A self-published book of essays [via Createspace] on a few passages of the Bible, mainly aimed at young people, or, people who are still trying to work out their conceptions of themselves, of the gospel, and what they would like to do with their lives. In the Invitation of this book the author ssuggests that the Bible is useful in reflecting on the great questions of life and he invites the reader to join him in seeking wisdom and insight through the Bible.
Robert L. Canfield, PhD, University of Michigan, spent altogether nine and a half years in Afghanistan in the 1950s and 1960s. He taught sociocultural anthropology at Washington University in St Louis for forty-four years and served as Department Chair for seven years. Trained to think of his discipline as the science of history, his scholarly interests have ranged widely. He has written on the cultural continuities of the Turco-Persian ecumene, on factional struggles among peasants in central Afghanistan, on inter-sectarian relations between Ismailis and Ithna-ashariyyah Shiites of Afghanistan, on the Mujahedin coalitions that opposed the Soviets in the 1980s, on the Taliban and similar movements in Central Eurasia, and on the spatial dimensions of power in Eurasia, and on a riot in western Afghanistan .
This work provides a brief glimpse into his private world. A practicing Christian for many years, he has found in the Bible many texts that have helped him work through some of the profound questions of life and experience. In this collage of essays he examines passages of the Bible that have informed his understanding of himself and his life and career. Its narratives, proclamations, examples, enjoinders, claims and promises have shaped his priorities, thoughts, and concerns and so affected his approach to the deep questions that on a subliminal level vex all of us. In these Biblical passages he finds grounds for reflection into the nature of the human condition, the origins of the Christian movement, the practice of authentic faith (which, he stresses, requires creativity), the social implications of belief in Christ, the threats to the earth’s ecosystem, and the wonder of the cosmos. Some of the passages examined here have received little notice in Christian circles.
Chapter titles are the following:
Christianity in a single sentence: A neglected formulation of thegospel.
Social Revolution in the Two Letters to Philemon: On the Abolition of Slavery in the New Testament
Legal Certainty, Ethical Cowardice
Political Uses of Religious Zeal
Biblical Advice on Non-Religious Living
On Martyrdom and Christian “Suicide”
Peter's Little- noted Statement about Peoples “from Every Nation”
The State of Those Who Have “Never Heard”
Walking Blind: A Promise to the Dismayed
Why I Believe in the Resurrection
The Authority of Twelve Jewish Men
The Greatest Social Critics of All Time
The Bang and the Glory
A Strange Prophetic Sign of the World’s End
Robert L. Canfield, PhD, University of Michigan, spent altogether nine and a half years in Afghanistan in the 1950s and 1960s. He taught sociocultural anthropology at Washington University in St Louis for forty-four years and served as Department Chair for seven years. Trained to think of his discipline as the science of history, his scholarly interests have ranged widely. He has written on the cultural continuities of the Turco-Persian ecumene, on factional struggles among peasants in central Afghanistan, on inter-sectarian relations between Ismailis and Ithna-ashariyyah Shiites of Afghanistan, on the Mujahedin coalitions that opposed the Soviets in the 1980s, on the Taliban and similar movements in Central Eurasia, and on the spatial dimensions of power in Eurasia, and on a riot in western Afghanistan .
This work provides a brief glimpse into his private world. A practicing Christian for many years, he has found in the Bible many texts that have helped him work through some of the profound questions of life and experience. In this collage of essays he examines passages of the Bible that have informed his understanding of himself and his life and career. Its narratives, proclamations, examples, enjoinders, claims and promises have shaped his priorities, thoughts, and concerns and so affected his approach to the deep questions that on a subliminal level vex all of us. In these Biblical passages he finds grounds for reflection into the nature of the human condition, the origins of the Christian movement, the practice of authentic faith (which, he stresses, requires creativity), the social implications of belief in Christ, the threats to the earth’s ecosystem, and the wonder of the cosmos. Some of the passages examined here have received little notice in Christian circles.
Chapter titles are the following:
Christianity in a single sentence: A neglected formulation of thegospel.
Social Revolution in the Two Letters to Philemon: On the Abolition of Slavery in the New Testament
Legal Certainty, Ethical Cowardice
Political Uses of Religious Zeal
Biblical Advice on Non-Religious Living
On Martyrdom and Christian “Suicide”
Peter's Little- noted Statement about Peoples “from Every Nation”
The State of Those Who Have “Never Heard”
Walking Blind: A Promise to the Dismayed
Why I Believe in the Resurrection
The Authority of Twelve Jewish Men
The Greatest Social Critics of All Time
The Bang and the Glory
A Strange Prophetic Sign of the World’s End
No comments:
Post a Comment