Autism, Humanity and Personhood

Download Autism, Humanity and Personhood PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1443891568
Total Pages : 255 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (438 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Autism, Humanity and Personhood by : Jennifer Anne Cox

Download or read book Autism, Humanity and Personhood written by Jennifer Anne Cox and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2017-05-11 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theological anthropology is charged with providing an understanding of the human, but there are numerous challenges to this. Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder, the main characteristic of which is difficulty in social interaction. In its severest form, a person with low-functioning autism may be both intellectually impaired and unable to relate to others as persons. Theological anthropology can exclude people who are cognitively impaired because it has historically upheld reason as the image of God. Recent theology of intellectual disability has bypassed this difficulty by emphasising relationality as the image of God. However, this approach has the unfortunate consequence of excluding people with severe low-functioning autism. This calls for a new approach to theological anthropology. Autism, Humanity and Personhood provides a Christ-centred, inclusive anthropology which does not exclude people with severe autism. The book takes a conservative evangelical approach to severe autism and the challenges it poses to theological anthropology. It considers significant aspects of salvation history – creation, incarnation, atonement and resurrection – in order to build a solid theological foundation for an inclusive theological anthropology. As long as we look within the individual, it is difficult to find a solid basis for the humanity of people who are severely intellectually and developmentally impaired. Instead of trying to ground humanity and personhood within the individual with autism, the book outlines an extrinsic basis for theological anthropology. That extrinsic basis is the gift of humanness and personhood from Jesus Christ, who alone is fully human and the true image of God. Jesus has overcome sin and death, which have wreaked havoc on the human person. Therefore, his incarnate life, death and resurrection are more than enough basis to declare that people with the most severe intellectual and developmental impairment are truly human persons.

Worlds of Autism

Download Worlds of Autism PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : U of Minnesota Press
ISBN 13 : 145294024X
Total Pages : 398 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (529 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Worlds of Autism by : Joyce Davidson

Download or read book Worlds of Autism written by Joyce Davidson and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2013-11-01 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since first being identified as a distinct psychiatric disorder in 1943, autism has been steeped in contestation and controversy. Present-day skirmishes over the potential causes of autism, how or even if it should be treated, and the place of Asperger’s syndrome on the autism spectrum are the subjects of intense debate in the research community, in the media, and among those with autism and their families. Bringing together innovative work on autism by international scholars in the social sciences and humanities, Worlds of Autism boldly challenges the deficit narrative prevalent in both popular and scientific accounts of autism spectrum disorders, instead situating autism within an abilities framework that respects the complex personhood of individuals with autism. A major contribution to the emerging, interdisciplinary field of critical autism studies, this book is methodologically and conceptually broad. Its authors explore the philosophical questions raised by autism, such as how it complicates neurotypical understandings of personhood; grapple with the politics that inform autism research, treatment, and care; investigate the diagnosis of autism and the recognition of difference; and assess representations of autism and stories told by and about those with autism. From empathy, social circles, and Internet communities to biopolitics, genetics, and diagnoses, Worlds of Autism features a range of perspectives on autistic subjectivities and the politics of cognitive difference, confronting society’s assumptions about those with autism and the characterization of autism as a disability. Contributors: Dana Lee Baker, Washington State U; Beatrice Bonniau, Paris Descartes U; Charlotte Brownlow, U of Southern Queensland, Australia; Kristin Bumiller, Amherst College; Brigitte Chamak, Paris Descartes U; Kristina Chew, Saint Peter’s U, New Jersey; Patrick McDonagh, Concordia U, Montreal; Stuart Murray, U of Leeds; Majia Holmer Nadesan, Arizona State U; Christina Nicolaidis, Portland State U; Lindsay O'Dell, Open U, London; Francisco Ortega, State U of Rio de Janeiro; Mark Osteen, Loyola U, Maryland; Dawn Eddings Prince; Dora Raymaker; Sara Ryan, U of Oxford; Lila Walsh.

