Good God?: God-Poisoning and God-Images - Softcover

Kohn, Rosemarie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1556355599 ISBN 13: 9781556355592

Publisher: Wipf and Stock, 2009

Synopsis

The Image of GOD we have in our soul has the potential of enhancing our life. This happens when the image of GOD is one of goodness, justice, and encouragement. The opposite is also true. A GOD image can be destructive, inflict guilt, cause insecurity, and foster condemnation of self and others. In a refreshing and life-giving way the two authors, Rosemarie Köhn and Susanne Snderbo, present a slideshow of insights: Köhn as the Biblical theologian, Snderbo using developmental psychology. They address how a "Toxic Faith" can poison and writhe a person's life into absolutism. This happens, they note, when one image of GOD becomes dominant and exclusive of all other images. A section of the book is devoted to an analysis of the homosexuality debate inside and outside the Norwegian church. Using over 1400 letters from the "Sunde Case" in 1999 they uncover a variety of GOD images: rigid and judgmental, warm and comforting, some based on Scripture and others on a broad range of human experiences hoping in a gentle and loving GOD. Köhn and Snderbo have through their work met many people with a GOD image causing much hurt and pain. It is the authors' hope that the book will be a helpful tool in reflection on and perhaps reconstruction of the GOD image to which the reader has grown accustomed. They advocate lifelong growth in faith. The book also provides pastors and therapists with a key to understanding. Both authors plead a case for images of GOD that focus on inclusivity, love, and friendship-offering inner strength and hopeful living. They also make a strong case for how our image of GOD is not so much about theology but rather about growth and development in our personal lives. How we imagine GOD says a great deal about how we look at ourselves and others.

About this title

About the Author

ROSEMARIE KÖHN is bishop of the Diocese of Hamar in Norway. She was the first woman to become a bishop in Scandinavia. Born in 1939 in Rathenow near Berlin, Germany, she graduated in theology from Oslo University in 1966. She went on to teach Old Testament theology, Hebrew, and Biblical exegesis as a member of the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of History & Philosophy at the University of Oslo. She taught ethics at the Institute of Nursing from 1980 to 1985. From 1989 to 1993 she was principal of the School of Pastoral Practices in Oslo. She was ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1969 and elected to become a bishop in 1993. Books in Norwegian by Rosemarie Köhn include Hebrew Grammar (1971), The Role of the Parish Pastor (1989), Tree of Hope (2002), and she is a contributor in Rainbowbridge (1986). SUSANNE SØNDERBO is a specialist in spiritual care at the Hamar Hospital, Norway. She was born in Copenhagen 1953 and graduated in psychology from the University of Copenhagen in 1982. For five years she was the director of the Center for Immigrant Women in Copenhagen; she became certified as a retreat leader and as a grief and crisis therapist. She taught and worked in various institutional settings and in 1997 she got a degree in theology from the University of Copenhagen. Ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1998, she worked in Denmark and Norway. Currently she is a sought-after speaker and retreat leader and manages this along with her job as a hospital chaplain in Hamar. She has written books in Danish about the joy of living and the pain of the soul: Joy Is Yellow and Dolphins Are Blue (1996), Embracing Life in the middle of Life (1993), Transition and Transformation (2003).

Edition details

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1556355599
• ISBN 13: 9781556355592
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 172