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When God Talks Back - A Book Review by Sutton

When God Talks Back:  Understanding the American Evangelical    Relationship with God By      T.M. Luhrmann Reviewed by       Geoffrey W. Sutton We are His portion and He is our prize, Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes. If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking; So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss, And my heart turns violently inside of my chest. I don’t have time to maintain these regrets When I think about the way that He loves us: John Mark McMillan (2005) I quoted a portion of the McMillan song because it is one of those subgenres of Christian music dubbed "Jesus is my boyfriend." If you observe Pentecostal youth singing with eyes closed and arms raised and swaying you get a real sense of a love relationship between a young woman and a personified God. The idea of a relationship with God is not new, but the focus on a present intensely personal speaking relationship with God as a widespread Christian mo

The Social Psychology of Morality

The Social Psychology of Morality: Exploring the causes   of Good and Evil Edited by     Mario Mikulincer &     Phillip R. Shaver Reviewed by       Kayla Jordan  &  Geoffrey W Sutton Psychological scientists have built on the ideas put forth by philosophers for centuries. Surveys, laboratory studies, and theory building have significantly expanded our understanding of how people determine what is moral. This handbook includes the work of 40 authors and is published by the American Psychological Association. Our article was published as a featured review in the Journal of Psychology and Theology (Jordan & Sutton, 2012). I (Sutton) draw on that article in this summary. My purpose is to provide readers with an overview of the contents of this sizable volume. I will also comment on my follow-up work to fill a need identified by Roy Baumeister and Jesse Graham in the conclusion chapter. The editors open the discussion with a quote by Oscar Wilde.   “Mora