Kinship in the Household of God

Download Kinship in the Household of God PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1725274434
Total Pages : 203 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (252 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Kinship in the Household of God by : Cynthia Tam

Download or read book Kinship in the Household of God written by Cynthia Tam and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2021-10-07 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique volume contributes a profound-autism perspective to the ongoing discussion of belonging in the church. By taking readers into two church communities, the author explores the issues of belonging from those least welcomed by the church and consider what the church should do differently. Adopting a “we” approach, she emphasizes the unity of different members in Christ. As one body in Christ, all believers share Christ’s sonship and become children of God. The household concept invites readers to reconceptualize Christian relationships as covenantal kinship. The kinship relationship is established by God’s covenantal commitment fulfilled in Christ. With or without autism, any person who obeys God’s summons is incorporated into Christ’s body by the Spirit to become God’s child. Believers are thus siblings to one another. Viewing each person this way enables us to see beyond human differences and welcome one another as God’s gifts and indispensable members of the community.

We're Not Broken

Download We're Not Broken PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin
ISBN 13 : 1328587843
Total Pages : 309 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (285 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis We're Not Broken by : Eric Garcia

Download or read book We're Not Broken written by Eric Garcia and published by Houghton Mifflin. This book was released on 2021 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum. It's also my love letter to autistic people. For too long, we have been forced to navigate a world where all the road signs are written in another language." With a reporter's eye and an insider's perspective, Eric Garcia shows what it's like to be autistic across America. Garcia began writing about autism because he was frustrated by the media's coverage of it; the myths that the disorder is caused by vaccines, the narrow portrayals of autistic people as white men working in Silicon Valley. His own life as an autistic person didn't look anything like that. He is Latino, a graduate of the University of North Carolina, and works as a journalist covering politics in Washington D.C. Garcia realized he needed to put into writing what so many autistic people have been saying for years; autism is a part of their identity, they don't need to be fixed. In We're Not Broken, Garcia uses his own life as a springboard to discuss the social and policy gaps that exist in supporting those on the spectrum. From education to healthcare, he explores how autistic people wrestle with systems that were not built with them in mind. At the same time, he shares the experiences of all types of autistic people, from those with higher support needs, to autistic people of color, to those in the LGBTQ community. In doing so, Garcia gives his community a platform to articulate their own needs, rather than having others speak for them, which has been the standard for far too long.

Life on the Autism Spectrum

Download Life on the Autism Spectrum PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 9811333599
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (113 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Life on the Autism Spectrum by : Matthew Bennett

Download or read book Life on the Autism Spectrum written by Matthew Bennett and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-01-01 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a unique exploration of common myths about autism by examining these myths through the perspectives of autistic individuals. Examining the history of attitudes and beliefs about autism and autistic people, this book highlights the ways that these beliefs are continuing to impact autistic individuals and their families, and offers insights as to how viewing these myths from an autistic perspective can facilitate the transformation of these myths into a more positive direction. From ‘savant syndrome’ to the conception that people with autism lack empathy, each chapter examines a different social myth – tracing its origins, highlighting the implications it has had for autistic individuals and their families, debunking misconceptions and reconstructing the myth with recommendations for current and future practice. By offering an alternative view of autistic individuals as competent and capable of constructing their own futures, this book offers researchers, practitioners, individuals and families a deeper, more accurate, more comprehensive understanding of prevalent views about the abilities of autistic individuals as well as practical ways to re-shape these into more proactive and supportive practices.

Uniquely Human: Updated and Expanded

Download Uniquely Human: Updated and Expanded PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1982193891
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (821 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Uniquely Human: Updated and Expanded by : Barry M. Prizant

Download or read book Uniquely Human: Updated and Expanded written by Barry M. Prizant and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-04-19 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this newly revised and updated edition, one of the world's leading authorities on autism discusses how instead of curbing "autistic" behaviors, it's better to enhance abilities, build on strengths and offer supports that will lead to more desirable behavior and a better quality of life.

