Diana Butler Bassová je autorkou, řečnicí a nezávislou badatelkou, která se specializuje na americké náboženství a kulturu. Zkoumá, jak náboženství a duchovní přesvědčení utvářejí americkou společnost, a přibližuje složitá témata srozumitelným a poutavým způsobem. Její práce nabízí hluboký vhled do proměnlivé krajiny americké víry a hledání smyslu v moderním světě. Bassová se zaměřuje na to, aby byla duchovní témata přístupná širšímu publiku a podporovala smysluplné rozhovory o víře a kultuře.
This updated spiritual autobiography offers profound insights from a significant church leader, reflecting on the challenges and transformations faced by parishes. It delves into personal experiences and broader themes of faith, community, and resilience, providing a compelling narrative on navigating change within the church. Through these reflections, readers gain a deeper understanding of the evolving dynamics within spiritual communities and the importance of adaptability in maintaining faith and connection.
The award-winning author of Grateful goes beyond the culture wars to offer a refreshing take on the comprehensive, multi-faceted nature of Jesus, keeping his teachings relevant and alive in our daily lives. How can you still be a Christian? This is the most common question Diana Butler Bass is asked today. It is a question that many believers ponder as they wrestle with disappointment and disillusionment in their church and its leadership. But while many Christians have left their churches, they cannot leave their faith behind. In Freeing Jesus, Bass challenges the idea that Jesus can only be understood in static, one-dimensional ways and asks us to instead consider a life where Jesus grows with us and helps us through life's challenges in several capacities: as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence. Freeing Jesus is an invitation to leave the religious wars behind and rediscover Jesus in all his many manifestations, to experience Jesus beyond the narrow confines we have built around him. It renews our hope in faith and worship at a time when we need it most.
"The headlines are clear: religion is on the decline in America as many people leave behind traditional religious practices. Diana Butler Bass, leading commentator on religion, politics, and culture, follows up her acclaimed book Christianity After Religion by arguing that what appears to be a decline actually signals a major transformation in how people understand and experience God. The distant God of conventional religion has given way to a more intimate sense of the sacred that is with us in the world. This shift, from a vertical understanding of God to a God found on the horizons of nature and human community, is at the heart of a spiritual revolution that surrounds us and that is challenging not only religious institutions but political and social ones as well. Grounded explores this cultural turn as Bass unpacks how people are finding new spiritual ground by discovering and embracing God everywhere in the world around us, in the soil, the water, the sky, in our homes and neighborhoods, and in the global commons. Faith is no longer a matter of mountaintop experience or institutional practice; instead, people are connecting with God through the environment in which we live. Grounded guides readers through our contemporary spiritual habitat as it points out and pays attention to the ways in which people experience a God who animates creation and community. Bass brings her understanding of the latest research and studies and her deep knowledge of history and theology to Grounded. She cites news, trends, data, and pop culture, weaves in spiritual texts and ancient traditions, and pulls it all together through stories of her own and others' spiritual journeys. Grounded observes and reports a radical change in the way many people understand God and how they practice faith. In doing so, Bass invites readers to join this emerging spiritual revolution, find a revitalized expression of faith, and change the world."--Amazon.com
The book explores the tension between serious faith and national imperatives, urging readers to reconsider the compatibility of Christian identity with political policies. It reflects on current events that have intensified these conflicts, emphasizing the need to prioritize spiritual values over national interests.
Exploring the enduring influence of grassroots movements, this book highlights how various groups have preserved Jesus's teachings on social justice over two millennia. It examines their struggles and successes, illustrating how these movements have shaped contemporary church practices and beliefs. By delving into historical contexts and key figures, the narrative reveals the ongoing relevance of social justice within Christianity and encourages readers to reflect on their own roles in this legacy.
Diana Butler Bass, one of contemporary Christianity’s leading trend-spotters, exposes how the failings of the church today are giving rise to a new “spiritual but not religious” movement. Using evidence from the latest national polls and from her own cutting-edge research, Bass, the visionary author of A People’s History of Christianity, continues the conversation began in books like Brian D. McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity and Harvey Cox’s The Future of Faith, examining the connections—and the divisions—between theology, practice, and community that Christians experience today. Bass’s clearly worded, powerful, and probing Christianity After Religion is required reading for anyone invested in the future of Christianity.
Diana Butler Bass challenges the notion of decline in America's mainline Protestant churches through her comprehensive, three-year study. Contrary to popular belief, her findings indicate that many centrist and progressive churches are thriving. These congregations succeed by embracing their unique identities rather than imitating the evangelical mega-church model. The book offers a fresh perspective on the vitality and resilience of these communities, highlighting their distinct approaches to faith and worship.
If gratitude is good, why is it so hard to do? In Grateful, Diana Butler Bass untangles our conflicting understandings of gratitude and sets the table for a renewed practice of giving thanks. We know that gratitude is good, but many of us find it hard to sustain a meaningful life of gratefulness. Four out of five Americans report feeling gratitude on a regular basis, but those private feelings seem disconnected from larger concerns of our public lives. In Grateful, cultural observer and theologian Diana Butler Bass takes on this “gratitude gap” and offers up surprising, relevant, and powerful insights to practice gratitude. Bass, author of the award-winning Grounded and ten other books on spirituality and culture, explores the transformative, subversive power of gratitude for our personal lives and in communities. Using her trademark blend of historical research, spiritual insights, and timely cultural observation, she shows how we can overcome this gap and make change in our own lives and in the world. With honest stories and heartrending examples from history and her own life, Bass reclaims gratitude as a path to greater connection with god, with others, with the world, and even with our own souls. It’s time to embrace a more radical practice of gratitude—the virtue that heals us and helps us thrive.
This installment delves into the evolution of Christianity beyond traditional religious structures and church settings. Diana Butler Bass examines key themes such as the concepts of arriving, believing, behaving, belonging, and awakening, providing insights into how faith can transform and adapt in contemporary society. Through these segments, she invites readers to explore a more expansive understanding of spirituality and community in a post-religious world.
