{"title":"Books by Professor Judith A. Merkle","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780567693402","title":"Discipleship, Secularity, and the Modern Self","description":"\u003cp\u003eJudith A. Merkle examines the situation of Christian spirituality today, in a secular age, through the images of dance, silence, and music. Drawing on the work of Charles Taylor as well as core aspects of the tradition of Christian theology on discipleship, Merkle asks how these new conditions affect the practice of Christianity as modern discipleship.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe author calls God the music maker. She argues that response to the reality of God can be captured through the image of dance. Merkle reminds us that people in secular society connect to God in diverse ways, not in the least through the call of creation and the call of conscience. She explores discipleship as a lens through which we can understand how a community of faith, service, prayer, worship, and sacramentality can be viewed and integrated in daily life.  She emphasizes how the interconnection between prayer, Eucharist, and a believing community is inseparable from the dance of discipleship as it can be lived in secular society. The image of dancing to silent music is a powerful symbol of Christian religious experience in modern times.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56291446817141,"sku":"9780567693402","price":25.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780567693402_3162e000-cc90-4a7f-a743-600b6377156a.jpg?v=1786014078"},{"product_id":"9780567095046","title":"Being Faithful: Christian Commitment in Modern Society","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis book explores how the Christian life is lived in a pluralistic situation where different contexts of belonging give rise to different moral challenges. While it is characteristic of modern life to exist in a postmodern situation where there is an erosion of comprehensive systems of meaning, we still live today in contexts of belonging. We still seek to gather out of the fragments of modern life the sustenance of a network of belonging, belief and practice which comprise a faithful life. The construction of such a life, not only for us, but for others, serves as the framework for our moral commitments. Furthermore, sustaining and transforming social frameworks which shape various aspects of human life form the life task of adult Christians.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56291537125749,"sku":"9780567095046","price":34.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780567095046_59e86840-a425-442f-abeb-a7039c7ee77d.jpg?v=1786014033"},{"product_id":"9780567715876","title":"The Vows of Religious Life in a Secular Society","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis book investigates religious vows, shedding light on the type of faith that can sustain humanity in secular times. It examines the personal impact of religious life as well as its potential to foster a sense of completeness within society at large.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUnbelief in today’s society can be partially rooted in the shallowness of the sort of religion that the secular can abandon. Such a religion, characterized as magical, shallow, illusory, or rooted solely in external rituals, lacks the depth required to thrive in a secular society. It fails to address the profound aspects of human existence, the authentic freedom of the spirit, and the enduring obedience of faith.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis study of religious vows uncovers their deeper meanings in light of these challenges. It invites us to consider whether religious life, despite contemporary criticisms, can be seen as \"touching wholeness\". This book does not only delve into the theological foundations of these vows but also key areas which impact their understanding and living in new contexts. It surveys sociological landscapes and goes beyond to encompass shifts in science, psychology, theology. Religious life in this sense is part of the renewal of the church, as well as an agent in it. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy focusing briefly on each vow, Judtih A. Merkle illustrates how religious life serves as a bridge connecting the secular and the sacred. It is a life focused on love of God and service of others which is a witness to the coming of Kingdom of God, and values which truly matter in contemporary society.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56291972219253,"sku":"9780567715876","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780567715876_932106d8-c681-44fb-999f-f6a9c5495904.jpg?v=1786014153"},{"product_id":"the-future-of-hope","title":"The Future of Hope","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis book offers selected theological, sociological, psychological and philosophical perspectives on hope to stir its possibility in today’s church and secular society.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMerkle addresses the experience of hope: the ordinary, everyday human hopes and historical hopes which impact what we hold to be important and give direction to the general meaning of our lives. Engaging with a number of theologians who treat the relationship between humanism and ultimate hope in their depiction of the Christian life, Merkle identifies hope and its counterfeits. She examines the relationship of freedom and hope and the modern shift in a theology of hope that includes the range of desires for emancipation operative in the human family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMerkle discusses a wide number of important issues such as: the relationship between faith and ideology, human anthropology and its role in secular society, and models of conversion in their relationship to hope. She reflects on the significance of the parable of the talents in secular society, as well as scrutinizes the transformation and requirements of synodality as movements of hope in the church.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57499203633525,"sku":"9780567727077","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57682685690229,"sku":"9780567727114","price":65.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-professor-judith-a-merkle.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}