GOD SAID TO MOSES, YOU CANNOT SEE ME & LIVE- BUT GURU RASA VON WERDER SAW GOD & LIVED, AS GOD'S MEANING IS YOU CANNOT LIVE TO FLESH & SEE ME AS I AM, FACE TO FACE, YOU MUST GIVE UP ALL ATTACHMENT TO FLESH & THEN YOU CAN SEE ME- & SO RASA EXPLAINS IN DETAIL THE PROCESS OF PRAYER & EMPTINESS WHICH LEADS TO THIS REALIZATION -- THIS STATE IS THE MOST SUBLIME HUMAN CAN REACH AS NOT ONLY MUST ONE RISE ABOVE THE FLESH, BUT ALSO, MUST BE CLOTHED IN GLORY AS MARY OF AGREDA EXPLAINS IN THE MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD

Profound reflections on the cross that help you to meditate on and marvel at the sacrificial love of Jesus. This book can be used as a devotional, especially during Lent and Easter. These profound reflections on the cross from David Mathis, author of The Christmas We Didn’t Expect, will help you to meditate on and marvel at Jesus’ life, sacrificial death, and spectacular resurrection-enabling you to treasure anew who Jesus is and what he has done. Many of us are so familiar with the Easter story that it becomes easy to miss subtle details and difficult to really enjoy its meaning. This book will help you to pause and marvel at Jesus, whose now-glorified wounds are a sign of his unfailing love and the decisive victory that he has won: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) This book can be used as a devotional. The chapters on Holy Week make it especially helpful during the Lent season and at Easter.

Discover and understand the different Christian views of what heaven will be like. Christians from a variety of denominations and traditions are in middle of an important conversation about the final destiny of the saved. Scholars such as N. T. Wright and J. Richard Middleton have pushed back against the traditional view of heaven, and now some Christians are pushing back against them for fear that talk about the earthiness of our final hope distracts our attention from Jesus. In the familiar Counterpoints format, Four Views on Heaven brings together a well-rounded discussion and highlights similarities and differences of the current views on heaven. Each author presents their strongest biblical case for their position, followed by responses and a rejoinder that model a respectful tone. Positions and contributors include: Traditional Heaven - our destiny is to leave earth and live forever in heaven where we will rest, worship, and serve God (John S. Feinberg) Restored Earth - emphasizes that the saved will live forever with Jesus on this restored planet, enjoying ordinary human activities in our redeemed state. (J. Richard Middleton) Heavenly Earth - a balanced view that seeks to highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of the heavenly and earthly views (Michael Allen). Roman Catholic Beatific Vision - stresses the intellectual component of salvation, though it encompasses the whole of human experience of joy, happiness coming from seeing God finally face-to-face (Peter Kreeft). The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.

What kind of natural desire is this? How can there be a natural desire for what can only be supernaturally obtained? How can such a desire be reconciled with the gratuitousness of grace and glory? What are its implications for apologetics? These and similar questions have caused a debate to rage for centuries over the proper interpretation of the natural desire to see God. This work seeks to determine the nature of this desire and its relationship with the supernatural order through an examination of the thought of St. Thomas and some of his most prominent interpreters, including Scotus, Cajetan, Suárez, and Henri de Lubac.

Based on the 1928 Bampton Lectures, The Vision of God was the first of Kenneth E. Kirk’s three major books on moral theology. Drawing inspiration from the ascetic tradition of Christianity, Kirk advocates the priority of worship in ethical thought. Beginning with the sixth beatitude, he places the visio Dei front and centre throughout, placing himself in a eudaimonistic tradition that ranges from Irenaeus to Aquinas and the Shorter Catechism. Worship, he shows, offers the opportunity to discover and acknowledge something more valuable than the self, and thus contains the key to moral instruction. Although Kirk published an expanded ‘complete edition’ of The Vision of God in 1931, he notes in the preface to the shorter text presented here that ‘what remains approximates to, though it is not quite identical with, the actual lectures as originally delivered.’ The reader therefore has in their hands the essence of Kirk’s thesis, which continues to prompt debate today.

Eschatology and ethics are joined at the hip, says Michael Allen, and both need theocentric reorientation. In Grounded in Heaven Allen retrieves the traditional concept of the beatific vision and seeks to bring Christ back into the heart of our theology and our lives on earth. Responding to the earthly-mindedness of much recent theology, Allen places his focus on God and the heavenly future while also appreciating ways in which the Reformed tradition provides a unique angle on broadly catholic concerns. Reaching back to classical ethics as well as its reformation by Calvin and other Reformed theologians, Grounded in Heaven offers a distinctly Protestant account of the ascetical calling to be heavenly-minded and to deny one’s self.

We often think of death as the end, but it's really just the beginning of eternal life. Death, judgment, heaven, and hell — often called the Four Last Things — are both awe-inspiring and fear-inducing, yet countless saints testify to the profound spiritual benefit of contemplating the awesome mysteries that await us in the afterlife. Few saints have thought more deeply about the Four Last Things than St. Thomas Aquinas — history's greatest theologian. In these pages, Dr. Kevin Vost has made readable and accessible St. Thomas's core teachings and insights on the Four Last Things and the wondrous experiences God has in store for us. With St. Thomas as his guide, Dr. Vost explores the destination of our souls after death and uncovers the mysteries surrounding limbo and purgatory. He unveils what our bodies will look like at the resurrection and identifies the four special gifts that will perfect

Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) was an inspiring Christ-centered minister and experiential preacher. In this extraordinary work on Psalm 27:4, Sibbes instructs the reader concerning the beatific vision of God. He lays out the desire and affection of the holy prophet David, whose goal was to dwell with God, face to face. In this he lifts the reader to heights of sweetness concerning the object of the Christian's desire: dwelling with God through Christ. He directs the reader to taste of Christ now, so that they will experience that coveted glimpse of God in their understanding, only to be encouraged that they will one day experience it face to face with Christ in heaven. Such a sanctuary of thought is a high mountain of blessedness and causes the feet of our meditation of God to run like hind's feet on high places upon the mountain of spices (Psalm 18:33; Hab. 3:19; Song 8:14). Sibbes is simple in this, yet profound. This is a work worthy to reflect and digest to find refreshment for the soul which will be enlivened to new heights of holy contemplation.

Focuses on one of the most attractive features of late medieval manuscript illumination: the portrait of the book owner at prayer within the pages of her prayer-book.

"Is it possible to "see God"? A close examination of the Bible suggests that answering this question is more complex-and interesting-than one might imagine. Following The Word of the Lord and The House of the Lord, this sweeping conclusion to the trilogy asks whether it is possible to see God. After properly framing the question and citing scriptural examples, author Steven C. Smith takes the reader on an epic journey into the literal and spiritual meanings of biblical interpretation. Smith's thesis is that the multiplicity of "senses" is a pathway and progression toward the face of the Lord. He leads the reader through five Old Testament theophany scenes, beginning with the patriarch Jacob "wrestling" with God and concluding with Job's contending with the Voice from the Whirlwind. These five encounters span all three parts of the Old Testament: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. A tour de force much like Smith's previous books, The Face of the Lord thoroughly examines each biblical episode from the standpoint of the Literal, Allegorical, Tropological (Moral), and Anagogical (Heavenly) senses. Smith engages all of the relevant literature-from ancient Jewish sources to Christian medieval masters to present-day theologians-without taking his eye off the central question: Can we see God? The result is a fresh, robust exploration of Sacred Scripture, drawing upon ancient, medieval, and contemporary exegesis in pursuit of this fascinating biblical question"--