Additional information
by Paul Smith (Author), Richard Rohr (Foreword by), Ken Wilber (Afterword by)
This book presents a new framework for knowing the God of Jesus Christ. It reveals, in biblical, experiential, and contemporary terms, the Three Faces of God. These three dimensions of God uncover the bigger, closer, and more human God than many commonly understand and experience. These have long been hidden behind the traditional words and images of the "Father, Son, and Spirit" of the Trinity.
Others have presented parts of this path, or one or two Faces of God, but no widely recognized Christian group has yet fully integrated all Three Faces of God. Most denominations, churches, and Christians hold to one or two of these and dismiss the other. Most disagreement among Christian groups are over these three dimensions, arguing for one or two and against the other.
The three-dimensional God that Jesus demonstrated is God-beyond-us, God-beside-us, and God-being-us. This last one is least understood in the West. It is, in part, Spirit within, which is best understood biblically as divine-human consciousness in all its modes.
This is a God who is big enough for our minds, close enough to our hearts, and us enough for, and as, our deepest identity.
Author Biography
PAUL SMITH is a life-long follower of Jesus, mystic, author, teacher, and retired pastor of Broadway Church in Kansas City where he served for 49 years. During this time, the church evolved from a traditional church to a progressive, radically inclusive congregation following the integral model described in his books. Smith has traveled extensively teaching at churches, seminaries, and groups around the country. He is also the author of Is It Okay to Call God Mother? Considering the Feminine Face of God and Integral Christianity: The Spirit's Call to Evolve.
Fr. Richard Rohr is a globally recognized teacher and the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC.org) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His teaching is grounded in the Franciscan alternative orthodoxy--practices of contemplation and self-emptying, expressing themselves in radical compassion, particularly for the socially marginalized. He is also the academic dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation. Drawing upon Christianity's place within the Perennial Tradition, the mission of the Living School is to produce compassionate and powerfully learned individuals who will work for positive change in the world based on awareness of our common union with God and all created beings.
Fr. Richard is the author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Adam's Return, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, and Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi.KEN WILBER is the founder of Integral Institute and the cofounder of Integral Life. He is an internationally acknowledged leader and the preeminent scholar of the Integral stage of human development. He is the author of more than twenty books, including A Brief History of Everything, A Theory of Everything, Integral Spirituality, No Boundary, Grace and Grit, and Sex, Ecology, Spirituality.