Authoring Autism

Download Authoring Autism PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Duke University Press
ISBN 13 : 0822372185
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (223 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Authoring Autism by : Melanie Yergeau

Download or read book Authoring Autism written by Melanie Yergeau and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2017-12-22 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Authoring Autism Melanie Yergeau defines neurodivergence as an identity—neuroqueerness—rather than an impairment. Using a queer theory framework, Yergeau notes the stereotypes that deny autistic people their humanity and the chance to define themselves while also challenging cognitive studies scholarship and its reification of the neurological passivity of autistics. She also critiques early intensive behavioral interventions—which have much in common with gay conversion therapy—and questions the ableist privileging of intentionality and diplomacy in rhetorical traditions. Using storying as her method, she presents an alternative view of autistic rhetoricity by foregrounding the cunning rhetorical abilities of autistics and by framing autism as a narrative condition wherein autistics are the best-equipped people to define their experience. Contending that autism represents a queer way of being that simultaneously embraces and rejects the rhetorical, Yergeau shows how autistic people queer the lines of rhetoric, humanity, and agency. In so doing, she demonstrates how an autistic rhetoric requires the reconceptualization of rhetoric’s very essence.

Cognitive Disability and Its Challenge to Moral Philosophy

Download Cognitive Disability and Its Challenge to Moral Philosophy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 9781444322798
Total Pages : 440 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (227 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cognitive Disability and Its Challenge to Moral Philosophy by : Eva Feder Kittay

Download or read book Cognitive Disability and Its Challenge to Moral Philosophy written by Eva Feder Kittay and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-05-18 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through a series of essays contributed by clinicians, medicalhistorians, and prominent moral philosophers, CognitiveDisability and Its Challenge to Moral Philosophy addresses theethical, bio-ethical, epistemological, historical, andmeta-philosophical questions raised by cognitive disability Features essays by a prominent clinicians and medicalhistorians of cognitive disability, and prominent contemporaryphilosophers such as Ian Hacking, Martha Nussbaum, and PeterSinger Represents the first collection that brings togetherphilosophical discussions of Alzheimer's disease,intellectual/developmental disabilities, and autism under therubric of cognitive disability Offers insights into categories like Alzheimer's, mentalretardation, and autism, as well as issues such as care,personhood, justice, agency, and responsibility

DisAppearing

Download DisAppearing PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Canadian Scholars
ISBN 13 : 1773383167
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (733 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis DisAppearing by : Tanya Titchkosky

Download or read book DisAppearing written by Tanya Titchkosky and published by Canadian Scholars. This book was released on 2022-07-29 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DisAppearing offers a relational orientation to disability studies. From encounters with disability and disabled people in educational settings from elementary school to university, in novels and other texts, in hospitals and policing, in dance, on the street, and in community centres, as well as in considerations of injury and healing, and life and death, the chapters in this collection explore a variety of cultural scenes of disability. By doing so, this collection reveals what disability can mean through scenes of its dis/ appearance and demonstrates how to remake these meanings in more life-affirming ways. Encouraging critical engagement with how disability is noticed and lived, the many chapters, as well as poetry, narrative, and a podcast transcript, reveal the meaning of disability appearing and disappearing in everyday life and beyond. Bringing together the work of scholars, artists, and activists, many of whom identify as disabled, DisAppearing encourages students to approach disability differently and to reimagine its appearance in the world. Engaging, political, artistic, and philosophical, this text, with an emphasis on the Canadian context, is an invaluable resource for disability studies students and instructors.

The Philosophy of Autism

Download The Philosophy of Autism PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN 13 : 144221709X
Total Pages : 220 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (422 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Philosophy of Autism by : Jami L. Anderson

Download or read book The Philosophy of Autism written by Jami L. Anderson and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2012-11-16 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines autism from the tradition of analytic philosophy, working from the premise that Autism Spectrum Disorders raise interesting philosophical questions that need to be and can be addressed in a manner that is clear, jargon-free, and accessible. The goal of the original essays in this book is to provide a philosophically rich analysis of issues raised by autism and to afford dignity and respect to those impacted by autism by placing it at the center of the discussion.

