Miracles Messages Metaphors

In Miracles, Messages and Metaphors, Norm Carroll goes beyond the literal to embrace an interpretation of the Bible that is based on the meaning intended by the sacred author. Carroll probes for us crucial biblical characters and themes to draw spiritual significance from their historical context. Christ becomes an indwelling fulfillment of one's powerful possibilities in love and in truth as lived by Jesus of Nazareth. Truly, this wisdom will help us to solve society's and our own personal struggles and will empower us on our daily journey to Christ.Biblical wisdom, when understood according to the sacred authors' intentions, provides that spiritual insight for which every human heart yearns. Additionally, it sows seeds of solutions for today's seemingly insoluble societal problems. Jesus remains the central bearer of this wisdom and seeks humanity's turning from personal despair, militarism, and unrestrained upward mobility to his wise and invincible truths. This book explores his wisdom with its precious and indispensable treasure.

From loaves and fishes to raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus Christ performed countless miracles during His mortal life. Whether you are a student or teacher of the gospel, you'll enjoy Alonzo Gaskill's compilation of the history and symbolism behind each miracle. With deeper understanding of the New Testament, you'll find a more profound testimony of the Savior's role in your life.

Biblical stories are metaphorical. They may have been accepted as factual hundreds of years ago, but today they cannot be taken literally. Some students in religious schools even recoil from the "fairy tales" of religion, believing them to be mockeries of their intelligence. David Tacey argues that biblical language should not be read as history, and it was never intended as literal description. At best it is metaphorical, but he does not deny these stories have spiritual meaning. Religion as Metaphor argues that despite what tradition tells us, if we "believe" religious language, we miss religion's spiritual meaning. Tacey argues that religious language was not designed to be historical reporting, but rather to resonate in the soul and direct us toward transcendent realities. Its impact was intended to be closer to poetry than theology. The book uses specific examples to make its case: Jesus, the Virgin Birth, the Kingdom of God, the Apocalypse, Satan, and the Resurrection. Tacey shows that, with the aid of contemporary thought and depth psychology, we can re-read religious stories as metaphors of the spirit and the interior life. Moving beyond literal thinking will save religion from itself.

Christianity is in crisis. We live in a time when millions of people profoundly misunderstand the message of the Gospel. They believe that being a Christian means little more than being a nice person. They view Jesus as a wise moral teacher who showed us how to live better lives, and they conclude that the love of humanity is our greatest cause and its progress our primary purpose. Whatever else may be said of this view of Christianity, it is certainly not what Jesus taught. It is an attempt to replace the concepts of sin, redemption, and salvation with the more socially acceptable virtues of tolerance, compassion, and social progress. It elevates humanity and the world above God and his kingdom and reduces Jesus to a mere moral philosopher. But who did Jesus say he was? What was the essential message of Christ? The Gospel According to Christ answers those questions by examining the words of Jesus, in their context and in their entirety. The answers will be shocking to many Christians.

This volume brings together innovative research on miracles in the Christian West 1100-1500, and includes chapters on Anglo-Norman saints’ cults, late medieval Portugal and the legacy of medieval hagiography in the immediate Post-Reformation period. Contributors investigate miracle narratives in conjunction with broader socio-cultural ideals, practices and developments in medieval society. They also reassess the legacy of Peter Brown, challenge established dichotomies such as ‘medicine and religion’, and examine relics, lay beliefs and the liturgical evidence of a saint’s cult, moving beyond the traditional focus on canonization. Medical history features prominently alongside other approaches; these clarify the contexts of our sources, and demonstrate the methodological vibrancy in this field.

Understanding the Qurʾanic Miracle Stories in the Modern Age explores the ways in which meaningful implications have been drawn from stories of miracles in the Qurʾan. Isra Yazicioglu describes the fascinating medieval Muslim debate over miracles and connects its insights with early and late modern turning points in Western thought and with contemporary Qurʾanic interpretation. Building on an apparent tension within the Qurʾan and analyzing crucial cases of classical and modern Muslim engagement with these miracle stories, she illustrates how an apparent site of conflict between faith and reason, or revelation and science, can lead to fruitful exchange. A distinctive contribution to a new trend in Qurʾanic studies, this volume reveals the presence of insightful Qurʾanic interpretation outside of the traditional line-by-line commentary genre, engaging with the works of Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, and Said Nursi. Scholars of Islam, philosophy, and the intersection of science and religion will especially want to engage with Yazicioglu’s study.