Flawed Perfection

To understand the problems that face the world, one must understand human nature. From exploitation and violence to decisions about how to wisely govern or care for human life, the problems humanity faces aren't just abstract issues—they impact the day-to-day lives of many individuals and communities across the globe. How should Christians wrestle with these complex and difficult problems in a thoughtful, ethical way? According to Jeffrey A. Brauch, people need to start with an informed grasp of human nature. It's only by understanding human nature that a person can recognize their profound value as God's good creation despite their fallen condition, and uphold equal human rights regardless of differences. Flawed Perfection will help Christians from across the political and cultural spectrum think carefully about and actively respond to these issues with both gravity and grace

James Hancock has everything—a comfortable marriage, grown children who launched into their chosen careers, and the wealth and jet-setting lifestyle of a successful banker. He's a geeky slightly naive quant who's risen to the highest echelons of the cutthroat world of high finance on the strength of his prodigious mathematical abilities. But even with all the outward signs of personal and professional achievement, he feels an emptiness inside, a yearning for something more. Then he's sent to London, where he meets Roxy Reid, a girl from the mean streets of the East End, the survivor of a tough childhood with a drug addict mother. Lost waif and formidable warrior, unschooled illiterate and genius savant, artless guttersnipe and sophisticated lady, childlike innocent and wise sage, with trusting immaturity and weary cynicism–Roxy is an impossible bundle of contradictions. She enters his life like a bolt of lightning, showing him in a flash how cold and sterile his life has been. Everything about her is wrong—she's far too young, totally alien to everything in his experience, and has long standing ties to organized crime. Drawn into her violent world of drugs and gangs, he must decide whether to risk everything to pursue her.

Almost any parent you asked would tell you that they want their children to be happy, successful adults. But many of us forget (or never knew to begin with) that lasting personal joy is not necessarily found the way the world says it is--through reaching a certain socioeconomic status, having a certain job, buying a certain house, or having a certain amount in one's bank account. In fact, says Kristen Welch, popular blogger and author of Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World, personal satisfaction comes not from grabbing onto things but from holding them with an open hand and, very often, giving them away. In this inspiring book, Welch shows parents how to discover for themselves and instill in their kids the profound joy that comes from sharing what we have been given--our time, our talents, and even what's in our wallets--with those who have less. Through powerful personal stories as well as stories from Scripture, Welch offers a tantalizing alternative to status quo parenting that has the power to impact not only our own families but the entire world. At the end of each chapter, one of the author's kids offers their perspective on what it's like to be raised as a world changer.

In Perfect, Cecelia Ahern's thrilling sequel to Flawed, Celestine must make a choice: save just herself or risk her own life to save all Flawed people. Celestine North lives in a society that demands perfection. After she was branded Flawed by a morality court, Celestine's life has completely fractured--all her freedoms gone. Since Judge Crevan has declared her the number one threat to the public, she has been a ghost, on the run with Carrick--the only person she can trust. But Celestine has a secret--one that could bring the entire Flawed system crumbling to the ground. A secret that has already caused countless people to go missing. Judge Crevan is gaining the upper hand, and time is running out for Celestine. With tensions building, can she prove that to be human in itself is to be Flawed?

Bobby Beckerson was the American All-Star hockey player–he was the spitting image of perfection to his family. Goofy, sweet and undeniably gorgeous, he had everything but the one girl he wanted: River Ahlers. River Ahlers is successful in everything but love. She’s been in love with Adam Beckerson since they were kids. Worst of all she’s stuck right in the middle of the brothers dueling over everything and anything, and she doesn’t even know she’s the ultimate prize. Adam Beckerson was a boy with a guitar, a smile that sunk girls' hearts and a stone wall around his own. He was anything but perfect, and no matter how hard he tried he was nothing compared to Bobby. Sweet, damaged, with boyish good-looks, no body thought Adam loved anyone but himself. Bobby loved River, River loved Adam and Adam only loved himself–or so everyone thought. Then one night everything changes, and as it threatens to destroy everyone involved a tragedy strikes that will break them all…

Celestine North lives a perfect life. She's a model daughter and sister, she's well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she's dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan. But then Celestine encounters a situation in which she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks a rule and now faces life-changing repercussions. She could be imprisoned. She could be branded. She could be found FLAWED. In her breathtaking young adult debut, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society in which obedience is paramount and rebellion is punished. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her everything.

Breakthroughs in genetics present us with a promise and a predicament. The promise is that we will soon be able to treat and prevent a host of debilitating diseases. The predicament is that our newfound genetic knowledge may enable us to manipulate our nature—to enhance our genetic traits and those of our children. Although most people find at least some forms of genetic engineering disquieting, it is not easy to articulate why. What is wrong with re-engineering our nature? The Case against Perfection explores these and other moral quandaries connected with the quest to perfect ourselves and our children. Michael Sandel argues that the pursuit of perfection is flawed for reasons that go beyond safety and fairness. The drive to enhance human nature through genetic technologies is objectionable because it represents a bid for mastery and dominion that fails to appreciate the gifted character of human powers and achievements. Carrying us beyond familiar terms of political discourse, this book contends that the genetic revolution will change the way philosophers discuss ethics and will force spiritual questions back onto the political agenda. In order to grapple with the ethics of enhancement, we need to confront questions largely lost from view in the modern world. Since these questions verge on theology, modern philosophers and political theorists tend to shrink from them. But our new powers of biotechnology make these questions unavoidable. Addressing them is the task of this book, by one of America’s preeminent moral and political thinkers.

The Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies (JBTS) is an academic journal focused on the fields of Bible and Theology from an inter-denominational point of view. The journal is comprised of an editorial board of scholars that represent several academic institutions throughout the world. JBTS is concerned with presenting high-level original scholarship in an approachable way. Academic journals are often written by scholars for other scholars. They are technical in nature, assuming a robust knowledge of the field. There are fewer journals that seek to introduce biblical and theological scholarship that is also accessible to students. JBTS seeks to provide high-level scholarship and research to both scholars and students, which results in original scholarship that is readable and accessible. As an inter-denominational journal JBTS is broadly evangelical. We accept contributions in all theological disciplines from any evangelical perspective. In particular, we encourage articles and book reviews within the fields of Old Testament, New Testament, Biblical Theology, Church History, Systematic Theology, Practical Theology, Philosophical Theology, Philosophy, and Ethics.