Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Speaking of God: An Introductory Conversation about How Christians Talk About God
    Speaking of God: An Introductory Conversation about How Christians Talk About God
    Speaking of God: An Introductory Conversation about How Christians Talk About God
    Ebook58 pages43 minutes

    Speaking of God: An Introductory Conversation about How Christians Talk About God

    By Robert D. Cornwall

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Theology is a complex subject, with many subdisciplines, and is know for thick volumes with dense prose. This book bucks that trend, but hitting the basics briefly, but carefully.

    In this 50th volume of the Topical Line Drives series, theologian and church historian Dr. Robert D. Cornwall provides a clear introduction to the basics. His approach is not to give you a set of beliefs about God, but rather to provide you with an introductory foundation to the way Christians talk about God. Key concepts, such as omnipotence, impassibility, transcendence, immanence, and yes, love, along with many others. The content is brief, but carefully designed as a launching pad for further study.

    Read this book in order to make all your other theological reading more profitable. It will keep you from missing out because some of the basic were passed over, or were obscured by extensive discussion.

    Besides individual reading, this volume is useful as an introductory reading in theology courses or for small groups in churches who would like to better understand their other curricula and more profitably discuss their ideas about God.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEnergion Publications
    Release dateJan 30, 2023
    ISBN9781631998553
    Speaking of God: An Introductory Conversation about How Christians Talk About God
    Author

    Robert D. Cornwall

    Robert D. Cornwall is a Minister-at-Large for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), theologian, ecumenical and interfaith leader, police chaplain, and author. He has written numerous books and articles, including Called to Bless: Finding Hope by Reclaiming Our Spiritual Roots. He serves as the editor of Sharing the Practice (the journal of the Academy of Parish Clergy).

    Read more from Robert D. Cornwall

    Related to Speaking of God

    Titles in the series (52)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Theology: Why Do We Need It?

      Nov 27, 2020

      Theology: Why Do We Need It?
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Getting to Know God

      Mar 16, 2020

      Getting to Know God
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Holy Moly

      Nov 15, 2024

      Holy Moly
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Evangelism

      Jun 14, 2024

      Evangelism
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A New Day Of Pentecost

      Jul 21, 2023

      A New Day Of Pentecost
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Why Theology Matters

      Nov 22, 2024

      Why Theology Matters
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Paradigm Shift

      May 10, 2024

      Paradigm Shift
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Radiance

      Dec 30, 2022

      Radiance
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      ‘Curveball’: When Spiritual Skepticism Leads To Sturdier Faith

      May 2, 2023

      In his probing spiritual memoir, “Curveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming,” Peter Enns describes a dark period. He realized his religious assumptions since his teenage years – that every word of the Bible was fact – needed a secon

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      How Should We Respond To Celebrities Coming To Christ?

      Dec 30, 2019

      If you’ve been following the news lately, you will have noticed a significant wave of celebrities who are turning to Christ. In what is referred to as a massive spiritual movement, the sinful city of Hollywood is turning more and more stars away from

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Discover Your True Heritage

      Jun 23, 2021

      Looking for a better understanding of who you are and where you come from? Starting from the spiritual standpoint of our nature as God’s children frees us from limitations that would divide or pigeonhole us.

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Overcoming Our Separation From God Part II

      Sep 4, 2020

      The fact that God has to take the initiative to reveal Himself to us chafes against the rebellious heart of man. We don’t want to submit to the ways of God and His revelation of Himself. People often try to create a god convenient to their desires:

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Building A Biblical Worldview

      Nov 22, 2024

      Building A Biblical Worldview
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Crosses Across Asia

      Apr 8, 2022

      Crosses Across Asia
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Why Do Many People STRUGGLE With A LACK OF FAITH?

      Feb 11, 2022

      The apostle Paul exhorts Christians to “walk by faith and not by sight” – 2 Corinthians 5:7. What we see here is a contrast between truth and perception—what we know and believe to be true and what we perceive to be true. This is where the Christian

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Speaking of God

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Speaking of God - Robert D. Cornwall

      9781631998546_fc.jpg

      Speaking of God

      An Introductory Conversation about

      How Christians Talk About God

      Robert D. Cornwall

      Topical Line Drives

      #50

      Energion Publications

      Gonzalez, Florida

      2023

      Copyright © 2023, Robert D. Cornwall

      Unless otherwise marked, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition Bible, copyright © 1989, 2021 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations marked RSV are from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

      ISBN: 978-1-63199-854-6

      eISBN: 978-1-63199-855-3

      Energion Publications

      P. O. Box 841

      Gonzalez, FL 32560

      [email protected]

      energion.com

      Introduction

      Humans have been pondering, perhaps since the beginning of human consciousness, whether something lies beyond the world of our senses. How and when religion emerged remains an open question, but perhaps John Calvin is correct when he suggested that we possess within us a sense of the divine (sensus divinitas). I have long found that rationale for the origin of religion compelling. It’s not proof, but it does have some explanatory power. That is because even though humans may frame their understanding of the divine differently, every culture seems to have developed some form of religion. For some God is an all-powerful being who controls all things while for others God is the fellow traveler who walks with us through life, guiding and consoling us but not controlling things. God has been described as the unmoved mover or first cause (Aristotle) and the ground of being (Paul Tillich). God is understood by some as being immanent, close at hand, while for others God is transcendent (wholly other). God might be understood to be deeply engaged with us, even as our partner in life (relational theology), or completely uninvolved with the universe other than getting things started (deism). In popular culture, we often hear God referred to as the Man Upstairs, an image that conjures in our minds the picture of an old man with a long white beard. On the other hand, one can refer to God as the womb of being." These are but descriptions of God embraced by Christians. There is, to be honest, an understandable tendency to envision God in our own image, having human traits and characteristics, only better. This is not a problem as long as we understand that these descriptions are metaphors and should not be taken literally.

      While Christians look to Scripture for guidance when it comes to our beliefs about God, we don’t read Scripture in a vacuum. We often make use of philosophical concepts and culturally laden vocabulary to interpret and express what we find in Scripture and what we consider to be foundational. Many of our foundational Christian beliefs have been influenced by Greek philosophy, especially Plato and Aristotle. This is true, whether we acknowledge this inheritance or not. The reason for this is that since the earliest times, as the Christian movement moved out from Jerusalem and its Jewish origins, Christians have sought out language and concepts that could be used to further our theological discussion and definitions. That continues to this day. Even theologians who have chosen to abandon Greek concepts tend to draw upon current philosophical systems whether existentialism or process philosophy to name but a few. Thus, each generation of theologians must re-evaluate its theological inheritance and engage with the philosophical systems of the day.

      As we engage with contemporary philosophical

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1