In March 2012 a small consultation convened on the campus of Princeton Theological Seminary, where James E. Loder Jr. had served for forty years as the Mary D. Synnott Professor of the Philosophy of Christian Education. Members from the Child Theology Movement had begun to read Loder's work and they wanted to go further. So they invited former students of Loder's to meet with them for conversations about things that really mattered to them and to Loder: human beings (and especially children), the church's witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and discerning the work of Spiritus Creator in the postmodern world. The conversations proved rich and rewarding and some would even say they took on a life of their own - serious scholarship set to the music of the Spirit's communion-creating artistry forming new relationships, inspiring new ideas, and sustaining all of it amid much laughter, joy, and hope. These essays, taken from the papers delivered at the consultation, are offered as a means of extending that conversation inspired by Loder's interdisciplinary practical theological science and his discernment of the

A leading authority on faith development explores the mysteries of existence, poignantly connecting the study of a lifetime to its place in the universe. Loder provides moving case studies and integrates the preeminent psychological models of human development with seminal Christian theological perspectives.

Have you ever asked yourself what changed when you were "born again?" You look in the mirror and see the same reflection - your body hasn't changed. You find yourself acting the same and yielding to those same old temptations - that didn't seem to change either. So you wonder, Has anything really changed? The correct...

This volume offers Christian spiritual instructors a language for the soul uncovered from the storehouses of Christianity’s ancient living spiritual tradition. That language describes the deep soul movements that unfold in the interior life of believers in response to the Divine invitation. It presents an accessible language of the soul for use in today’s professional, educational, ministerial, and everyday life situations. The end product is an experiential dictionary comprised of sixty word-concepts, which name and explore the inward human reactions to the whispering of God’s Spirit. Those reactions result from inward desires that lead to the embrace of faith, the quest for consecration, and the journey of discipleship. Nurturing these intra-personal choices and commitments is the central task of Christian ministry, but many faith instructors remain unaware of these critical inner-life processes. More than other resources available today, this experiential dictionary informs, enriches, and intensifies the spiritual journeys of genuine disciples and seekers. The volume is tailored for seminaries, churches, schools, and community settings. It has application to the training of ministry leaders, the instruction of believers, and in supporting the growing number of secular mystics who are open to merging their journeys of self-discovery with the quest for Christ-discovery.

In November 2001, James E. Loder Jr., Professor of the Philosophy of Christian Education for forty years at Princeton Theological Seminary, suddenly died. He was a creative and profound thinker who had just completed a promising book. In it he developed a compelling interdisciplinary model to disclose how the divine Spirit affirms, reconstitutes, and transforms the human spirit to bring new energy and creativity into human experience. He called it redemptive transformation. You now hold that book in your hands. Those who know Loder's work are confident that Educational Ministry in the Logic of the Spirit, though delayed for over fifteen years, will still become the best introduction to his complex thought. More important, it offers the imaginative means by which we may learn to attune ourselves and our faith communities to what God is doing in our fractured, distracted, and self-destructive world to bring about a revolution of love--the fruit of Christ's Spirit and the center of our human vocation. ""In each of his long-awaited lectures on Christian education, Loder's vital and complex theology challenges approaches to education that can destroy the redemptive powers of the human spirit. The reader is shown how ministry in the 'logic of the Spirit' can restore these redemptive powers to the center of educational process in what is nothing short of a dramatic paradigm-shift in educational theory, vocation, and practice."" --John S. McClure, Vanderbilt Divinity School ""Here we see the mature vision of Loder's pneumatological and trinitarian theology of human redemption and transformation . . . read in an educational key. Loder's witness to the Spirit that leads to all truth thus finds amplification through Wright's efforts and will be of interest to all those who not only believe that Christian education ought to make a difference, but also want to know more about how that difference happens."" --Amos Yong, Fuller Seminary James E. Loder Jr. (1931-2001) was the Mary Synnott Professor of the Philosophy of Christian Education at Princeton Theological Seminary from 1962 until 2001. He authored The Transforming Moment (1981/1989), The Knight's Move (with Jim Neidhardt, 1992), and The Logic of the Spirit (1998). Dana R. Wright is the Director of Christian Formation and Discipleship at the First Presbyterian Church in Everett, Washington. He coedited two earlier books influenced by Loder's thought: Redemptive Transformation in Practical Theology (2004) and The Logic of the Spirit in Human Thought and Experience (Pickwick Publications, 2014).

WITH A BRAND NEW LOOK! ON FEBRUARY 22, 1980, KHORSHED AND RUMI BHAVNAGRI’S WORLD WAS SHATTERED. ONE MONTH LATER, A NEW ONE OPENED. Khorshed and Rumi Bhavnagri lost their sons, Vispi and Ratoo, in a tragic car crash. With both their sons gone, the couple felt they would not survive for long. They had lost all faith in God until a miraculous message from the Spirit World gave them hope and sent them on an incredible journey.

In November 2001, James E. Loder Jr., Professor of the Philosophy of Christian Education for forty years at Princeton Theological Seminary, suddenly died. He was a creative and profound thinker who had just completed a promising book. In it he developed a compelling interdisciplinary model to disclose how the divine Spirit affirms, reconstitutes, and transforms the human spirit to bring new energy and creativity into human experience. He called it redemptive transformation. You now hold that book in your hands. Those who know Loder's work are confident that Educational Ministry in the Logic of the Spirit, though delayed for over fifteen years, will still become the best introduction to his complex thought. More important, it offers the imaginative means by which we may learn to attune ourselves and our faith communities to what God is doing in our fractured, distracted, and self-destructive world to bring about a revolution of love--the fruit of Christ's Spirit and the center of our human vocation.