Is it possible to see, hear, touch, smell and taste God? How do we understand the biblical promise that the 'pure in heart' will 'see God'? Christian thinkers as diverse as Origen of Alexandria, Bonaventure, Jonathan Edwards and Hans Urs von Balthasar have all approached these questions in distinctive ways by appealing to the concept of the 'spiritual senses'. In focusing on the Christian tradition of the 'spiritual senses', this book discusses how these senses relate to the physical senses and the body, and analyzes their relationship to mind, heart, emotions, will, desire and judgement. The contributors illuminate the different ways in which classic Christian authors have treated this topic, and indicate the epistemological and spiritual import of these understandings. The concept of the 'spiritual senses' is thereby importantly recovered for contemporary theological anthropology and philosophy of religion.

Product Description: God, Sexuality and the Self is a new venture in systematic theology. Sarah Coakley invites the reader to re-conceive the relation of sexual desire and the desire for God and - through the lens of prayer practice - to chart the intrinsic connection of this relation to a theology of the Trinity...read more

Product Description: According to the reigning competition-driven model of evolution, selfish behaviors that maximize an organism’s reproductive potential offer a fitness advantage over self-sacrificing behaviors―rendering unselfish behavior for the sake of others a mystery that requires extra explanation...read more

Product Description: Faith, Rationality and the Passions presents a fresh andoriginal examination of the relation of religious faith,philosophical rationality and the passions. Contributions seeleading scholars refute the widely-held belief that religiousEnlightenment forced passion and reason apart...read more

Product Description: This inaugural lecture by Sarah Coakley, delivered in the University of Cambridge on 13th October 2009, considers the striking cultural dominance, in the latter part of the twentieth century, of a violent and negative rendition of the notion of sacrifice...read more

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