Bøger af Stephen Bullivant

The so-called "Fátima prayer"--O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy, amen--due primarily to its widespread use as a rosary decade prayer, surely ranks among the Church's most popular prayers. Despite its brevity, it is a prayer of remarkable theological depth--not to mention, daring. In the space of just twenty-nine words, it broaches some of the great themes of Christianity: sin, forgiveness, mercy, heaven, hell. It also touches on two hot topics within contemporary Catholic discussion--having a personal relationship with "my Jesus, ' and the permissibility of hoping that "all souls" may ultimately be saved. O My Jesus is a concise work of both popular theology and spiritual writing not unlike the kinds of interpretive commentaries on key prayers produced by Christian theologians since at least the third century. +

"Trinity" is Christianity's most basic description of who God actually is--and who he needs to be in order to save us. It is at the very heart of what Christians believe, and very little else in Christianity makes sense without it. Despite this, a great many Christians, including significant numbers of teachers, catechists, and preachers, do not feel confident in talking about it. It is not that they don't believe in the Trinity, because they certainly do. But they are not altogether sure that what they think they believe about it is what they are "supposed" to, and they fear both revealing their ignorance, and leading others astray. The central idea of this book is that, contrary to popular assumption, the Trinity is a very simple doctrine. It consists of just three short, deeply scriptural convictions: i) There is only one God; ii) Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all God; and iii) Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not the same. The Trinity: How Not to Be a Heretic explains how the earliest Christians came to be convinced by each statement, why they matter, and how--slowly, over a period of several centuries--it found a way of saying all three at once. Its sole purpose is to help Christians of all kinds better understand the Trinity so that they can then help others--Christians, non-Christians, and maybe even some not-yet Christians--better understand it too. +