David Baily Harned

In eight chapters, David Harned explores the theology of the Apostles' Creed, taking the position that the creed, in fact, provides us with a master image for self-understanding, and that controlling image is ""child of God."" The creed is seen as being important for personality formation and the development of ""character,"" rather than as either a statement of beliefs or a loyalty oath. Harned's ninth and final chapter is intended for those who wish to pursue further the question of master imagery for the formation of a Christian Sense of Identity.

This book consists of lectures originally written for a seminar on secularization and later revised and presented at a center for the study of world religions in North India. The central theme which Professor Harned explores is one shared by different traditions, namely, grace and the view of man as a player, i.e. engaging in the activity of play. The book aims to show how the Christian faith among others relies upon ordinary experience, especially family life and playing. Grace, which is available to all and is defined as the presence and activity of the divine among men, is bound up with imagination and creativity.

In eight chapters, David Harned explores the theology of the Apostles' Creed, taking the position that the creed, in fact, provides us with a master image for self-understanding, and that controlling image is ""child of God."" The creed is seen as being important for personality formation and the development of ""character,"" rather than as either a statement of beliefs or a loyalty oath. Harned's ninth and final chapter is intended for those who wish to pursue further the question of master imagery for the formation of a Christian Sense of Identity.

Faith and Virtue starts with the traditional metaphor and departs dramatically from tradition: 'Faith and hope and love are not some late and miraculous addition to existence, comforting and exhilarating but finally gratuitous. They are the indispensable foundation for everything else.' Professor Harned insists that the clue to moral life is vision, for among all the senses it is the eye that serves as the architect of our decisions. In its emphasis on the importance of imagination and oon the integral relationship between the moral and aesthetic aspects of existence, Faith and Virtue provides a salutary remedy for our too often manipulative and instrumental approach to the world and its citizens. In an earlier book, Grace and common Life, the author traced some intimations of grace in ordinary experience, times when the self is surprised by gifts that it could neither expect nor deserve. Now, he examines the effects of grace. In this exploration of the moral life, he argues that the metaphor is no less important now than it used to be, for its consistent focus on the problem of time and the emergency of habit can remind a world which has lost its sense of rhythm that there is more to reality than the present moment, greater rewards than instant gratification, higher values than relevance to the contemporary scene. Virtue cannot be satisfactorily examined without reference to the Church. While virtue is not an exclusive Christian attribute, it would be puzzling to refer to Christian virtue without any reference to a Christian context, since virtues are born from our social experience. This has been the greatest flaw in earlier studies of the metaphor. The old notion, that the theological virtues crown the natural, should be stood on its head, writes the author. He acknowledges the Christian origin of natural theology.

This book consists of lectures originally written for a seminar on secularization and later revised and presented at a center for the study of world religions in North India. The central theme which Professor Harned explores is one shared by different traditions, namely, grace and the view of man as a player, i.e. engaging in the activity of play. The book aims to show how the Christian faith among others relies upon ordinary experience, especially family life and playing. Grace, which is available to all and is defined as the presence and activity of the divine among men, is bound up with imagination and creativity.

Faith and Virtue starts with the traditional metaphor and departs dramatically from tradition: 'Faith and hope and love are not some late and miraculous addition to existence, comforting and exhilarating but finally gratuitous. They are the indispensable foundation for everything else.' Professor Harned insists that the clue to moral life is vision, for among all the senses it is the eye that serves as the architect of our decisions. In its emphasis on the importance of imagination and oon the integral relationship between the moral and aesthetic aspects of existence, Faith and Virtue provides a salutary remedy for our too often manipulative and instrumental approach to the world and its citizens. In an earlier book, Grace and common Life, the author traced some intimations of grace in ordinary experience, times when the self is surprised by gifts that it could neither expect nor deserve. Now, he examines the effects of grace. In this exploration of the moral life, he argues that the metaphor is no less important now than it used to be, for its consistent focus on the problem of time and the emergency of habit can remind a world which has lost its sense of rhythm that there is more to reality than the present moment, greater rewards than instant gratification, higher values than relevance to the contemporary scene. Virtue cannot be satisfactorily examined without reference to the Church. While virtue is not an exclusive Christian attribute, it would be puzzling to refer to Christian virtue without any reference to a Christian context, since virtues are born from our social experience. This has been the greatest flaw in earlier studies of the metaphor. The old notion, that the theological virtues crown the natural, should be stood on its head, writes the author. He acknowledges the Christian origin of natural theology.

With clear purpose and remarkable style, David Baily Harned writes about our identity as an imaginative act of mind and spirit. In this important theological work, Harned shows that the ""master images"" of self as player, sufferer, and vandal are fundamental ways of understanding who we are and what we might be in our lifetime. The book points out that conflicting images of ourselves often develop out of our social relationships and our bodily experiences. Some images are more important than others, and it is these ""master images"" that express what is most fundamental to our self-understanding. The extent to which the master images are recognized by us and allowed to subdue lesser images determines our stability and wholeness as persons. Recognition of God's presence, especially as it is disclosed to us in hearing and sensing, is the primary way to growth in wisdom, character, and virtue.

With clear purpose and remarkable style, David Baily Harned writes about our identity as an imaginative act of mind and spirit. In this important theological work, Harned shows that the ""master images"" of self as player, sufferer, and vandal are fundamental ways of understanding who we are and what we might be in our lifetime. The book points out that conflicting images of ourselves often develop out of our social relationships and our bodily experiences. Some images are more important than others, and it is these ""master images"" that express what is most fundamental to our self-understanding. The extent to which the master images are recognized by us and allowed to subdue lesser images determines our stability and wholeness as persons. Recognition of God's presence, especially as it is disclosed to us in hearing and sensing, is the primary way to growth in wisdom, character, and virtue.