The Complete Green Letters by Miles J. Stanford is an assembly of five of Miles Stanford’s efforts into one collection. Published between 1970 and 1977, The Green Letters, The Principle of Position, The Ground of Growth, The Reckoning That Counts and Abide Above, were first published as a collection in1975. The shared subject of these books is the author’s theme of “Not I, but Christ.” (Stanford, 1983, ix) Stanford’s concept of “what it means to be a Christian” (Ibid) is exhibited all the way through this combined work. Summary The Green Letters: Principles of Spiritual Growth The Green Letters is the first of five books concerning the matter of spiritual development. According to Walter Elwell, in the Introduction “The five books that make up this manual of spirituality are to be read in order.”(Ibid) The Green Letters, being the first book, “lays the foundation for understanding what spiritual growth is.”(Ibid) This first book is based on three principles. The first is the “futility of the self-life” which leads to defeat (x). The second “is that of identification” (x). Gal 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (KJV) “He is one with us in life.” (x) The third principle is that of reckoning. “We are to live as disciples, reckoning the identification truths are true.”(x) Stanford detailed eighteen separate principles for spiritual growth. These principles are; faith, time, acceptance, purpose, preparation, complete in Him, appropriation, identification, consecration, self, self-denial, the Cross, discipleship, process of disc... ... middle of paper ... ...m already working on many different areas and find I need to get accustom to these before beginning any more. The ideas offered in this book are intriguing and I will have to revisit them in the near future. Conclusion In general, The Complete Green Letters is a one stop guide to personal spiritual growth that any serious believer could use to develop a long term plan. This is a book that any believer needs to take a look at. While this book is neither easy to read nor is it quickly understood, the many guidelines and ideas make it an interesting and thought provoking read. There is a substantial reward for the person willing to invest the time in this book. Bibliography Stanford, Miles J., The Complete Green Letters, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1983.
Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 19(1), 69-84. Heim, D. (1996). The 'Standard'. Phil Jackson, Seeker in Sneakers. Christian Century, 133(20), 654-656.
Garrett’s concise treatment of an array of relevant questions is reflected in chapter titles like “Faith and Belief”, “The Bible and Theology”, “Sacramental Faith”, “Spiritual Practice”, “The Kingdom of God”, “The End of Things”, and “Friends or Rivals: Living in a Multifaith World”. Each chapter is a vivid explanation on how our life should be based on love, nothing else but the love of Christ, it contrasts the modern day depiction of God bein...
Suzuki, D.T. An introduction to Zen Buddhism. Ed. Christmas Humphreys; fwd. C.G. Jung. London: Rider, 1983.
Carl Henry, in his “The Uneasy Conscious of Modern Fundamentalism”, describes the evangelical’s lack of social and cultural engagement in the world as an embarrassing divorce. He laments that the evangelicals has failed to challenge the injustices of the totalitarianisms, the secularisms of modern education, the evils of racial hatred, the wrongs of current labor-management relations, and the inadequate bases of international dealings, they have ceased to challenge Caesar and Rome, as though in futile resignation and submission to the triumphant Renaissance mood. 1 As a result, the Gospel message stands divorced from a passion to right the world. This divorce between the Gospel message and the passion to right the world is related to the fact that modern Fundamentalism does not explicitly articulate the social implications of its message for the non-Christian world. While identifying himself within the premillennialism camp, Carl admits that premillennial thinking regarding the kingdom of God, which holds no hope for changing within society, has induced a pervasive mood of “prophetic despair,” whereas Protestant liberalism is at least concerned to address the problems attending social evil.2 This negligence or abandonment of Christian social imperative has made Fundamentalists to be more world-resisting than world-changing; consequently, out of this mindset it is impossible for any contemporary version of Augustine’s City of God to emerge.3 But this doesn’t have to be the end of the story,
Gomes, Peter J. The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart. New York: Morrow, 1996.
Smith, Huston. The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions. San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1994. Print.
Paul Tillich. “What Faith Is”. The Human Experience: Who Am I?. 8th ed. Winthrop University: Rock Hill SC, 2012. 269-273. Print.
The goal of this book review on Engaging God’s World written by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. is to examine his ideas on redemption, vocation in the Kingdom of God, and to explore his thoughts on Christian education as described in the book’s epilogue. Cornelius Plantinga Jr. discusses several key notes regarding redemption, such as salvation. Vocation in the Kingdom of God is another subject he touches on in relation to the way God works within His Kingdom connecting us to the ‘King of Kings’ as his ambassadors on earth. Lastly, Plantinga explains his view on how Christian education is important to sustain ourselves, earth now, and the New Earth.
Spirituality is a broad concept, often met with skepticism, but for those who believe in spirituality, it is something real and can have positive effects. Spirituality is difficult to operationalize because it is defined and understood in multiple ways. Participants in studies have described spirituality from experiencing a connection with God or a higher power, to believing something exists that is beyond oneself, to being a search for inner peace and supporting core values to become an ideal human (Hodge & McGrew, 2006). For this paper, spirituality will be defined as an inclusive, multidimensional phenomenon (Starks, Vakalahi & McPhatter, 2014). As well, for this paper belief in spirituality, belief in something bigger than oneself, whether
Plantinga’s (2002) book Engaging God’s World consists of five parts: “Longing and Hope,” “Creation,” “The Fall,” “Redemption,” and “Vocation in the Kingdom of God.” Throughout the work, Plantinga references public speakers and activists, lyricists, philosophers, saints, and authors to help his audience connect to his perspective.
...s distributed in Theology 101 at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle on 22 April 2008.
In this paper two topic from the Psychology and Spirituality course will be discussed in regards to spirituality and their influence on my personal life. I will examine how I have grown and what I have learned from the week on Spring Lake ranch and how I wish to continue moving forward in my attempt to be spiritual and build a closer relationship to God.
As part of revivals in Christian faith during 18th century onward three practices evolved into their own interpretation on the place and authority of Scripture in the Christian faith. The first of these were the Liberals who “viewed themselves as the saviors of a defunct out of date Christianity” (Bingham 149). Their founder, Friedrich Schleiermacher an 18th century pastor, “did not view traditional, authoritative doctrines, creeds and biblical texts as the preeminent sources in theology (150). Instead the Liberal perspective of Christianity put more emphasis on the doctrines of sin and grace and less attention on the holiness of the trinity (Kerr 213). Jesus was viewed as a historical figure that we can learn from spiritually and the Bible is used as a source of knowledge on Christian history (Bingham 152, 153). In this theological movement being a Christian is considered “nothing but feeling and experience” (Lane 238).
Spirituality is seen as a universal concept relevant to all individuals; the uniqueness of each individual is paramount (Mcsherry, 2000). Therefore, the subject is complex and relatively complicated topic to discuss. This is due to the different interpretation which is influenced by the individual’s life experience. Therefore definitions of spirituality may differentiate significantly to all individuals and literature (Mcsherry, 2000).
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. 2nd ed. New York City, NY: HarperOne, 2010.