An expert in moral and spiritual philosophical psychology, Robert Roberts here focuses on human emotions, developing an understanding of them as a basic part of Christian moral character.
In the first two chapters, Roberts works out this up-to-date conception of emotions with an eye to their functions in the New Testament. He examines how these emotions, or nonsensory perceptions, are special because they are saturated with caring about situations; both the Christian message and theology. The following four chapters are devoted to working out the caring, yearning, or desire that underlies the Christian emotions and thus the Christian emotion-virtues. The final six chapters provide detailed accounts of six kinds of "fruit of the Holy Spirit"----contrition, joy, gratitude, hope, peace, and compassion. Roberts demonstrates how each of these emotion--virtues is a way of seeing the world through the lens of the Christian message. Each of these final six chapters can function as a focused resource for preaching and counseling.
Without compromising rigor of thought Spiritual Emotions is written in a conversationally narrative style. The book will be immensely useful for Christian ethicists, psychologists, and moral philosophers.
