Tag: spirituality

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The Common Rule | Book Review

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“We are all living according to a specific regimen of habits,” writes Justin Whitmel Earley, “and those habits shape most of our life.” Even more, “they form our hearts.” In The Common Rule, Earley outlines a “rule of life” or “program of habits” to help readers fulfill the biblical commandment to love God and neighbor (Matthew 22:34–40). Earley calls this program “the common rule” because it has to do with “common practice by common people.” Its focus on laity rather than clergy distinguishes it from the well-known “rules” of Benedict or Augustine, although its basic purpose is the same as theirs. The … Continue reading The Common Rule | Book Review

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Survival Guide for the Soul | Book Review

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Kurt Vonnegut included a philosophy joke in one of his novels. It looked like this: “To be is to do.” — Socrates “To do is to be.” — Jean-Paul Sartre “Do be do be do.” — Frank Sinatra I can’t vouch for Vonnegut’s take on Socrates or Sartre, but I will say this: Any person who can be as well as they do lives as well as Sinatra could sing. Ken Shigematsu opens Survival Guide for the Soul by distinguishing between doing and being. Drawing on an insight about Genesis 1–2 by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, Shigematsu speaks of “Striving Adam” … Continue reading Survival Guide for the Soul | Book Review

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Celebration of Discipline, 4th Ed. | Book Review

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“Superficiality is the curse of our age,” writes Richard J. Foster in Celebration of Discipline. “The desperate need for today is…deep people.” These words ring as true in 2018 as they did in 1978 when Celebration of Discipline was first published. And spiritual disciplines are still the way to produce depth. As Foster summarizes the matter in the book’s new Foreword, spiritual disciplines are “the means God uses to build in us an inner person that is characterized by peace and joy and freedom.” If you’re looking for help in overcoming the superficiality and distractedness of the current age, start … Continue reading Celebration of Discipline, 4th Ed. | Book Review

The World Wide (Religious) Web1 Comment

The World Wide (Religious) Web for Thursday, May 12, 2011

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What is the gospel? Dallas Willard’s answer: “How to get into heaven before you die.” _____ A Leap of Truth explores the relationship between Christian theology and evolutionary theory. _____ Allen C. Guelzo asks, “Whither the Evangelical Colleges?” Hunter Baker replies with a thither. _____ “Presbyterian Church to ordain gays as ministers.” The Rev. Dr. Janet Edwards, a Presbyterian minister, considers this a “moral awakening.”Mark Chaves, a sociologist of religion at Duke University, comments: “They’re making this change amid a larger cultural change. General public opinion on gay rights is trending pretty dramatically in the liberal direction.” On a (cor)related … Continue reading The World Wide (Religious) Web for Thursday, May 12, 2011