Books by Donald Eric Capps

In searching, sensitive, and stunningly thorough essay, supplemented with case studies and poetry, and drawing lucidly on important psychological theorists, Capps portrays hope as the fundamental nucleus and engine of human experience. He wants to remind pastors that fueling this hope is their distinctive and distinctively Christian calling. James Dittes, Yale University Don Capps has written a lucid and persuasive account of the one task unique to the ministry: to be an agent of hope. His eschatological imagination pops up repeatedly in his case studies and phenomenology of hoping, translating into concrete terms the promise of a God of hope for people in the most hopeless of situations. A book rich in insights and a pleasure to read. Robert A. Johnson, Wellesley College This book is an intelligent reclamation of the theological virtue of hope, which goes to the very heart of the psychology and spirituality of pastoral ministry. Patricia Howery Davis, Perkins School of Theology Southern Methodist University

The emotional separation of boys from their mothers in early childhood enables them to connect with their fathers and their fathers' world. But this separation also produces a melancholic reaction of sadness and sense of loss. Certain religious sensibilities develop out of this melancholic reaction, including a sense of honor, a sense of hope, and a sense of humor. Realizing that they cannot return to their original maternal environment, men, whether knowingly or not, embark on a lifelong search for a sense of being at home in the world. At Home in the World focuses on works of art as a means to explore the formation and continuing expression of men's melancholy selves and their religious sensibilities. These explorations include such topics as male viewers' mixed feelings toward the maternal figure, physical settings that offer alternatives to the maternal environment, and the maternal resonances of the world of nature. By presenting images of the natural world as the locus of peace and contentment, At Home in the World especially reflects of the religious sensibility of hope.

Donald Capps draws on Erik H. Erikson's life cycle theory, biblical narratives, and the Beatitudes to show how individuals can combat the deadly sins through cultivating saving virtues. This work is rooted in the Bible. Narratives of biblical figures provide vivid examples of the dynamics of sin and virtue. This book has broad implications for the practice of ministry and will be of particular interest to all who want to explore sin and virtue from a biblical, pastoral, and psychological perspective.