Head, Heart & Hands: Bringing Together Christian Thought, Passion and Action [Paperback]

Dennis P. Hollinger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2005

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Anyone who wants to better know, love and serve God and their neighbor will love this book. With skillful insight, Dennis Hollinger guides us into a thoroughly biblical understanding of the holistic relationship between our thoughts, feelings, passions and actions, pointing the way to a deeper intimacy with God and a more Christlike discipleship and witness in today's world. I wish I had read something like this thirty years ago. Highly recommended!" (Thomas A. Tarrants III, President, C. S. Lewis Institute )

"Dennis Hollinger's book is a gift to the church. With wisdom and care, Hollinger leads us on a journey around the pitfalls of an unbalanced life into the green pastures of healthy living that exercises head, heart and hands. The destination is nothing less than an imitation of Christ." (Stephen B. Kellough, Chaplain, Wheaton College )

"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 )

"Dennis Hollinger provides wise counsel for correcting a defect that plagues us all these days: the fragmenting of our lives--not only as individuals but also in our congregations and outreach ministries. We desperately need the reintegration of head, heart and hands that he calls for!" (Richard J. Mouw, President and Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary )

"Dennis Hollinger, in a skillful and succinct way, has covered a lot of ground in this book on such an important topic for Christian discipleship and moral formation. By providing pertinent biblical, theological and historical background on the different emphases on head, heart and hands, along with contemporary theoretical insights and pastoral concerns, Dr. Hollinger reminds us why we need to listen to the whole of the Scriptures, along with Christian tradition, for this important integration of head, heart and hands. This book, with its engaging questions and practical applications, will benefit all readers seeking to wholly love God with heart, mind and soul." (Wyndy Corbin, Associate Professor of Ethics and Theology, Ashland Theological Seminary )

"Read this book. I have known Dennis Hollinger for many years. Understanding what it is to balance head, heart and hands is not just an academic exercise for Dennis. He lives it." (Richard L. Gathro, Executive Vice President, Council for Christian Colleges & Universities )

"We are all unbalanced, we begin to realize, as Dennis Hollinger unfolds for us the intertwining necessities for faith to be that of head, heart and hands. However, this book does not just diagnose our lopsidedness; it also offers counsel for deepening all aspects of vital and whole faith and for nurturing their mutualities. The result is not just 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, for each dimension in the totality of faith makes the other two more influential. Share this book with other 'unsound' believers." (Marva J. Dawn, author, Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology, Regent College )

"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 )

"The central thesis of this book is solidly biblical: Every Christian should be bent toward integrating mind, heart and hands--the mental, emotional and practical. Can a book (mental) stir the passions (emotions) and thus lead to action (practice)? I join Dennis Hollinger in hoping it will." (James W. Sire, author of The Universe Next Door and Habits of the Mind )

About the Author

Dennis P. Hollinger (M.Div., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; M.Phil. and Ph.D., Drew University) is president and professor of Christian ethics at Evangelical School of Theology in Myerstown, Pennsylvania. Previously he was vice provost, college pastor and professor of Christian ethics at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania. Hollinger is the author of Choosing the Good.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (March 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830832637
• ISBN-13: 978-0830832637
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #192,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Becoming a Complete Christian, July 16, 2005

By 

Roger N. Overton (La Mirada, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Head, Heart & Hands: Bringing Together Christian Thought, Passion and Action (Paperback)

One of the many problems within Christianity today is the unhealthy division between the head, the heart and the hands- or thought, passion, and action. Different groups tend to emphasis one area of Christian life over the others. In doing so, they not only neglect what they de-emphasize, but what they do emphasize suffers from imbalance. To give examples, I would say the Reformed tradition tends to over-emphasize the mind, Charismatics the heart, and the emerging church the hands. Dennis Hollinger seeks to bring these elements together in his book Head, Heart & Hands.

"What we need today, in a fragmented world, is a whole faith of the head, heart and hands, with each dimension feeding and sustaining the others." (16) Dr. Hollinger begins by painting a picture of what we experience too often- fragmented people living fragmented lives. This sets the stage for looking at each area of Christian life individually.

There are two chapters on each the head, the heart and the hands. The first explains the Biblical foundation for the element and its implications for our lives. The second examines how the element is often distorted, either by neglect or by over-emphasis. Dr. Hollinger then presents the three elements integrated in three chapters. The first examines a number of Old and New Testament passages that make a case for the necessity of all three elements working together. The next chapter draws from non-Biblical examples of this model found in education, social psychology, and philosophy. The final chapter examines the implications of integration for our lives, and the challenges we must overcome.

At the very least, Dr. Hollinger is incredibly thorough. Had I written this book (which I did have in mind before this came along), I would not have been able to cover each element to the great detail that Dr. Hollinger does. The reason is that I tend to favor the mind, and therefore couldn't cover the heart and hands well. What makes this book good is that the presentation of each element is balanced.

What makes this book great, though, is how well Dr. Hollinger explains the relationships between these elements in the Christian life. "Our minds cannot be brought into harmony with God's designs and truth without hearts that are near to God and actions that reflect God's ways. Our hearts cannot experience the presence and power of the Holy Spirit without knowledge of God to guide us and without actions that reflect the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And our actions of both proclamation and presence will wither without a theology to guide them and a heart to drive and sustain them. Head, heart and hands together. That is the paradigm from God's Word." (158)

Head, Heart & Hands is indispensable reading for those who wish to live a complete life completely surrendered to Christ. It should be required for every disciple of Christ who seeks to live to His glory.