A Theology of the Christian Life: Imitating and Participating in God

Description

In this book, theologian Christopher Holmes encourages readers to be more deeply captivated by the Bible's witness to God. He gets at the heart of the Christian life by considering some of the great truths of God's existence. \n \nHolmes engages with the church fathers along with Augustine and Aquinas to offer a rich, accessible account of the triune God and the divine perfections. He unfolds a program of spiritual renewal founded on the essential attributes of God, showing how we share in the life of God through imitation and participation and how the doctrines of the triune God and the divine attributes shape our understanding of the Christian life. Throughout, Holmes demonstrates the importance of theology for Christian faith and practice. \n \nA Theology of the Christian Life will appeal to professors and students of Christian theology as well as pastors and church leaders. \n \nContents \n \nIntroduction \nPart One \n1. The Existence of God and the Christian Life \nI AM \nHow Do We Know That God Exists? \nSpiritual Sight \n2. The Manner of God's Existence and the Christian Life \nSense Perception? \nVirtue \nMoses's Example \nFamiliarity with God \nThe Soul's Elevation in Prayer \nAscetical Existence \n"The Moral Race Course" of the Baptized \n3. Perfection and the Christian Life \nThe Likeness of God \nIs Christ Perfect? \nRewards \nThe Father's Invisibility \nA Light Yoke \n4. Infinity and the Christian Life \nAngelic Existence \nThe Bodiless God \nThe Trinitarian Dimension \nGod as Ever Greater \nThe Love of God \nDevotion and the Doctrine of God \nThe Perennial Relevance of 1 Corinthians 15:28 \n5. Immutability and the Christian Life \nChoice \nThe Way of Life \nTrue Worship \nThe Unchanging God \nOn Not Diverging from God \nCharity \nFriendship with God \nPart Two \n6. The Hypostatic Union and the Christian Life \nBelieving Agency and Being \nThe Great Difference \nSuperiority to the Demonic \n7. Virtue and the Christian Life \nVirtue \nTheological Existence \nThe Holy Spirit \nGod's Renown \nPrayer \n8. Church and the Christian Life \nThe One Foundation \nA Fruitful Death \nThe Grace of Prayer \nConclusion \nIndexes