Animals Make Us Human

Download Animals Make Us Human PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN 13 : 0151014892
Total Pages : 355 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (51 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Animals Make Us Human by : Temple Grandin

Download or read book Animals Make Us Human written by Temple Grandin and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2009 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of "Animals in Translation" employs her own experience with autism and her background as an animal scientist to show how to give animals the best and happiest life.

Feminist AI

Download Feminist AI PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192889893
Total Pages : 433 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (928 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Feminist AI by : Head of Department Frankopan Director of the Centre for Gender Studies Jude Browne

Download or read book Feminist AI written by Head of Department Frankopan Director of the Centre for Gender Studies Jude Browne and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-10-05 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chapters 5, 12, and 18 of this work are available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International open access licence. These parts of the work are free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Feminist AI: Critical Perspectives on Algorithms, Data and Intelligent Machines is the first volume to bring together leading feminist thinkers from across the disciplines to explore the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and related data-driven technologies on human society. Recent years have seen both an explosion in AI systems and a corresponding rise in important critical analyses of these technologies. Central to these analyses has been feminist scholarship, which calls upon the AI sector to be accountable for designing and deploying AI in ways that further, rather than undermine, the pursuit of social justice. This book aims to be a touchstone text for AI researchers concerned with the social impact of their systems, as well as theorists, students and educators in the field of gender and technology. It demonstrates the importance of an intersectional understanding of the risks and benefits of AI, approaching feminism as a political project that aims to challenge various interlocking forms of injustice, social inequality and structural relations of power. Feminist AI showcases the vital contributions of feminist scholarship to thinking about AI, data, and intelligent machines as well as laying the groundwork for future feminist scholarship on AI. It brings together scholars from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, from computer science, software engineering, and medical sciences to political theory, anthropology, and literature. It provides an entry point for scholars of AI, science and technology into the diversity of feminist approaches to AI, and creates a rich dialogue between scholars and practitioners of AI to examine the powerful congruences and generative tensions between different feminist approaches to new and emerging technologies. It features original and essential works specially selected to span multiple generations of practitioners and scholars. These contributors are also attuned to conversations at industry-level around the risks and possibilities that frame the drive to adopt AI. This collection reflects the increasingly blurred divide between the academy, industry and corporate research groups and brings interdisciplinary feminist insights together with postcolonial studies, disability theory, and critical race studies to confront ageism, racism, sexism, ableism, and class-based oppressions in AI.

The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Autism Studies

Download The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Autism Studies PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000800156
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Autism Studies by : Damian Milton

Download or read book The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Autism Studies written by Damian Milton and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-12-22 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook provides an authoritative and up-to-date overview of Critical Autism Studies and explores the different kinds of knowledges and their articulations, similarities, and differences across cultural contexts and key tensions within this subdiscipline. Critical Autism Studies is a developing area occupying an exciting space of development within learning and teaching in higher education. It has a strong trajectory within the autistic academic and advocate community in resistance and response to the persistence of autism retaining an identity as a genetic disorder of the brain. Divided into four parts • Conceptualising autism • Autistic identity • Community and culture • Practice and comprising 24 newly commissioned chapters written by academics and activists, it explores areas of education, Critical Race Theory, domestic violence and abuse, sexuality, biopolitics, health, and social care practices. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, education, health, social care, and political science.

I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder

Download I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Douglas & McIntyre
ISBN 13 : 1771622474
Total Pages : 186 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (716 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder by : Sarah Kurchak

