The Believing Heart

by Song, C. S.

• ISBN13: 9780800631420
• ISBN10: 0800631420
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Pub

Summary

C. S. Song here invites Christians to see the whole Christian panoply through a story-centered lens. Focusing on Life, Hope, Faith, and Love, Song delves into each theme or locus (1) as it can be approached in people's experiences or stories, (2) as it appears in related stories from other religious traditions, (3) how its central import can be expressed theologically, and (4) how it can appear in practice. Thus story becomes theology, then theology becomes story. "Central to these stories," says Song, "is the heart that believes in spite of hardships and despair, the heart that struggles to make sense of what seems senseless in life and history." Song's strong narratives and engaging style will make this volume appealing in a variety of settings, especially for introductory students, clergy in search of homiletic material, church groups, and Christians open to insights from non-Western cultures.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Part One INVITATION	1	(76)
We Piped for You and You Would Not Dance	9	(22)
A Marketplace Called ``the Circle''	9	(2)
Jesus at the Marketplace	11	(2)
The Handmaid of the Church	13	(3)
Theology as the Practice of Amen	16	(2)
Entering the City with Bliss-Bestowing Hands	18	(5)
What Is God-Talk?	23	(4)
Theology as Human-Talk	27	(4)
Birds of the Air and Lilies of the Field	31	(19)
Freedom from Anxiety: Jesus' Theology of Life	31	(6)
Who Is My Neighbor? Jesus' Theology of Human Community	37	(4)
What Is the reign of God Like? Jesus' Theology of God's Reign	41	(3)
Remove This Cup from Me: Jesus' Theology of God's Will	44	(6)
Come and See	50	(27)
Come and See in Five Stages	52	(1)
God's One: God's Other Plans	52	(5)
Breaking a Theological Bottleneck	57	(3)
Not Christ-Centered but Jesus-Oriented	60	(5)
Into the World of Stories	65	(5)
A Story from Taiwan---A Theological Exploration	70	(7)
Part Two LIFE	77	(54)
Death Is Not the Wages of Sin	79	(25)
A Doctor's Testimony	80	(2)
A Life-and-Death Matter	82	(2)
God as Source of the ``Serious Command''	84	(6)
Death Is Not the Wages of Sin	90	(2)
The Phenomenal and the Ephemeral	92	(5)
The Glory of God	97	(7)
In the World There Is Suffering	104	(27)
Nikita's Story	105	(1)
A Disease Called Poverty	106	(3)
Thorns and Thistles	109	(13)
My Name Is Legion	122	(9)
Part Three HOPE	131	(58)
Elusive Hope	133	(29)
Shattered Dreams	135	(1)
Scarce Work, Low Wages	136	(5)
Fly Now and Pay Later	141	(1)
Let My People Go?	142	(20)
Ethics of Hope	162	(27)
Incense Sticks Named ``Hope''	163	(19)
Ethics of Hope	182	(7)
Part Four FAITH	189	(76)
Faith in the World of Divided Loyalties	191	(24)
Three Loyalties	192	(20)
Testifying to the Spirit of God	212	(3)
Our Faith and God's Grace	215	(26)
Before...but Now	215	(20)
Faith in God's Grace	235	(6)
The Heart That Believes	241	(24)
The Parable of the Raft	241	(13)
The Believing Heart	254	(11)
Part Five LOVE	265	(52)
The World-Soul of Love	267	(25)
A Song of Enlightenment	267	(2)
Justice and Virtue Must Prevail?	269	(5)
A Human Shield	274	(7)
A Temple Bell	281	(6)
Essence of Nonviolence Is Love	287	(5)
The Saving Work of Love	292	(25)
Love That Saves Others	293	(6)
Suffering unto Love	299	(9)
Life-Force Called Love	308	(9)
Notes	317	(16)
Index	333