Post-modern man, homeless almost by definition, cannot understand nostalgia. If he is a progressive, dreaming of a utopia to come, he dismisses it contemptuously, eager to bury a past he despises. If he is a reactionary, he sentimentalizes it, dreaming of a lost golden age. In this profound reflection, Anthony Esolen explores the true meaning of nostalgia and its place in the human heart.

Many Christian women wouldn’t identify themselves as “feminists.” However, according to Courtney Reissig, we’ve all been influenced by the feminist movement in profound ways, unconsciously reflecting our culture’s notions about what it means to be a woman.

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR AND PASTE MAGAZINE An intimate account of life in a West African fishing village, tugged by currents ancient and modern, and dependent on an ocean that is being radically transformed. The sea is broken, fishermen say. The sea is...

In this book, E. Fuller Torrey draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to propose a startling answer to the ultimate question. Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods locates the origin of gods within the human brain, arguing that religious belief is a by-product of evolution. Based on an idea originally proposed by Charles Darwin, Torrey marshals evidence that the emergence of gods was an incidental consequence of several evolutionary factors.

The Cross of Christ has left a crater at the center of history, an inflection of sacrificial love toward which everything before and after this event is ordered and properly understood. That Christ is the Alpha and Omega—the logic, the meaning of creation itself, from whom the drama of salvation emanates and toward whom it moves—is a central but often neglected doctrine of Catholic Christianity.

How can Christian men and women live faithfully in a world confused over sexuality and gender? Surely we must be reminded of what Scripture teaches. Yet as God’s design for sexuality is being suppressed and denied in the modern world, we need to hear it articulated in a fresh and accessible way. God’s Good Design presents the historic, biblical view of sexuality in a manner that is appealing even to those who have been conditioned to believe it is scary or oppressive.

Nothing that God created is the source of our human temptation. To the contrary! The human body is the crown of God's creation—consummated by his declaration that it was good. That God's people are unable to view the body without sinning is not an indictment of the body itself, but of the immaturity of the post-modern evangelical mind.

But, really, who are you? Are you ready to let that question shake you to your core - as you peel away layers of false identity built on shifting and ephemeral factors and learn to embrace your true self found in Jesus Christ alone? No job, no family relationship, no personality type, nationality, or accomplishment can offer you what Christ does: an abiding identity of righteousness in him.

Does your body really matter? You are flesh and blood. It’s easy to forget this, living as if your mind and soul were all that mattered. But ignoring your body leads to an incomplete, ineffective life. God created us from the dust, and being physical beings in a physical world affects everything from our use of technology to our sexuality and our worship. In this provocative audio book, Matthew Lee Anderson explores how our bodies interact with our faith.

God is often described as all knowing, all loving, and all powerful. But are there other traits that we overlook? What is God really like? Can we truly put his eternal attributes into words? And how does the way we describe God affect our relationship with him? Best-selling author and speaker Chip Ingram helps readers answer these questions and more in this fascinating study of seven attributes of God. With engaging insight, Ingram guides readers through a challenging but accessible study of God's goodness, sovereignty, holiness, wisdom, justice, love, and faithfulness.

Dr. Sproul's classic gets to the heart of humanity's search for personal worth. As he sheds light on daily obstacles to dignity-in home, school, hospital, prison, church, and workplace - Dr. Sproul points us to new ways of loving and serving one another.

We live in an age of abundance. We have a wealth of food, distractions, entertainment, possessions, and an overabundance of information. We have all we could need, but we still want more. With all we have, you would think we would also have an abundance of contentment. Instead, we have a wealth of discontentment. It does not matter if you have a lot or have just enough to survive; we all struggle with the same significant issues. So, what is the answer to this plague of despair?

Mercy might seem insignificant - until the moment you’re the one in need of it. Although it’s a small word, it yields big impact. Yet, too often, it is misunderstood. Author Linda Oberbrunner learned the power of mercy firsthand. Born in the Midwest back in the 1950s, she found herself caught up in economic, racial, social, and political tension.

Based on two years of fieldwork and interviews with 71 Midwestern Americans, the Waskuls' book is a reflexive ethnography that examines how people experience ghosts and hauntings in everyday life. The authors explore how uncanny happenings become ghosts and the reasons people struggle with or against a will to believe. They present the variety and character of hauntings and ghostly encounters, outcomes of people telling haunted legends, and the nested consequences of ghostly experiences.

Award-winning journalist Rob Moll chronicles the fascinating ways in which our brains and bodies interact with God and spiritual realities. He reports on neuroscience findings that show how our brains actually change and adapt when engaged in spiritual practices. We live longer, healthier, happier, and more fulfilling lives when we cultivate the biological spiritual capacity that puts us in touch with God. God has created our bodies to fulfill the Great Commandment.

In About You, Dick Staub addresses irreligious, religious, spiritual seekers, and all kinds of Christians and shows us that Jesus came to satisfy our universal longing for a fully human life, not to establish a narrow us-versus-them religion. In short, Jesus didn't come to make us Christian; Jesus came to make us fully human.