
How to Find Yourself
Why Looking Inward Is Not the Answer
Brian S. Rosner(Author)
Crossway Books (Publisher)
Published on 17. May 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-4335-7815-1 (ISBN)
Description
A Christian Answer to the Identity Angst of Our Culture
In the 21st-century West, identity is everything. Never has it been more important, culturally speaking, to know who you are and be true to yourself. Expressive individualism-the belief that looking inward is the way to find yourself-has become the primary approach to identity formation, and questioning anyone's "self-made self" is often considered a threat or attack.
Prompted by his own crisis of identity, Brian Rosner argues that personal identity is formed not only by looking inward, but also by looking around to your relationships, backward and forward to your life stories, and upward to God. In How to Find Yourself, Rosner equips readers to engage sympathetically with some of the most pressing questions of our day. Challenging the status quo, he offers an approach to identity formation that leads to more secure and joyful self-knowledge: being known intimately and personally by God and following the script of Jesus's life story.
Challenges the Status Quo: Examines and critiques expressive individualism-the leading strategy for identity formation
Gospel-Centered: Identifies an approach to identity formation in Jesus's life story and God's personal knowledge of his children
Accessible: Helpful for a wide audience of laypeople, students, and church leaders
Foreword by Carl R. Trueman: Opens with a message from the author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self
In the 21st-century West, identity is everything. Never has it been more important, culturally speaking, to know who you are and be true to yourself. Expressive individualism-the belief that looking inward is the way to find yourself-has become the primary approach to identity formation, and questioning anyone's "self-made self" is often considered a threat or attack.
Prompted by his own crisis of identity, Brian Rosner argues that personal identity is formed not only by looking inward, but also by looking around to your relationships, backward and forward to your life stories, and upward to God. In How to Find Yourself, Rosner equips readers to engage sympathetically with some of the most pressing questions of our day. Challenging the status quo, he offers an approach to identity formation that leads to more secure and joyful self-knowledge: being known intimately and personally by God and following the script of Jesus's life story.
Challenges the Status Quo: Examines and critiques expressive individualism-the leading strategy for identity formation
Gospel-Centered: Identifies an approach to identity formation in Jesus's life story and God's personal knowledge of his children
Accessible: Helpful for a wide audience of laypeople, students, and church leaders
Foreword by Carl R. Trueman: Opens with a message from the author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Wheaton, IL
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 227 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
308 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4335-7815-1 (9781433578151)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2022
Crossway
€12.10
Available for download
Persons
Brian Rosner (PhD, Cambridge) was principal at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia from 2012-2024, where he now lectures in New Testament. He previously taught at the University of Aberdeen and Moore Theological College. Rosner is the author or editor of many books, including How to Find Yourself: Why Looking Inward Is Not the Answer. He is married to Natalie and has four children.
Content
Foreword
Preface
Introduction: Stranger in the Mirror
Part 1: Looking for Yourself
Chapter 1: Looking Inward
Chapter 2: A Collective Identity Crisis
Chapter 3: Five Tests of the Good Life
Chapter 4: Ancient Texts and Modern Preoccupations
Chapter 5: Looking Elsewhere
Part 2: You Are a Social Being
Chapter 6: Social Identity
Chapter 7: Known by God
Part 3: You Are Your Story
Chapter 8: Narrative Identity
Chapter 9: The Story of Secular Materialism
Chapter 10: The Story of Social Justice
Chapter 11: The Life Story of Jesus Christ
Part 4: The New You
Chapter 12: Losing Yourself
Chapter 13: Finding Yourself
General Index
Scripture Index
Preface
Introduction: Stranger in the Mirror
Part 1: Looking for Yourself
Chapter 1: Looking Inward
Chapter 2: A Collective Identity Crisis
Chapter 3: Five Tests of the Good Life
Chapter 4: Ancient Texts and Modern Preoccupations
Chapter 5: Looking Elsewhere
Part 2: You Are a Social Being
Chapter 6: Social Identity
Chapter 7: Known by God
Part 3: You Are Your Story
Chapter 8: Narrative Identity
Chapter 9: The Story of Secular Materialism
Chapter 10: The Story of Social Justice
Chapter 11: The Life Story of Jesus Christ
Part 4: The New You
Chapter 12: Losing Yourself
Chapter 13: Finding Yourself
General Index
Scripture Index