Mark S. Mcleod-Harrison – författare

How do Christians keep from losing their faith when they discover that other faiths are as justified as their own? Mark McLeod-Harrison draws on his training in analytic philosophy and his knowledge of Christian mysticism to provide a compelling analysis of, and unique solution to, the problem religious diversity poses for Christians. In Repairing Eden, McLeod-Harrison describes this dilemma as an existential problem internal to the Christian faith. He suggests that Christian humility and Christian mysticism can provide a joint path toward a kind of metaphysical certainty - the mystic path, the path of bearing one''s own cross - that can become a means of more deeply knowing God. Repairing Eden weaves theology, philosophy, and pastoral concerns into a spiritual-philosophical solution to a deeply important challenge to Christian faith.

A vigorous defence of a radical ontological pluralism that requires theism and is consistent with traditional Christianity.

If humans are not capable of immortality, then eschatological doctrines of heaven and hell make little sense. On that Christians agree. But not all Christians agree on whether humans are essentially immortal. Some hold that the early church was right to borrow from the ancient Greek philosophers and to bring their sense of immortality to bear on the interpretation of biblical passages about the afterlife. Others, however, suggest that we are inherently mortal, and only conditionally immortal. This latter view is usually associated with an annihilationist interpretation of the doctrine of hell and a rejection of eternal torment.In a philosophical analysis and argument, McLeod-Harrison proposes that humans are, indeed, immortal, but not essentially so. But neither are we immortal accidentally or conditionally. Instead, immortality is an enduring property--a property we cannot lose once created. McLeod-Harrison carefully delineates the sense of immortality he defends and provides a broadly Christian philosophical argument for it. The argument, if correct, leaves the recent suggestion that the unredeemed are annihilated on unsteady metaphysical feet. However, McLeod-Harrison does not defend eternal conscious punishment for the unredeemed, but suggests some ways to think about the possibility of a universal salvation.

Being at Home in the World is a book of Christian Apologetics. But Mark McLeod-Harrison and Phil Smith don''t defend Christian faith; instead, they invite readers into faith. In the course of making this invitation, the authors raise suspicions against modern naturalism, offer respectful criticisms of major religions, and explain how Christian beliefs provide an organizing center of a flourishing human life. Their invitation to Christian faith is philosophically sophisticated, but it is also honest and personal; McLeod-Harrison and Smith tell their own stories of how they grew up as Christians and why they remain believers.

I am the way, the truth, and the life, says Jesus. Yet the kingdom of heaven consists of all tribes, races, and peoples. How do people of tribes who''ve never heard the word of Christ enter the kingdom of God? A strictly exclusivist account of the gospel seems to keep many people out of the kingdom of heaven. An inclusivist approach is more consonant with Scripture and the love of God. Yet standard models of inclusivism are problematic. In this book McLeod-Harrison--a Christian philosopher--considers what''s wrong with both narrow exclusivist and narrow inclusivist accounts of the gospel and proposes a broad inclusivism called "expansivism." An expansive account of the gospel helps us understand the uniqueness and the openness of the gospel together. Narrow exclusivism can lead to existential crises. Narrow inclusivism appears to make not preaching the gospel better for those who''ve never heard it. Expansivism makes human access to the gospel unique to the individual person and enables Christian theologians to provide lots of different, potentially conflicting and yet true accounts of the theological underpinnings of the salvation provided by Christ.

If radical postmodernism offers nothing more than arbitrary fictions and modernism is coldly but meaninglessly objective, where is reality? Apologizing for God argues that reality rests in the lives we live in history. In other words, it argues that living as understood on the basis of the incarnational nature of Christianity is an appropriate response to our current cultural situation. Partly philosophical, partly theological, and deeply Christian, Apologizing for God explores the importance of living in the presence of God as revealed in the autobiographies of our lives. Although not autobiographical in the strict sense, this book is an apologetic for the truth of Christianity explained through one Christian philosopher''s understanding of our relationship to history in which God is revealed.

The body of Christ is the historical expression of Jesus' love for us. We learn of Jesus' love in large measure by the love of those around us. These poems and creative nonfiction essays portray the beauty, truth, and mystery of the communion of the saints. Drawn largely from the author's life, the scenes presented and reflected on here point us not just toward the particularities of one person's history but toward the incarnation of God and the "e;second incarnations"e; that we are as we live amongst those who love us. Births, babies, little kids, teenagers, parents, grandparents, friends, Jesus and his friends all make appearances on these poetic pages.