Böcker av Ron Highfield

Does God's all-encompassing will restrict our freedom? Does God's ownership and mastery over us diminish our dignity?The fear that God is a threat to our freedom and dignity goes far back in Western thought. Such suspicion remains with us today in our so-called secular society. In such a context any talk of God tends to provoke responses that range from defiance to subservience to indifference. How did Western culture come to this place? What impact does this social and intellectual environment have on those who claim to believe in God or more specifically in the Christian God of the Bible?Professor of religion Ron Highfield traces out the development of Western thought that has led us our current frame of mind from Plato, Augustine and Descartes through Locke, Kant, Blake Bentham, Hegel, Nietzsche--all the way down to Charles Taylor's landmark work Sources of the Self. At the heart of the issue is the modern notion of the autonomous self and the inevitable crisis it provokes for a view of human identity, freedom and dignity found in God. Can the modern self really secure its own freedom, dignity and happiness? What alternative do we have? Highfield makes pertinent use of trinitarian theology to show how genuine Christian faith responds to this challenge by directing us to a God who is not in competition with his human creations, but rather who provides us with what we seek but could never give ourselves.God, Freedom and Human Dignity is essential reading for Christian students who are interested in the debates around secularism, modernity and identity formation.

In this book, veteran Pepperdine University professor of theology Ron Highfield makes the case for the truth of Christianity and defends it from attack. But so do many other books. Why do we need another? Because there are also plenty of books that deny Christianity's truth, attack it in new ways and from almost every conceivable angle! Hence the work of Christian evidences and apologetics is never done. Christian truth does not change, but contemporary culture and thought change almost daily. To communicate effectively with our contemporaries we must listen to them, come to understand their most basic beliefs and values and learn how to explain Christian faith to them in ways they can understand. This task is not easy to accomplish, and there is no shortage of failed attempts. Indeed, the Christian cause suffers almost as much from its friends as it does from its enemies. Many efforts to support and defend Christianity have done as much damage as good and created as much doubt as confidence in the Christian faith. Some arguments for Christianity overstate their case and understate the force of objections. Others try to prove too many things. Good thinkers from the time of Socrates until today know that making bad arguments in favor of a good cause is worse than silence. This book is full of good arguments.