The "One of Us" Collection This collection of seven books is one ordinary person's exploration of the relationship between God and the human race, centered around the revelation of Jesus Christ who became One of Us in order that humanity could, in turn, share in the life within God. In this first book, The Dependent God, Michael Mahony relates in a radical way (the word Dependent is not a metaphor) his understanding of the Incarnation and the Atonement, along with the journeys of two 'containers' which God brought about in history so as to prepare the way for God to become One of Us. The first container was the ancient Hebrew people, and the second was the evolution of human language. What began as a personal 'little project' by the author to articulate a particular spiritual journey which God challenged him to undertake, gradually developed into a set of books which he hopes will be of interest to others. In his own words: "The fifty-year journey of my adult life has encompassed various domains: nominal Catholicism in parallel with a de facto secularism, personal 'Damascus Road' and Pentecost experiences, the vitality of Catholic Charismatic Renewal, followed by a transition into Evangelical Christianity, through to a radical rediscovery of faith and life as lived within the Catholic Church." These books do not lend themselves to a lable. The content is orthodox but the style is not, combining, as it does, a rigorous faithfulness to biblical and theological scholarship with a distinctly unorthodox creativity in expressing it. The scope of the collection is ambitious, but curious sojourners of all persuasions - whether Catholic, Evangelical, or Agnostic of strict observance - are invited to explore the journey from the Eternal Logos to the Marriage Banquet to which all are invited.
Author Biography
Michael Mahony was born in Ireland in 1944 and has lived in South Africa since 1975, having previously worked in Nigeria, Dublin, and London. Michael holds an honours degree in physics from University College Dublin, and a masters degree in business from The University of South Africa. His life-occupation has been primarily in IT (software development) in banking, from which he retired in 2002. Since his conversion to Christ in 1978 he has been actively engaged in Christian ministry as a lay person, both in Catholic and Evangelical churches, and is currently a member of St. Charles Catholic Church, Victory Park, Johannesburg. Mike has been married to his wife, Mary, since 1967. They have been blessed with three sons and three daughters, and (at last count) have eleven grandchildren. This collection of seven books, (One of Us) is Michael's first venture into 'doing theology' and expressing it in writing. If he had known that it was going to be such fun, he would have undertaken it years ago!
