This enlightening analysis of the image of a cruel God sustained by conservative Christianity reveals how this image formed, the psychological effects of this concept, and the ways in which it has guided religious individuals—in both positive and negative ways. This book is born, in large measure, as a result of a writing by contemporary theologian J. Harold Ellens. In his essay "Religious Metaphors Can Kill" from Praeger's The Destructive Power of Religion, Ellens espouses that theological doctrines are rooted in a model of God that determines all the aspects of those doctrines, and strongly influences the cultures into which it is inserted. Conservative Christianity in the Western world, says Ellens, has at its center the image of a cruel and wrathful God. The juridical atonement theory of Anselm is a result of such an image of God, and has an important role in justifying the resort to violence in human interaction. Starting from these considerations, Cruel God, Kind God: How Images of God Shape Belief, Attitude, and Outlook analyzes three general topics: how two very different kinds of Christianities have emerged from these disparate images of God; how the doctrines of "original sin," "the plan of salvation," and "penal substitution" can be explained by psychological factors, as can the wide dissemination and acceptance of these doctrines; and how the image of a cruel God affects mental health, atrophies personality, and produces guilt and shame.

My name is Rex Cain...but you can call me god. I am the ruler of the Cain empire-a legacy built from the blood and bone of others. Here in my kingdom, only the strongest survive, and only the wicked can thrive. That's why I took my father's life before he had a chance to take mine. But my life doesn't flow through my veins. It flows through hers, the girl he tried to take from me. The woman I've stained my hands in blood for. My most prized possession. My weakness. My butterfly. She thinks I'm her savior, and I'll burn kingdoms to the ground to keep it that way. While she waits for me on her knees, I'm a king who reigns without mercy. While she obeys my every command, I'm a dictator who starts wars. And while she breathes, I'm a man with something to lose. My name is Rex Cain, and she is my Hope.

What you believe about God sets the foundation of the person you will become. In God Has a Name, pastor and New York Times bestselling author John Mark Comer invites you to rethink many of the prevalent myths and misconceptions about God and weigh them against what God actually tells us about himself. After all, what you believe about God will ultimately shape the type of person you become. We all live at the mercy of our ideas, and nowhere is this more true than our ideas about God. The problem is many of our ideas about God are wrong. Not all wrong, but wrong enough to form our souls in detrimental and disheartening ways. God Has a Name is a simple yet profound guide to understanding God in a new light--focusing on what God says about himself in the Bible. This one shift has the potential to radically alter how you relate to God, not as a doctrine, but as a relational being who responds to you in an elastic, back-and-forth way. John Mark Comer takes you line by line through Exodus 34:6-8--Yahweh's self-revelation on Mount Sinai, one of the most quoted passages in the Bible. Along the way, Comer addresses some of the most profound questions he came across as he studied these noted lines in Exodus, including: Why do we feel this gap between us and God? Could it be that a lot of what we think about God is wrong? Not all wrong, but wrong enough to mess up how we relate to him? What if our "God" is really a projection of our own identity, ideas, and desires? What if the real God is different, but far better than we could ever imagine? No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, God Has a Name invites you to step into a fresh and biblically rooted vision of who God is that has the potential to alter your life with God and shape who you become.

In this three-volume set, international scholars from across a broad spectrum of scholarly fields examine the concept of evil throughout history and world cultures from religious, scientific, psychological, and political perspectives. The manifestation of evil has provided a convenient theme for popular culture entertainment, ranging from the classic film The Exorcist, to almost all of Stephen King's horror novels, to video games such as Resident Evil. Unfortunately, dealing with—and attempting to overcome—the forces of evil is a pervasive problem in the real world as well. Explaining Evil addresses incidents of evil from ancient times to modern day around the globe. Concepts of evil within the big three religions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—are examined, as well as in Chinese philosophy and Native American beliefs. The political or national expressions of evil are explored, such as the "axis of evil" that culminated in World War II. These volumes identify the causes and effects of evil, and suggest possible remedies to humanity's inescapable flaw.

Reflecting on the practice of disciple making in young adult, college, graduate, and local church contexts, Jonathan Dodson has discerned some common pitfalls. For many, discipleship is reduced to a form of religious performance before God. For others, it devolves into spiritual license and a loose adherence to spiritual facts. Both approaches distort biblical motivations for Christian obedience and are in need of reform. By explaining various motivations for discipleship, Dodson charts a biblically faithful, grace-driven alternative. Additionally, he provides a practical model for creating gospel-centered discipleship groups—small, reproducible, missional, gender-specific groups of believers that fight for faith together. This book blends both theology and practice to inspire and equip Christians to effectively fight sin, keep Jesus central, and make gospel-centered discipleship a way of life. Both new and growing Christians will learn to trust the gospel in community as they fight together for holiness as well as how to start gospel-centered community groups in any local church.

God created man in his own image; but did man perhaps return the compliment? The question of God's existence has been a pivotal issue for every civilization. Those with faith in God want assurance that their belief is justified, and atheists want confirmation that God is nowhere to be found. When we reflect on religion, we want to know the reasons for belief in God, or whether belief is only a comforting delusion. In an age of science, will religion persist or will it be edged out of our consciousness and become a historical curiosity? Burton Porter approaches the notion of God in an open, yet critical way, examining the argumentation used by centuries of human society to support or reject the existence of God. With minimum assumptions and maximum objectivity, Porter debates whether the religious view does, in fact, diagram reality. He examines the roles that God and religion have played in the ethics, art, and actions of many diverse cultures to conclude that, at the very least, the consideration of the existence of a higher power is fundamental to us all.

This thoughtful book brings together some of the best psychological and spiritual thinkers to ponder evidence-based reflections about the development and nurturance of compassion. In an effort to alter behavior, scientists have conducted research to better understand the factors that contribute to both caring and cruel behavior among individuals and groups. This uplifting volume reviews evidence collected from experts across disciplines and explains how certain psychological, spiritual, and religious factors spur compassion and deter cruelty. The work extols the importance of religion and psychology as tools for better understanding and influencing behavior. With deep reflection combined with research-based insights, the book considers the various avenues for creating kinder human beings. Expert contributors examine empirical evidence to learn if engagement in particular activities results in benevolent behavior, while chapters present the many ways in which kindness touches all aspects of life—from racial harmony, to child rearing, to work environments. Topics include exploring the healing effects of prayers and meditation, integrating compassion into higher education, and parenting with greater mindfulness and care.