GUILT, ANGER, AND GOD

Aimed at ""intelligent skeptics,"" whom the author finds closer to the center of Christianity than many conventional church members, this little volume attempts a responsible account of what non-Christians make of our modern human situation, and the solutions they offer. Four contemporary strands in our predicament are discussed: anger, dis-esteem and self-hatred, guilt, and death. The analysis given is strongly Freudian in orientation. As models for resolving these problems, the programs of Freud, Marcuse, D. H. Lawrence, Norman O. Brown and others are examined and weighed. The author then sets forth ""A Different Promise of Healing,"" that of the Christian Gospel. In its promises, self-esteem is restored, guilt redeemed, anger atoned, and the ""last enemy"" death overcome. Participation in these promises is offered through knowing God in spite of what has been said recently about his ""death"", and through the recovery of identity in corporate worship. It may be inevitable in this approach to the skeptic that the very impartiality and accuracy with which the non-Christian positions are presented may be more convincing than the way in which the claims of Christianity are offered, supported as they are here with frequent reference to Biblical texts. Nevertheless, the author has offered a soundly reasoned and readable statement of Christianity's response to the problems and crises of our time.