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This volume is a major resource for the interpretation, theology, and practice of communal and individual penitence. It gives teachers, preachers, and serious students of theology an exhaustive source of information and inspiration for renewing the initial call of Jesus to "Repent and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15).
This book explores the central function of the concept "repentance" in the narrative structure and implied social world of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, and provides an excellent synthesis and analysis of the usage of "repent" and "repentance" in Classical, Hellenistic, Hellenistic Jewish, and early Christian literature. Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org)
How can one live an authentically Christian life? Although many books and articles delineate the content of the Gospel message, the form or shape of an existence based on faith has not been studied as thoroughly. To use a language correctly, it is not enough to know the vocabulary; one must have a good grasp of its grammar. This book attempts to deepen our knowledge of the grammar of the Christian life starting from the notion of metanoia. Generally translated as “repentance” or “conversion,” the word has in fact a much richer significance: it describes a total reorientation and transformation of our being, never accomplished once and for all, through the action of the Spirit of the risen Christ. Metanoia takes us out of our self-centered outlook and our limited and self-interested actions and brings us into God’s today, where we become witnesses to a real Presence, that of the universal Body of Christ.
With Open Hands, Henri Nouwen's first book on spirituality and a treasured introduction to prayer, has been a perennial favorite for over thirty years because it gently encourages an open, trusting stance toward God and offers insight to the components of prayer: silence, acceptance, hope, compassion, and prophetic criticism. Provocative questions invite reflection and self-awareness, while simple and beautiful prayers provide comfort, peace, and reassurance. With over half a million copies printed in seven languages, this spiritual classic has been reissued for a new generation with moving photography and a foreword by Sue Monk Kidd.
What does it mean when we call men and women to repent? What if repentance is more than just turning from individual sin? What if repentance is more than merely a step in the process of conversion? What if repentance is actually part of God’s mission in the world? In this book, W. Ryan Vanderland argues for this very understanding of repentance. Building on the work of other scholars of repentance and engaging with Old Testament and New Testament texts, this book shows how repentance is indeed part of God’s mission in the world, part of the mission of the church in the world, and therefore part of the mission of God’s people. Finally, this work takes this missional understanding of repentance and applies it to issues facing the contemporary church.
At the very beginning of the Gospels, Jesus calls us to a radical new way of life, saying: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). The word “repent” in Greek is metanoia — but the original Greek word means much more than just repentance. It means to change, to turn, to think differently. Metanoia is not a one-time event but a process, and as Christians we are called to live a life of metanoia. Living Metanoia explores what this looks like in our daily lives, encouraging believers in all walks of life to go deeper in their relationship with Jesus. In his down-to-earth, approachable style, Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR, addresses basic topics such as who Jesus actually is (rather than who we think he is or who we want him to be); what we need to do in order to inherit eternal life; the reality of evil; and our daily call to a deeper commitment to Christ. Each chapter contains Sacred Scripture to give context and direction, along with reflection questions and a practical “metanoia moment” to help us live a life of change. We all need metanoia — over and over again. Realizing this should be a source of hope and encouragement, for only by living metanoia can we find true and lasting freedom and fulfillment in Jesus Christ. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR, is the president of Franciscan University of Steubenville. He has served for more than thirty years as a spiritual director, retreat leader, and formation director, and also served as the director of Franciscan Pathways. He is a well-known author, conference speaker, and pilgrimage leader. Fr. Pivonka is active in the charismatic renewal and serves on the board of Renewal Ministries.
Winner of the AAR's 2016 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion: Textual Studies How Repentance Became Biblical tells the story of repentance as a concept. Many today, in both secular and religious contexts, assume it to be a natural and inevitable component of our lives. But, where did it originate? How did it become so prominent within Western religious traditions and, by extension, contemporary culture? What purposes does it serve? The book identifies repentance as a product of the Hellenistic period, where it was taken up within emerging forms of Judaism and Christianity as a mode of subjective control. It argues that, along with the rise of repentance, a series of interpretive practices, many of which remain in effect to this day, was put into place whereby repentance is read into the Bible and the Bible, especially the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, comes to be seen as repentance's source. Ancient Israelite rituals, such as fasting, prayer, and confession, all of which are incorporated later on within various religious communities as forms of penitential discipline, are understood as external signs of internal remorse. Hebrew terms and phrases, such as the prophetic injunction to "return to YHWH," are read as ancient representations of the concept, repentance. Prophetic literature as a whole is seen as serving a pedagogical purpose, as aiming at the reformation of Israel as a nation. Furthermore, it is assumed that, on the basis of the Bible, sectarians living in the late Second Temple period, from the Dead Sea sect to the early Jesus movement, believed that their redemption depended upon their repentance. In fact, the penitential framework within which the Bible is interpreted tells us the most about our own interpretive tendencies, about how we privilege notions of interiority, autonomy, and virtue. The book develops other frameworks for explaining the biblical phenomena in their ancient contexts, based on alternative views of the body, power, speech, and the divine, and, thereby, offers a new account of repentance's origins.
All people have sinned and broken God's law. None of us are good (Rom. 3:10). And as a result of our sin, God commands us to repent. But what does repentance look like? In this booklet, Dr. R.C. Sproul looks at several people in the Bible and how they give us a model of repentance. Dr. Sproul explains that true repentance is not simply a religious ritual or the resolve to do better next time. Rather, it's a spiritual conversion in which we turn from our sin and to God in faith. The Crucial Questions booklet series by Dr. R.C. Sproul offers succinct answers to important questions often asked by Christians and thoughtful inquirers.
The first major study of the idea of repentance, or tawba, in Islam. This book offers the first extensive treatment in a European language of tawba in Islam. Conventionally translated as repentance, tawba includes the broader sense of returning to God. Khalil examines this wider notionin the early period of Sufism with a particular focus on the formative years of the tradition between Mu??sib? and Ab? ??lib al-Makk?. Beginning with an extensive survey of the semantic field of the term as outlined in Arabic lexicography, Khalil offers a detailed analysis of the concept in Muslim scripture. He then examines tawba as a complex psychological process involving interior conversion and a complete, unwavering commitment to the spiritual life. The ideas of a number of prominent figures from the first few centuries of Islam are used to illuminate the historical development of tawba and its role in early praxis-oriented Sufism. In this exemplary study, Khalil lays bare the contours of the key concept of repentance in the spiritual psychology of early Islam with admirable sensitivity and easea remarkable achievement. Ahmet T. Karamustafa, author of Sufism: The Formative Period Atif Khalils Repentance and the Return to God is an illuminating account of the idea of tawba as attested to in the early Sufi literature from the ninth through the tenth centuries. Starting with a painstaking semantic examination of the Qur?nic passages related to repentance from sin and turning to God in remorse and search of pardon, the author traces the development of these motifs from early Sufi didactic adages to their subsequent rearticulation in the sophisticated psychological discourses of such major lights of classical Sufism such as al-Mu??sib?, Sahl al-Tustar?, al-Kharr?z, al-Junayd, and Ab? ??lib al-Makk?. A must read for both lay readers interested in comparative mysticism/religions and specialists on Islam, Sufism, and Islamic spiritual and intellectual history. Alexander Knysh, author of Islamic Mysticism: A Short History and Sufism: A New History of Islamic Mysticism
