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Available
Description
'Since the middle of the twentieth century,' writes Elizabeth Johnson, 'there has been a renaissance of new insights into God in the Christian tradition. On different continents, under pressure from historical events and social conditions, people of faith have glimpsed the living God in fresh ways. It is not that a wholly different God is discovered from the One believed in by previous generations. Christian faith does not believe in a new God but, finding itself in new situations, seeks the presence of God there. Aspects long-forgotten are brought into new relationships with current events, a
User reviews
LibraryThing member TerriBooks
With my theo school days behind me, I doubt I would have picked this book up except for the recent ruckus about it I decided to see what the fuss was all about. I'm glad I did. Not because I saw a fuss (I really can't figure why anyone would be complaining about what's in here) but because of Dr.
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Johnson's gift in drawing together the writings from contemporary theologians and presenting them in a way that helps you see how they really do belong together and what they are trying to say in simpler language. Although I have read a good deal of her source material, I loved the way I found new ways to look at some of it here. For others, it was a nice reminder of material that I hadn't looked at in 15 or 20 years. I wish I had had Dr. Johnson as one of my professors! Show Less
LibraryThing member bunniehopp
Elizabeth A. Johnson has presented a scholarly and very readable look at the human experience and understanding of God during the last fifty to sixty years. Archaeology indicates that for 100,000 years man has had a sense of religion. Regardless of name, there is the acknowledgement that "the Holy"
Johnson explores the huge problem of evil and how to understand it in relation to God's sovereignty. She points out God's preferential option for the poor. The unfortunate limitations of imagining God as an old white man, even if father, is a constantly recurring handicap to understanding and encountering the God who is love.
As each chapter unfolds, the reader is introduced to a new and unique understanding of God and our relationship to God and our connection to the people and world around us. There are aspects of this exploration of how we know God that will feel familiar to the reader and there are other presentations which will open the reader's mind to new and enriching reflections. It is wonderful to explore the traditions of knowing God with which one is familiar and expand it with other understandings. This study helps the reader appreciate how little we grasp of the mystery that is God. I would vigorously encourage anyone and everyone to delve deeply into Elizabeth Johnson's Quest for the Living God.
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is beyond our imagination and ability to know; totally outside our control; and extremely attractive to us. She quotes Karl Rahner's prayer: "You must adapt Your word to my smallness, so that it can enter into this tiny dwelling of my finiteness--the only dwelling in which I can live--without destroying it. If you should speak such an "abbreviated" word, which should not say everything but only something simple which I could grasp, then I could breathe freely again. You must make your own some human word, for that is the only kind I can comprehend. Don't tell me everything that You are; don't tell me of Your Infinity--just say that You love me, just tell me of Your Goodness to me."(Johnson, 2008, p. 39) This prayer seems to hold the theme of her book. Elizabeth Johnson will explore an "abbreviated" word about God so that the reader will know Him just a bit better.Johnson explores the huge problem of evil and how to understand it in relation to God's sovereignty. She points out God's preferential option for the poor. The unfortunate limitations of imagining God as an old white man, even if father, is a constantly recurring handicap to understanding and encountering the God who is love.
As each chapter unfolds, the reader is introduced to a new and unique understanding of God and our relationship to God and our connection to the people and world around us. There are aspects of this exploration of how we know God that will feel familiar to the reader and there are other presentations which will open the reader's mind to new and enriching reflections. It is wonderful to explore the traditions of knowing God with which one is familiar and expand it with other understandings. This study helps the reader appreciate how little we grasp of the mystery that is God. I would vigorously encourage anyone and everyone to delve deeply into Elizabeth Johnson's Quest for the Living God.
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ISBN
9780826417701