Böcker av Anthony J Cssp Gittins

In sixteen short but perceptive commentaries, Anthony J. Gittins recounts the experiences of various women and men from the New Testament--insiders and outsiders, people of substance and people regarded as sinners--whose lives were changed by an encounter with Jesus. Based on solid biblical scholarship but retold in language accessible to all and illuminated by the author's fresh perspective, these stories emphasize the way in which people come to faith and discover discipleship. Encountering Jesus presents New Testament figures in a new light and is perfect for both group study and personal reflection. Among the discipleship stories included are the healing of the paralytic from the Gospel of Mark, the healing of the Canaanite woman's daughter from Matthew, the conversion of Zacchaeus the tax collector from Luke, and the healing of the man born blind from John.Anthony J. Gittins writes: ""Typically, the stories demonstrate that there are often a number of stages or steps involved. The easiest way to identify them is to notice exactly what each person says, and in what sequence, during his or her encounter with Jesus. With the rare exception of someone immediately identifying Jesus with God... most people are a little slower.... Readers may look out for a three-step or four-step approach to faith, as a person moves to an even more specific identification of Jesus. It is an interesting, englightening, and sometimes surprising exercise.""Anthony J. Gittins, CSSp, is emeritus professor of theology and culture at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Born in Manchester, England, he earned an MA and PhD from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was ordained a priest in 1967 and is an internationally recognized lecturer and retreat master. Father Gittins is the author of 18 books, including two previous works on the theology of discipleship: Encountering Jesus: How People Come to Faith and Discover Discipleship and A Presence That Disturbs: A Call to Radical Discipleship.

The gospel tells us to look into other people's eyes as we search for an image of God to help us work for healing justice amid the rubble and the memories that litter our lives, to rebuild a human world on the debris of broken dreams, and to commit ourselves--as God does--to restoring communities, so that there will be no more estrangement, no more strangers, and no more aliens. It is only a little less than impossible, and the only way we can do it is to learn to love the world as God already does. It's simply not possible to love in theory; we must go further than that. We must love in practice. We must practice in love. That is the disciple's call.Called to Be Sent develops and completes the theology of discipleship introduced in the author's previous books. This new volume focuses on ""sending forth,"" the phase that follows our radical encounter with humanity. Here we find the hope and strength to move from an understanding of mission to actually being commissioned by Jesus. In short, as Christians we are ""gathered for scattering"" and ""called to be sent,"" and this book provides much direction.Anthony J. Gittins, CSSp, is professor of mission and culture at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Born in Manchester, England, he earned an MA and PhD from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was ordained a priest in 1967 and is an internationally recognized lecturer and retreat master. Father Gittins is the author of fifteen books, including two previous works on the theology of discipleship: Encountering Jesus: How People Come to Faith and Discover Discipleship and A Presence That Disturbs: A Call to Radical Discipleship.

This powerful, moving, and ""disturbing"" book looks at the contemporary issues that block the attainment of a revitalized church--a church united rather than fragmented, a church tuned to justice for all rather than to provincial myopia. A Presence that Disturbs will engage the general reader and the specialist alike with a fresh perspective on what it means to follow Christ.Three themes garnered from Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl underpin the message of this book. To live you must choose: you must not let life ""just happen."" To love you must encounter: you must know that human encounter is the only authentic way to know and love. To grow you must suffer: you must know that suffering can be a vehicle of growth, a chance for redemption, a way to turn ourselves to the outside.Gittins discusses these themes in the context of the search for meaning. The new lease on life endowed by the Holy Spirit, the function of imaginative ministry, the communitas of true discipleship, and the radical actions of Jesus' ministry are just a few of the ideas explored in the quest for a new understanding of discipleship. ""Authentic Christianity,"" says Gittins, ""is outreaching and encountering; it communicates and ministers. Christianity, like its sibling, Judaism, does not produce complacency, but complicity or participation with others. Theses pages are an invitation to renewed discipleship and an appeal to radical Christianity in the footsteps and in the Spirit of Jesus, who prayed that his followers be one in him.""Anthony J. Gittins, CSSp, is professor of mission and culture at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Born in Manchester, England, he earned an MA and PhD from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was ordained a priest in 1967 and is an internationally recognized lecturer and retreat master. Father Gittins is the author of fifteen books, including two previous works on the theology of discipleship: Encountering Jesus: How People Come to Faith and Discover Discipleship and A Presence That Disturbs: A Call to Radical Discipleship.