Being Human Chasers

George's friend, Kaz, arrives at the flat with a staggering request: she and her partner Gail want to have a child, and they'd like George to be the father. George is warming to the idea - he's always wanted kids, and he can be as involved in the baby's life as he wishes - but he is wary: what if his condition is genetic? Mitchell and Annie don't approve of the new plan, but Mitchell is wrestling with a difficult decision of his own. A patient at the hospital, Leo, is surprisingly good company for a pasty older bloke who believes the 1980s were a golden age. But he seems a little too interested in Mitchell's history - and he has a surprising request of his own in store for his new friend... Featuring Mitchell, George and Annie, as played by Aidan Turner, Russell Tovey and Lenora Crichlow in the hit series created by Toby Whithouse for BBC Television

One of Annie's oldest friends has come looking for her - and what's more amazing is that she's found her. Denise is the ultimate party girl, and she's determined to bring Annie out of her shell. Mitchell is delighted, but George really thinks the last thing they need to do is to go out and meet new people. Annie and Denise throw themselves into organising a Bingo night at the local sports hall - after all, it's for charity, and what's not to love about having a good time? But why is Denise back in town? Why have Bristol's vampires suddenly started hanging around wherever they go? And why does George get the feeling that Bingo night is going to go horribly, horribly wrong? Featuring Mitchell, George and Annie, as played by Aidan Turner, Russell Tovey and Lenora Chichlow in the hit series created by Toby Whithouse for BBC Television

Annie has learned quite a bit about her new friend Gemma: she's from Bristol, she used to work in a pharmacy, and she's never forgiven herself for the suicide of her teenage son. She also died ten years ago and doesn't know why she's come back through that door. Perhaps it has something to do with the new road they're building through the rundown part of town. The plans are sparking protests, and Annie knows those derelict houses hold a secret in Gemma's past. Will stopping the demolition help Gemma be at peace again? Annie, George and Mitchell get involved in the road protest, but they're more concerned by mysterious deaths at the hospital. Deaths that have also attracted the attention of the new Hospital Administrator... Featuring Mitchell, George and Annie, as played by Aidan Turner, Russell Tovey and Lenora Crichlow in the hit series created by Toby Whithouse for BBC Television

The quest to live much longer has moved from legend to the laboratory. Recent breakthroughs in genetics and pharmacology have put humanity on the precipice of slowing down human aging to extend the healthy life span. The promise of longer, healthier life is enormously attractive, and poses several challenging questions for Christians. Who wouldn't want to live 120 years or more before dying quickly? How do we make sense of human aging in light of Jesus' invitation to daily take up our crosses with the promise of the resurrection to come? Is there anything wrong with manipulating our bodies technologically to live longer? If so, how long is too long? Should aging itself be treated as a disease? In Chasing Methuselah, Todd Daly examines the modern biomedical anti-aging project from a Christian perspective, drawing on the ancient wisdom of the Desert Fathers, who believed that the incarnation opened a way for human life to regain the longevity of Adam and the biblical patriarchs through prayer and fasting. Daly balances these insights with the christological anthropology of Karl Barth, discussing the implications for human finitude, fear of death, and the use of anti-aging technology, weaving a path between outright condemnation and uncritical enthusiasm.

Every day the sun rises and the sun sets. The inconceivably immense cosmos goes on without stopping, taking no notice of our life, our death, or our quest for meaningfulness. Humans have always "chased belief," sought meaning in the world transcendent to the personal and particular, amid the ambiguous mixture of beauty and horror all around us. But the traditional symbols and concepts--the narrative roadmaps that once sustained and directed belief--have changed and are increasingly seen as meaningless, divorced from the reality of the physical world in which we live, especially in the West and for many within Western Christianity. It is time to create new, transformed concepts for those moral and ethical religious teachings compatible with our modern self-understanding. We need "new wineskins" that remain faithful to important traditions but also find a basis beyond the personal and preferential, a transcendent perspective that thinks and believes both scientifically and religiously, as we "chase belief." Chasing Belief challenges traditional models and thought patterns of religious language and ideas to plant the seeds of a new transformative spirituality that gives meaning and hope to the life we share on this mote in the cosmic sea.

Why does God have to be so exasperatingly silent? Why can't we see him at least long enough to allay doubt? How does one grow deeper in love with God against the cultural currents of disdain and antagonism? Chasing Mystery is an exploration into how the Bible negotiates the presence and absence of God in the hopes of forging a path in situations where absences often seem more pressing than presences. Amid the prevailing skepticism and restlessness, says Walsh, we must relearn the skill of trust in reading Scripture. The aim is to experience God through holy writing. Walsh offers a work in biblical theology that explores the liveliness of the God of the Bible. She insists that the pages of the Bible do not simply describe divine presence; they evoke it in the process of reading. Not all the time, certainly not predictably, but enough to warrant a trust. Her goal is to strengthen the heart's reading competency in order to facilitate our encounter with God.