In His Own Image

Hailed as "the most radical repackaging of the Bible since Gutenberg", these Pocket Canons give an up-close look at each book of the Bible.

"Someone once noted that God made us in His image, and ever since we have tried to do God a favor by making Him in our image." It’s easy to speak to others about the Jesus who cared for the poor, healed the sick, and preached love and justice for the least of these. But what about the God who tells the Israelites to wage war and kill entire people groups? Or threatens exile and then delivers? Or sends people to hell? Can these really be the same God? The simple answer is, yes. God in His Own Image takes you on a journey through the Bible exploring God’s true nature. You’ll study instances of great mercy and great severity, and by the end, you’ll begin to see why both God’s compassion and his wrath are necessary, important, and even beautiful. Get to know the God who is both Lion and Lamb, both Judge and Father, both kind and severe, and perfect in every way.

ccording to Scripture, humankind was created in the image of God. Hoekema discusses the implications of this theme, devoting several chapters to the biblical teaching on God's image, the teaching of philosophers and theologians through the ages, and his own theological analysis. Suitable for seminary-level anthropology courses, yet accessible to educated laypeople. Extensive bibliography, fully indexed.

This book is about nothing less than Genesis 1, or human creation. Humanity, the author convincingly argues, is created within the Priestly tradition as a replacement of God's divine community; human creation marks the decisive moment that P's God separates himself from other gods and institutes monotheism. After discussing the references of God's self-inclusive yet plural first person speech and examining the ramifications of this speech pattern in other biblical texts, Randall Garr discusses the divine-human relationship as it is represented by carefully analysing the prepositions and nouns that characterize it. After highlighting some themes and theological concepts elaborated in Gen 1, it clearly situates the creation of humanity within the programmatic agenda of the Priestly tradition.

In this “stunning narrative” of a young female war photographer’s life and death, “moral questions take on human form” (Kirkus Reviews). From Goncourt Prize–winning author Jérôme Ferrari, a bewitching story of passion, death, and love, and a powerful reflection on the relationship between art and reality Born in a small town in Corsican countryside, Antonia grows up in a place of deeply-rooted traditions and strong family ties. When she’s fourteen, her uncle, a priest, gives her a camera—igniting a passion that will prompt her to become a photojournalist. Over two decades later, Antonia is walking around the port of Calvi when she runs into Dragan, a soldier whom she had met when she was reporting on the war in the former Yugoslavia. The two spend the night in deep conversation, reminiscing about their experience of the conflict. Shortly after saying goodbye, as she drives home Antonia loses control of her car, plunges off a cliff and is killed instantly. Tasked with officiating his niece’s funeral, Antonia’s uncle reflects on her life and legacy, and on the profound questions they beg about ambition and doubt, passion and guilt, representation and reality. Wide in scope but rich in detail, restrained yet deeply moving, In His Own Image masterly weaves together the story of an individual life with universal themes that resonate across time and space. “Metaphorical, musical, and absolutely captivating.” —Madame Figaro “Luminous.” —La République des livres “Masterly.” —Grazia “There is as much violence as there is poetry.” —Femme actuelle “A resounding success.” —France Culture “ Complex and moving.” —L’Humanité “Powerful and deeply affecting.” —Simple Things

American security officer Nicholas Haden is facing the most important assignment of his career. He must protect his boss Renée Thomas on a journey from Nairobi, Kenya into the heart of Al-Shabaab territory in Somalia in order to open a controversial youth center designed to de-radicalize former Islamic militants. A center, he does not believe in. But the success or failure of this model rehabilitation center may mean the difference between future peace and protracted civil war in Somalia. For very different motives, both Kenyan counter-intelligence authorities and Al-Shabaab militants will stop at nothing to see that the center fails. In an effort to coerce Haden into sabotaging Renée’s trip, these opposing forces threaten the safety of Haden’s wife and young son living in Nairobi. Amid the chaos of Kenyan intelligence and Somali militants, Haden begins to develop feelings of intimacy for his boss. Alcoholism, infidelity, and professional disgrace threaten to rip the fabric of his life to shreds. And Haden realizes that the ability to protect either his boss or his own family is rapidly slipping out of his control. Set in Al-Shabaab-infested Kenya and Somalia, In His Own Image is a fast paced thriller that tests the boundaries of human courage, loyalty, and integrity. Both Haden and Thomas must separately challenge their own skewed convictions of sex, family, and honor. To endure this ordeal, they will have to commit acts every bit as heinous as those of their enemies. And neither will survive with their humanity intact.

Stan was strongly influenced by his Southern Christian upbringing. Under the pressures of family and career, he attempts to simplify his life by taking a job teaching at a small college in Tifton, Georgia. He needs Tifton to provide that stereotypical small-town lifestyle that he always believed existed, even though he had never observed it. As that illusion and his marriage both evaporate, he begins to realize that there is a discrepancy between his Southern Christian values and how his keen senses perceive reality. A young Stan is polite with strong religious values. As he grows older, he turns from religion and becomes a bitter, cold man. The book opens with a devastated Stan at the funeral of his former student, Cleave. Cleave has committed suicide, but his motivation is a mystery that is slowly revealed as the story progresses through unlikely international connections to Tifton and Cleaves even more unlikely connection to the September 11, 2001, attack on New York and Washington, DC. Cleaves death further changes Stans perspective of the world and causes him to question all his previous conclusions about human interactions and human interactions with God. In His Own Image is about the commonality of human nature, despite the wide diversity of human cultures. Through a fictional story built around real historical events, In His Own Image shows how individuals are molded by their birth cultures but, eventually, have the opportunity to break from human influence and see the world in a new way. In His Own Image is not about religion itself, and no ultimate religious conclusions are presented. Instead, it deals with how religion shapes our perception of reality. The reader is challenged to distinguish the part of their religion that was created by man from that which comes from God.

An award-winning author takes on the genesis of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. In this modest drawing, da Vinci attempted nothing less than to calibrate the harmonies of the universe and understand the central role man played in the cosmos. Lester brings Vitruvian Man to life, resurrecting the ghost of an unknown da Vinci.