Head, Heart and Hands - by Dennis P Hollinger (Paperback)

About the Book

As Christians, we are to love God with all of our being--heart, mind, soul and strength. But many of us tend to overemphasize one aspect or another, and as a result, our faith becomes imbalanced. Ethicist Dennis P. Hollinger shows us how to link our intellect, emotions and desire so we can reunite our Christian thought, passion and action.

Book Synopsis

As Christians, we are to love God with all of our being--heart, mind, soul and strength. But many of us tend to overemphasize one aspect or another, and as a result, our faith becomes imbalanced. Some of us have an intellectual faith but lack compassion or spiritual discipline. Others of us have a vibrant, heartfelt relationship with God but lack commitment to truth or doctrine. And many of us overlook translating our faith into service and ministry.In this book ethicist Dennis P. Hollinger presents a holistic, integrative vision for reuniting Christian thought, passion and action. He shows how individuals, churches and movements throughout history have focused on either the head, or the heart or the hands--often to the exclusion of other expressions. But by linking our intellect, emotions and actions, Hollinger points us toward a whole faith for the whole person, where each dimension feeds, nurtures and sustains the others.

Review Quotes

"Dennis Hollinger's book can be summed up in one word: congruency. Christians are challenged to live congruent lives. May we heed Hollinger's challenge to live our life with our head, heart and hands."

--Joseph B. Modica, University Chaplain, Eastern University

"This calm, gentle and carefully reasoned book persuasively depicts Christianity as 'a whole faith for the whole person.' Through wise use of Scripture and discerning attention to everyday real life, Dennis Hollinger shows how crucial it is for faithful believers to keep together active use of the mind, deeply ingrained habits of the heart and serious engagement with the world. Head, Heart and Hands is an ideal book for promoting a full-orbed Christian faith."

--Mark A. Noll, McManis Professor of Christian Thought, Wheaton College, and author of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind

"This is an important book, based on a deceptively simple premise: that Christian existence, rightly understood, involves a holistic integration of head, heart and hands. Hollinger's careful exposition of his thesis points out the very many ways in which Christian faith can become unbalanced in the direction of head (mind), heart (emotion) or hands (action), as well as the sometimes disastrous consequences of these various distorted versions of Christianity.

This book could serve very well as a programmatic foundation for a local church's preaching and teaching ministry or for Christian educational institutions such as our colleges and universities. I predict that Head, Heart and Hands will be used with great value in a wide variety of such settings. I recommend this book with enthusiasm."

--David P. Gushee, Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy, Union University

For pastors who suspect something might be "out of balance" in the spiritual life of their own flock--or in their own lives--Head, Heart, Hands will be a welcome corrective.

--Brian Turnbow in The Covenant Quarterly, February 2008

About the Author

Dennis P. Hollinger is president of Evangelical School of Theology in Myerstown, Pennsylvania, where he also serves as professor of Christian ethics. He is the author of Choosing the Good: Christian Ethics in a Complex World.