Affirming the Touch of God

Evan B. Howard is a Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Mesa State College, Colorado.

• Chapter 1 List of FiguresChapter 2 AcknowledgmentsChapter 3 Introduction-Background and Methodology:Chapter 4 The Concept of Christian DiscernmentChapter 5 The Problem of DefinitionChapter 6 Discernment as an Affectively-Rich Act of Knowing: Contemporary ReflectionsChapter 7 Aims and MethodologyChapter 8 Affectivity and Christian Discernment in the History of Spirituality-Two Examples:Chapter 9 The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of LoyolaChapter 10 Jonathan Edwards' Distinguishing Marks and Religious AffectionsChapter 11 Conclusions: Discernment as an Affectively-Rich Act of KnowingChapter 12 Categorization and Affectivity:Chapter 13 Categorizing Meaningful Information: Discernment as an "Act of Knowing"Chapter 14 ConclusionsChapter 15 American Philosophy and Christian Discernment-A Development of the Foundational Theology of Donald Gelpi:Chapter 16 The Development of Gelpi's ThoughtChapter 17 Primary Philosophical CategoriesChapter 18 Two Theological CategoriesChapter 19 Persons and CommunitiesChapter 20 The Epistemology of Christian DiscernmentChapter 21 Conclusions: Interpretations of DiscernmentChapter 22 An Account of Christian Discernment as an Affectively-Rich Act of Knowing:Chapter 23 A Model of Human and Christian ExperienceChapter 24 A General Account of Christian DiscernmentChapter 25 The Practice of Christian Discernment as an Affectively-Rich Act of Knowing:Chapter 26 Discernment in Spiritual DirectionChapter 27 Revival or Enthusiasm: Discerning Affective Trends in the ChurchChapter 28 Conclusions and Further ResearchChapter 29 Works CitedChapter 30 Index

...Howard is able to track the complexity of the act of discernment and enhance the possibility of affirming how various levels of experience are or are not related to God...this book is an important contribution to both the study of spirituality and theology.