Böcker av C. Stephen Evans

We live spiritually when we live in the presence of God.The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard is often read for his contributions to Christian theology, but he also has much to offer about spirituality--both Christian and more generally human. C. Stephen Evans assesses Kierkegaard's belief that true spirituality should be seen as accountability: the grateful recognition of our existence as gift. Spirituality takes on a Christian flavor when one recognizes in Jesus Christ the human incarnation of the God who gives us being. In this clearly written and substantive book a leading scholar on Kierkegaard's thought makes Kierkegaard's contributions to spirituality accessible not only to philosophers and theologians but to pastors, spiritual directors, and lay Christians. The Kierkegaard and Christian Thought series, coedited by C. Stephen Evans and Paul Martens, aims to promote an enriched understanding of nineteenth-century philosopher-theologian Søren Kierkegaard in relation to other key figures in theology and key theological concepts.

Evans' analysis of Kierkegaard's Philosophical Fragments and Concluding Unscientific Postscript introduces even the nonspecialist to two of Kierkegaard's most challenging works without minimizing the complex nature of his philosophy.

Plato. Aristotle. Augustine. Hume. Kant. Hegel. Every student of philosophy needs to know the history of the philosophical discourse such giants have bequeathed us. Philosopher C. Stephen Evans brings his expertise to this daunting task as he surveys the history of Western philosophy, from the Pre-Socratics to Nietzsche and postmodernism-and every major figure and movement in between.

Is religious faith the product of a voluntary choice? In a comprehensive discussion of one of Kierkegaard's most important books, the author elucidates Kierkegaard's novel explanation that the tension between faith and reason must be understood as a consequence of the passionate character of reason itself.

This collection of essays, by a team of of Christian philosophers, theologians, and biblical scholars, explores the viability of a kenotic account of the incarnation. Such an account is inspired by Paul's lyrical claims in Philippians 2:6-11 that Christ Jesus though God in nature, 'emptied himself' or 'made himself nothing' by becoming human. The biblical support for such a view can be found throughout the four gospels, and the book of Hebrews, as well as in other places. A kenotic account takes seriously the possibility that Christ in becoming incarnate, temporarily divested himself of such properties as omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. Several of the contributors argue that this view is fully orthodox, and that it has great strengths in giving us a picture of God who is willing to become completely vulnerable for the sake of human beings, and one that is completely consistent with the very human portrait of Jesus in the New Testament. The proponents of kenotic Christology argue that the philosophical accounts of God's nature that have led to rejection of this theory ought themselves to be subjected to criticism in light of the biblical data. Some essays test the theory by raising critical questions and arguing that traditional accounts of the incarnation can achieve the goals of kenotic theories as well as kenotic theories can. The book also explores the implications of a kenotic view of the incarnation for philosophical theology in general and the doctrine of the Trinity in particular, and it concludes with essays that examine the validity of the ideal of kenosis for women, and a challenge to traditional Christology to take a kenotic theory seriously. CONTRIBUTORS: C. Stephen Evans, Gordon D. Fee, Sarah Coakley, Stephen T. Davis, Ronald J. Feenstra, Bruce N. Fisk, Ruth Groenhout, Edward T. Oakes, SJ, Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Thomas R. Thompson, Edwin Chr. van Driel.

Few writer-philosophers of the past have evoked as much curiosity in the twentieth century than Soren Kierkegaard. The further one probes into his thought the more his ideas prove to have relevance for the modern world and especially to Christians. Such is the case with psychology.For Kierkegaard, the study of psychology is intrinsically linked with the task of personal becoming, reflecting his own struggle to overcome the dark and cheerless environment of his early life. His interpretive framework os consciously Christian. In his view, humankind was made for relation with God, and this recognition is basic to self-understanding. But in self-deception and rebellion against God, human beings are constantly resisting their own true happiness and fighting against their own best interests.On this Kierkegaardian premise, C. Stephen Evans unfolds the implications and effects of this human desire for wholeness and growth of the self. This book is written "for psychologists, pastors, counselors, and ordinary people struggling to understand themselves and others."

The human quest for self-understanding is ancient. It transcends the boundaries between ordinary folk and philosophers and it over- laps with many academic disciplines, including psychology, sociology, philosophy and theology. Actually, the quest is not essentially academic; it is a human quest, pursued by persons in every age. With this in mind, philosopher C. Stephen Evans takes a look at the human sciences and their contribution to this self-understanding.Evans first presents a basic problem in these sciences today: the attack on the concept of personhood. He reviews the contemporary understanding of mind and brain: Is a person only a thinking machine or a programmed organism? Then he evaluates the impact of Auguste Comte, Sigmund Freud, J.B. Watson, B.F. Skinner and Emile Durkheim on what Evans terms ?

A prominent Christian philosopher offers a contemporary, sophisticated, yet accessible response to skeptics, showing that Christian faith makes sense.