Sin Boldly--a manual for fallen angels--is a guide to spiritual issues facing the secular world. Chris Levan, author of The Dancing Steward and God Hates Religion, has a gift for translating theological concepts into contemporary and comprehensible terms. This collection of his columns is like a conversation over coffee with a close friend.
The author of the Catholic best-seller, Theology of the Body Explained, examines the vital powers of the body, sexuality and spirituality that compel life pursuits, drawing on lessons from classical and contemporary disciplines including the Christian mystical tradition to challenge beliefs about Christianity's sexual oppressiveness while linking erotic impulses to a spiritual need for God.
In the midst of a culture where sex and gender issues are rampant, two common viewpoints exist. Unfortunately, they are both extreme. While there is an effort in the church to minister to the sexually broken, many places of worship have adopted a strict ethic that leads to a fear-based attitude towards those struggling with sexuality and gender identity. This has caused strugglers to feel alienated and wounded from the church. On the other hand, secular culture has adopted the sexual liberation message: "If it feels good, do it." Sadly, this idea has permeated the hearts and minds of too many Christians. As a result, issues such as homosexuality, gender identity confusion, and sex outside of marriage have become battlegrounds of division among the Body of Christ. With all of this discord, how do we find the true meaning of sex? In The Meaning of Sex: A New Christian Ethos, Christopher Doyle offers a compassionate and bold philosophy on how to love thy neighbor within the confines set forth by our Savior, who holds us when we struggle, loves us when we fall, and celebrates with us when we experience victory. When we collectively pursue the wholeness Jesus calls us to, the sexual ethics that bind us becomes a higher ethos that unites us. Only then, as we bare our souls to each other and become vulnerable with our own unique wounds, can we meet our struggling brothers and sisters where they are and journey towards emotional wholeness and spiritual maturity. "The Meaning of Sex: A New Christian Ethos is a masterful synthesis of Christian theology and the social sciences that has the potential to radically transform our culture in positive ways." ~ Michelle A. Cretella, M.D. (President, American College of Pediatricians) "Christopher Doyle effectively challenges cultural constructs that have led Christians away from the questions that we need to be asking, connecting the dots between a biblical narrative of sexuality and what is revealed in nature and through scientific inquiry." ~ Professor Carolyn Pela, Ph.D., LMFT (Chair, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Arizona Christian University)
Christopher Gooden's Releasing the Guards is a testimony of healing from early childhood sexual abuse. His extraordinary courage in revealing his battles with rage and guilt provide the reader with a vivid series of snapshots following one man's pursuit of healing and wholeness. Gooden's story begins on the night, at the age of nine, when he put a stop to the attacks, and progresses to the present, which finds him an accomplished educator and author ministering healing and courage to others who are fighting the same battle against which he already has achieved victory.
From the author of Out of a Far Country, which details his dramatic conversion from an agnostic gay man who put his identity in his sexuality to a Bible professor who now puts his identity in Christ alone, comes a gospel-centered discussion of sex, desire, and relationships. Dr. Christopher Yuan explores the concept of holy sexuality--chastity in singleness or faithfulness in marriage--in a practical and relevant manner, equipping readers with an accessible yet robust theology of sexuality. Whether you want to share Christ with a loved one who identifies as gay or you're wrestling with questions of identity yourself, this book will help you better understand sexuality in light of God's grand story and realize that holy sexuality is actually good news for all.
In response to a world awash in sexual chaos and gender confusion, this book offers a bold and thoroughly biblical look at the meaning of the body, sex, gender, and marriage. Bestselling author, cultural commentator, and popular theologian Christopher West is one of the world's most recognized teachers of John Paul II's Theology of the Body. He specializes in making this teaching accessible to all Christians, with particular attention to evangelicals. As West explains, from beginning to end the Bible tells a story of marriage. It begins with the marriage of man and woman in an earthly paradise and ends with the marriage of Christ and the church in an eternal paradise. In our post-sexual-revolution world, we need to remember that our bodies tell a divine story and proclaim the gospel itself. As male and female and in the call to become "one flesh," our bodies reveal a "great mystery" that mirrors Christ's love for the church (Eph. 5:31-32). This book provides a redemptive rather than repressive approach to sexual purity, explores the true meaning of sex and marriage, and offers a compelling vision of what it means to be created male and female. Foreword by Eric Metaxas.
Does sexual difference matter for marriage? Are there good theological reasons why the two main characters in a marriage should be a male and a female, or is marriage a more flexible covenant, which any two people can keep? Creation and Covenant analyzes latent but under-examined beliefs about sexual difference in the theology about marriage which has been dominant for centuries in the Christian west. The book opens by studying patristic theologies of marriage, which rested on mostly implicit and often incompatible beliefs about sexual difference. However, Roberts argues that Augustine developed a coherent theology of sexual difference, according it a shifting significance from creation to eschaton. Roberts traces how Augustine's theology influenced and was developed by subsequent theologians, such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Luther, Barth, and John Paul II. Finally, Roberts engages today's debates about gay marriage. Before becoming an academic, Dr. Roberts was a journalist. On behalf of PBS television, he covered both the Lambeth Conference in England and the World Council of Churches in Zimbabwe. During those years, he was disappointed by both the liberal and conservative arguments on homosexuality. Left-wingers seemed more interested in privacy, autonomy, and experience than in theology, and right-wingers seemed to have lots of prohibitions but little good news. In the final chapters, this book tries to do better, inviting liberals to improve the standard of their arguments, and explaining what is beautiful and persuasive about the traditional case.
No doubt, anyone who attempts to "complete" the message of Jesus Christ opens himself up to question and perhaps ridicule. But, I ask, what are we now to do? We are at a crossroads, not knowing which way to turn. In this work, I try to provide a direction and so carry that responsibility for, you see, I carry the cross, too, just as you will upon receiving this work. "The speaking of the truth is the taking of the stand for life. Of course, our words must come from the balance (silence), and they will as we stand up for life. Each time a man stands up for a woman and a woman stands up for a man, life is consecrated." I Carry the Cross, too: The Completion of the Message of Jesus Christ Author Bio: Christopher Alan Anderson (1950 - ) received the basis of his education from the University of Science and Philosophy, Swannanoa, Waynesboro, Virginia. He resides in the transcendental/romantic tradition, that vein of spiritual creativity of the philosopher and poet. His quest has been to define and express an eternal romantic reality from which a man and a woman could together stand in their difference and create a living universe of procreative love. Mr. Anderson began these writings in 1971. The first writings were published in 1985. On a personal note, when Mr. Anderson was asked to describe the writings and what he felt their message was he responded, "Spiritual procreation. Mankind has yet to distinguish the two sexes on the spiritual level. In this failure lies the root of our problems and why we cannot yet touch the eternal together. The message of man and woman balance brings each of us together in love with our eternal other half right now." keywords: Truth, Life, Christ, Teachings, Spiritual
A Christian vision can help inform the choices of young adults about dating, marriage, and relationships. Filled with personal stories, this book is timelhy, affirming, upbeat and sophisticated. It can be used individually or in a group setting.
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