Grace unplugged

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Gary R. Collins

Offers Christian counseling to teenagers coping with problems related to sex, alcohol, drugs, broken homes, success, popularity, religion, and other common sources of stress.

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Brian J. Braman

"The language of self-fulfilment, self-realization, and self-actualization (in short, 'authenticity') has become common in contemporary culture. The desire to be authentic is implicitly a desire to shape one's self in accordance with an ideal, and the concern for what it means to be authentic is, in many ways, the modern form of the ancient question 'what is the life of excellence?' However, this notion of authenticity has its critics: Christopher Lasch, for instance, who equates it with a form of narcissism and Theodor Adorno, who views it as a glorification of privatism." "Brian J. Braman argues, despite such criticisms, that it is possible to speak about human authenticity as something that addresses contemporary concerns as well as the ancient preoccupation with the nature of the good life. He refers to the work of Bernard Lonergan and Charles Taylor, thinkers who place a high value on the search for human authenticity. Lonergan discusses authenticity in terms of a threefold conversion - intellectual, moral, and religious - while Taylor views authenticity as a rich, vibrant, and important addition to conversations about what it means to be human." "Meaning and Authenticity is an engaging dialogue between these two thinkers, both of whom maintain that there is a normative conception of authentic human life that overcomes moral relativism, narcissism, privatism, and the collapse of the public self."--BOOK JACKET.

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Aaron Stalnaker

"Can people ever really change? Do they ever become more ethical, and if so, how? Overcoming Our Evil focuses on the way ethical and religious commitments are conceived and nurtured through the methodical practices that Pierre Hadot has called "spiritual exercises." These practices engage thought, imagination, and sensibility, and have a significant ethical component, yet aim for a broader transformation of the whole personality. Going beyond recent philosophical and historical work that has focused on ancient Greco-Roman philosophy, Stalnaker broadens ethical inquiry into spiritual exercises by examining East Asian as well as classical Christian sources, and taking religious and seemingly "aesthetic" practices such as prayer, ritual, and music more seriously as objects of study."--Jacket.

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Meg Cabot

Allie is excited when a new girl, who comes all the way from Canada, joins her class. Now Allie won't be the new girl anymore. But her excitement turns to dismay when Cheyenne starts telling everyone in the fourth grade what to do. And if they don't, Cheyenne calls them babies.