The Gospel of Happiness: Rediscover Your Faith Through Spiritual Practice and Positive Psychology - Hardcover

Kaczor, Christopher

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0804141002 ISBN 13: 9780804141000

Publisher: Image, 2015

Synopsis

What is true happiness? How can you experience it? And can you live it wholeheartedly in your day-to-day life? Every thoughtful person asks such questions. Thoughtful Christians ask a few more questions such as, Can Christian practices enhance happiness? If so, how? And does Christianity provide happiness in a way that other paths, like psychology, cannot?

Christopher Kaczor suggests answers to these and other questions about how to be happier. In The Gospel of Happiness, the bestselling author of The Seven Big Myths of the Catholic Church highlights seven ways in which positive psychology and Christian practice can lead to personal and spiritual transformation. Focusing on empirical findings in positive psychology that point to the wisdom of many Christian practices and teachings, the author provides not only practical suggestions on how to become happier in everyday life but provides insight on how to deepen Christian practice and increase love of God and neighbor in new and bold ways.

“Part of the Christian message is that authentic happiness is to be found not in selfishness, but self-giving,” writes Dr. Kaczor. “In this book, I highlight the many ways in which positive psychology and Christian practice overlap. All of this points us toward deeper fulfillment in this life, and in the life to come.”

About this title

About the Author

DR. CHRISTOPHER KACZOR is William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in Religion and Public Life in the James Madison Program at Princeton University and is professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Dr. Kaczor's research on issues of ethics, philosophy, and religion has been in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Huffington Post, and National Review, as well as on NPR, BBC, EWTN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, MSNBC, TEDx, and The Today Show.

Review

“At last, a Christian perspective on Positive Psychology that ratifies scripture by presenting the latest evidence-based science.  Kaczor soars when he shows how Christian practices are the way to find fullness and freedom of life. Impressively integrative, reading this book was simultaneously edifying and enjoyable.” --Robert A. Emmons, Professor of Psychology UC Davis, Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Positive Psychology, author of Gratitude Works! and Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier.

  "Christopher Kaczor's new book provides a clear account of both the value of 'positive psychology' for Christians and an account of the value of Christian faith for human well-being.  The book is beautifully written and will provide a great resource for those who want to know more about the value of empirical research on human well-being for the religious life, as well as the value of Christian practices and virtues for human flourishing." --C. Stephen Evans, University Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, Baylor University

"Professor Kaczor has distilled the findings of positive psychology on the subject of happiness, showing their congruence with Christian theology.  Amidst the torrent of self-help and popular psychology fads, this book stands apart as a gem with lasting value: it is practical, empirical, eminently readable, and deeply wise." --Aaron Kheriaty, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Director, Program in Medical Ethics University of California Irvine School of Medicine

"If Christians wish to penetrate the darkness of the modern soul, they must not only dialogue with the social sciences, they must speak in a truly integrative idiom.  Dr. Kaczor's new book reflecting on happiness through the joint lenses of positive psychology and Christian faith provides a simple and persuasive model for us all to follow." --. Christian Brugger, D.Phil., J. Francis Cardinal Stafford Professor of Moral Theology, Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary

“Professor Kaczor truly proclaims the Gospel of Happiness.  In conversation with scientists and sages, literature and liturgy, drawing upon a treasure trove of classical and contemporary sources, he offers profound and practical pathways toward happiness, virtue, and the flourishing life.  In engaging style suitable for personal growth, small group study, pastoral counseling, or college classroom, he shows how positive psychology validates Christian practice and how Christian practice completes positive psychology.  Grace truly does perfect nature, and Kaczor perfects positive psychology.” --Keith A. Houde, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, Ave Maria University

"Just as Augustine enlisted Plato and Aquinas mined Aristotle, Christopher Kaczor marshals the insights of positive psychology to illuminate the Christian faith in fresh ways, showing us how contemporary science confirms ancient wisdom. If you want to be happy, it turns out one of the best things you can do is practice traditional Christian disciplines like cultivating gratitude, extending forgiveness, and giving yourself away in service to others. This is philosophy that doesn’t just invite you to think differently but live differently.  A marvelous book that has me looking at my own life anew." --James K.A. Smith, professor of philosophy, Calvin College and author of Desiring the Kingdom

"Many outside the faith (and too many within) believe Christianity to be a depressing religion obsessed with sin and suffering. Kaczor smashingly rights the wrong with this engaging, Christian reading of the scientific findings of positive psychology. Readers of this book will discover the wise happiness at the heart of Christianity." --Eric L. Johnson, Ph.D. Lawrence and Charlotte Hoover Professor of Pastoral Care The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"God made us to be happy — to be blessed and to live with joy. And all of us are born with this desire for happiness in our hearts. But sometimes we can get a little lost along the way. We can find ourselves looking for happiness in the wrong places. Christopher Kaczor shows us the right path and he walks the path with us — shining new light on the ancient ways of forgiveness and gratitude, humility, prayer and service to our neighbor. Kaczor is a wise guide and this book can help all of us to grow in our relationships with others and our journey with God." --The Most Rev. José H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles 
  
"In The Gospel of Happiness, Christopher Kaczor creates a refreshing new approach to a traditional theme lying at the heart of both Christianity and philosophy – the pursuit of happiness. Recognizing the dictum of Aristotle that happiness is the one objective we seek for itself, and that everything else is sought for the sake of happiness, he creates an understandable, practical, and usable path that combines contemporary psychology with traditional Christian teaching. He lays his foundation by appealing to seven Christian ways to happiness – “faith, hope, and love,” prayer, gratitude, forgiveness, virtue, and willpower, and enriches them with the five elements of positive psychology – positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement. By using Martin Seligman’s new positive approach to psychology, he bridges formerly perceived gaps between psychology and faith -- opening the way for Christians to benefit from the insights and healing of this important discipline." --Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., author of Finding True Happiness

Edition details

• Publisher: Image
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0804141002
• ISBN 13: 9780804141000
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208