Download or read book I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder written by Sarah Kurchak and published by Douglas & McIntyre. This book was released on 2020-04-02 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sarah Kurchak is autistic. She hasn’t let that get in the way of pursuing her dream to become a writer, or to find love, but she has let it get in the way of being in the same room with someone chewing food loudly, and of cleaning her bathroom sink. In I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder, Kurchak examines the Byzantine steps she took to become “an autistic success story,” how the process almost ruined her life and how she is now trying to recover. Growing up undiagnosed in small-town Ontario in the eighties and nineties, Kurchak realized early that she was somehow different from her peers. She discovered an effective strategy to fend off bullying: she consciously altered nearly everything about herself—from her personality to her body language. She forced herself to wear the denim jeans that felt like being enclosed in a sandpaper iron maiden. Every day, she dragged herself through the door with an elevated pulse and a churning stomach, nearly crumbling under the effort of the performance. By the time she was finally diagnosed with autism at twenty-seven, she struggled with depression and anxiety largely caused by the same strategy she had mastered precisely. She came to wonder, were all those years of intensely pretending to be someone else really worth it? Tackling everything from autism parenting culture to love, sex, alcohol, obsessions and professional pillow fighting, Kurchak’s enlightening memoir challenges stereotypes and preconceptions about autism and considers what might really make the lives of autistic people healthier, happier and more fulfilling.

Re-Thinking Autism

Download Re-Thinking Autism PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Jessica Kingsley Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1784500275
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (845 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Re-Thinking Autism by : Sami Timimi

Download or read book Re-Thinking Autism written by Sami Timimi and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. This book was released on 2016-05-05 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Challenging existing approaches to autism that limit, and sometimes damage, the individuals who attract and receive the label, this book questions the lazy prejudices and assumptions that can surround autism as a diagnosis in the 21st Century. Arguing that autism can only be understood through examining 'it' as a socially or culturally produced phenomenon, the authors offer a critique of the medical model that has produced a perpetually marginalising approach to autism, and explain the contradictions and difficulties inherent in existing attitudes. They examine and dispute the scientific validity of diagnosis and 'treatment', asking whether autism actually exists at the biological level, and question the value of diagnosis in the lives of those labelled with autism. The book recognises that there are no easy answers but encourages engagement with these essential questions, and looks towards service provision and practice that moves beyond a reliance on all-encompassing labels. This unique contribution to the growing field of critical autism studies brings together authors from clinical psychiatry, clinical and community psychology, social sciences, disability studies, education and cultural studies, as well as those with personal experiences of autism. It is essential and challenging reading for anyone with a personal, professional or academic interest in 'autism'.

Unraveling

Download Unraveling PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : U of Minnesota Press
ISBN 13 : 1452963320
Total Pages : 381 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (529 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Unraveling by : Matthew J. Wolf-Meyer

Download or read book Unraveling written by Matthew J. Wolf-Meyer and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Developing a cybernetic model of subjectivity and personhood that honors disability experiences to reconceptualize the category of the human Twentieth-century neuroscience fixed the brain as the basis of consciousness, the self, identity, individuality, even life itself, obscuring the fundamental relationships between bodies and the worlds that they inhabit. In Unraveling, Matthew J. Wolf-Meyer draws on narratives of family and individual experiences with neurological disorders, paired with texts by neuroscientists and psychiatrists, to decenter the brain and expose the ableist biases in the dominant thinking about personhood. Unraveling articulates a novel cybernetic theory of subjectivity in which the nervous system is connected to the world it inhabits rather than being walled off inside the body, moving beyond neuroscientific, symbolic, and materialist approaches to the self to focus instead on such concepts as animation, modularity, and facilitation. It does so through close readings of memoirs by individuals who lost their hearing or developed trauma-induced aphasia, as well as family members of people diagnosed as autistic—texts that rethink modes of subjectivity through experiences with communication, caregiving, and the demands of everyday life. Arguing for a radical antinormative bioethics, Unraveling shifts the discourse on neurological disorders from such value-laden concepts as “quality of life” to develop an inclusive model of personhood that honors disability experiences and reconceptualizes the category of the human in all of its social, technological, and environmental contexts.

Oneself in Another

Download Oneself in Another PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1532692625
Total Pages : 315 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (326 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Oneself in Another by : Susan Grove Eastman

Download or read book Oneself in Another written by Susan Grove Eastman and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-08-22 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oneself in Another explores the Pauline themes of redemption and transformation through Christ's participation in human history and life. The essays range from careful exegetical and historical analysis to interdisciplinary engagements with issues in theology, global events, and medical ethics. Throughout, they focus on human experience, questions about how people change, and God's gracious initiative liberating human agency.