Description
Book SynopsisThis provocative book challenges the current press God gets by blowing the lid off conventional God-descriptors. How, for example, might "God the Caring Daddy" be different from the traditional "God the Heavenly Father"? Believing that expansive metaphors for God expand our experience of God, Carolyn Jane Bohler nudges readers to consider a wide, imaginative range of images, such as God the Jazz Band Leader, God the Divine Blacksmith, God the Divine Physical Therapist, God the Choreographer of Chaos, God the Nursing Mother or God the Team Transformer. Using playful images and moving stories, supported by solid scholarship, Bohler challenges readers to explore new names for God that are not only more consistent with what they believe about God, but will, also, deepen their experience of God. Wonderfully challenging, fresh, down-to-earth, this book breaks open habits and assumptions. Bohler taps into readers' God-given ability to re-imagine God. Excellent for personal reflection or church group discussion and substantial enough to serve as a text for religious study or theology courses, this book will reach across a spectrum of beliefs and faiths.
Trade Review"No book can be more helpful than this one in guiding pastors and lay people to come to greater clarity about what they really believe about God. Guides us in critical reflection in a way in which all can participate. At once genuinely popular and genuinely theological." —John B. Cobb, Jr., professor emeritus, Claremont School of Theology "Titillating ... an adventure in 'metaphor wondering' and in multidimensional faith." —Rev. Dr. Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, professor of pastoral care, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University “A treasure house of word pictures, some conventional and some outrageously original. A testimony to the inveterate need, on the part of humanity, to connect with God.” —Rabbi Neil Gillman, professor of Jewish thought, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America “Lays out the implications of our choices of metaphors for the Divine and expands our minds with practiced and practical suggestions. A must for all who wish to leave parochial worlds!” —Nancy Corcoran, CSJ, Catholic chaplain at Wellesley College; author, Secrets of Prayer: A Multifaith Guide to Creating Personal Prayer in Your Life “Scholarly and accessible … will help seminarians and seekers, professors and pastors explore new ways to talk about the Divine. Deftly compels the reader to continually nuance the mystery and complexity of our God—no matter what our faith tradition. A book we've been waiting for!” —Marsha Foster Boyd, president, Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. God the What? A Lively, Multidimensional Faith What Makes a Good Metaphor? Bringing New Meaning to Old Metaphors Metaphor Wondering Imagining New Metaphors 2 God Can Do What? God's Power A Shaky Search to Understand God’s Power An Attitude of Inquiry A Hundred Ways of Wondering Powerful Options Transforming Power 3 God Wants What? God’s Will God the Designer of All Events: Is What Is, Meant to Be? God the Proposer: Dare We Say No to a Proposal? God the Improviser: How Do We Creatively Respond to God’s Nod? God the Graffiti Artist: How Do We Get Clues to What God Wants? 4 God Interacts How? Our Relationship with God Twin Spiritual Needs Implications for Human Relationships A Closer Look at One Metaphor Conclusion: Metaphors Matter Epilogue: Personal Metaphor Wondering Reflective Questions Discussion Guide for Groups Notes Credits Hebrew, Christian, and Islamic Scriptures Index Metaphor Index
