Living Well And Dying Faithfully

Living Well and Dying Faithfully explores how Christian practices love, prayer, lament, compassion, and so on can contribute to the process of dying well. Working on the premise that one dies the way one lives, the book is unique in its constructive dialogue between theology and medicine as offering two complementary modes of care.

In this rich book Matthew Levering explores nine key virtues that we need to die (and live) well: love, hope, faith, penitence, gratitude, solidarity, humility, surrender, and courage. Retrieving and engaging a variety of biblical, theological, historical, and medical resources, Levering journeys through the various stages and challenges of the dying process, beginning with the fear of annihilation and continuing through repentance and gratitude, suffering and hope, before arriving finally at the courage needed to say goodbye to one’s familiar world. Grounded in careful readings of Scripture, the theological tradition, and contemporary culture, Dying and the Virtues comprehensively and beautifully shows how these nine virtues effectively unite us with God, the One who alone can conquer death.

A renowned ethicist who himself faced death during a recent life-threatening illness, Allen Verhey in The Christian Art of Dying sets out to recapture dying from the medical world. Seeking to counter the medicalization of death that is so prevalent today, Verhey revisits the fifteenth-century Ars Moriendi, an illustrated spiritual self-help manual on "the art of dying." Finding much wisdom in that little book but rejecting its Stoic and Platonic worldview, Verhey uncovers in the biblical accounts of Jesus' death a truly helpful paradigm for dying well and faithfully.

John Wyatt examines the "art of dying," a Christian tradition from the past. We see opportunities for dying well and faithfully, real-world examples of personal growth, and instances of reconciliation and personal healing in relationships. This is a book for those who are facing death as well as their relatives, friends, and caretakers.

Suffering is one of the most challenging and inescapable mysteries of life ��� even for the innocent. Thinkers have long been vexed by the idea that a good God permits suffering, and it has been a stumbling block for many souls striving to live lives of faith. But what if we've been looking at suffering improperly all this time? What if, instead of serving as evidence against God, suffering represented the very proof of a loving God? In this transformative and enlightening book, Dr. Paul Chaloux ��� adjunct professor of theology at the Catholic University of America ��� demonstrates that suffering is not retribution from an angry, vengeful God but the saving action of a loving God who directs us away from evil and toward eternal joy in Heaven. Educated in his own ���school of suffering,��� Dr. Chaloux explains the four tasks of suffering that are essential in the economy of salvation and why, if suffering were t

Grounded in the narrative of the loss of his own wife, Ross Hastings seeks to provide insight into the universal human condition of loss and grief . . . and speaks comfort. All kinds of losses produce grief--loss of jobs, homes, friendships, health, losses through divorce, and loss through death of parents, children, and spouses--and we are often unprepared for it. Applicable to all who go through loss, this book will also offer skills for pastors, pastors-in-training, and friends seeking to offer comfort to grieving people. It will weave together first-order theological, as well as integrated psychological insights that relate to loss and grieving, interspersed with personal stories. The ultimately redemptive nature of grief is highlighted, with sensitivity to the grieving process. It offers comfort for the grieving found in fresh awareness of the orientation and action of the triune God who is for us, who invites us to participate in his life and love, and gathers up our grief, and in Christ, suffers with us. It beckons us towards spiritual attentiveness, permission for emotional honesty, normalization of the grief process, practices that enable coping and redemptive transformation in the present, and hope grounded in future resurrection reality.

Living in a culture that is fascinated with the topic of death and dying, there are many who desire to explore the issues from a Christian perspective. Living, Dying, Living Forever is designed as a workbook to help you explore the issues of living and dying as they relate to your relationship with God and with others. This material can be used by those who are near the end of life and by those who want to consider how they can live more fully in the present moment. At the end of each chapter there are practical exercises you can follow to help you explore the issues on a personal level. As you live out each day of the journey, these pages are designed to give you courage, hope and a perspective that embraces eternity.

The church does not cope very well with dying. Instead of using its own resources to mount a positive end-of-life ministry for the terminally ill, it outsources care to secular models, providers, and services. A terminal diagnosis typically triggers denial of impending death and placing faith in the techniques and resources of modern medicine. If a cure is not forthcoming, the patient and his or her loved ones experience a sense of failure and bitter disappointment. This book offers a critical analysis of the church's failure to communicate constructively about dying, reminding the church of its considerable liturgical, scriptural, and pastoral resources when it ministers to the terminally ill. The authors, who have all been personally and professionally involved in end-of-life issues, suggest practical, theological bases for speaking about dying, communicating with those facing death, and preaching about dying. They explore how dying--in baptism--begins and informs the Christian's life story. They also emphasize that the narrative of faith embraces dying, and they remind readers of scriptural and christological resources that can lead toward a "good dying." In addition, they present current best practices from health professionals for communication among caregivers and those facing death. The book includes a foreword by Stanley Hauerwas.