Christian philosophy and the meaning of history

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Judith K. Balswick & Jack O. Balswick

Sex pervades our culture, going far beyond the confines of the bedroom into the workplace, the church and the media. Yet despite all the attention and even obsession devoted to sex, human sexuality remains confusing and even foreboding. What, after all, is authentic human sexuality? That is the question Judith and Jack Balswick set out to answer in this wide-ranging and probing book. Informed by sociology, psychology and theology, the Balswicks investigate how human sexuality originates both biologically and socially, lay groundwork for a normative Christian interpretation of sexuality, show how authentic sexuality is necessarily grounded in relationships, and explore such forms of "inauthentic sexuality" as sexual harassment, pornography and rape. Since its first publication in 1999, Authentic Human Sexuality has established itself as a standard text at numerous colleges and seminaries. While maintaining the book's overall structure, this new paper edition offers updated discussions and bibliographies throughout, including a completely new chapter on sexual development throughout the human lifespan and a substantially revised chapter on sexual beings in relationship that incorporates a trinitarian theological perspective. A new generation of students, pastors, psychologists and sociologists engaged in counseling will be indebted to the Balswicks for this updated study of this endlessly fascinating and perplexing facet of human identity. - Publisher.

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R. A. Herrera

"Reasons for Our Rhymes provides a chronological overview of the major philosophical approaches to human history. R. A. Herrera clearly presents the ideas and influence of key figures from the past two thousand years - from St. Augustine and Joachim to Bossuet and Vico, from Hegel and Marx to Soloviev and Berdyaev - showing how each of these thinkers initiated a new paradigm for our understanding of the meaning of history."--BOOK JACKET.

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Maurice Hunt

This study explores Shakespeare's representation of various kinds of physical and intellectual work in plays ranging from Hamlet and King Lear through Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Timon of Athens to the four late romances, King Henry VIII, and The Two Noble Kinsmen. Of special interest is the analysis of Shakespeare's portrayal of birth labor, especially with regard to artistic creation and playwrighting in particular. The conflict of idleness versus arduous work becomes progressively more prominent in Shakespeare's Jacobean plays. Reformation Protestantism, the court of King James, and early modern English working conditions provide contexts for appreciating the contemporary importance of this conflict.

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Michael Cheshire

All too often, Christians who are sinners themselves become judge, jury, and jailer over others. Cheshire explores some unsavory questions. Why does the world often do a better job of forgiving their fallen than the Church? Is the decline in Christianity due to the world or have we just become horrible to each other and the world noted it? He challenges the Church to become better at showing grace-- and asks you to examine the way you think about grace and redemption.