Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Part 1: the me-centered self. How the me-centered world was born -- Defiance: the Promethan dimension of the modern self -- Subservience: the religion of idols, hypocrites and hirelings -- Indifference: a study in thoughtlessness -- The god of the modern self -- The secret aspirations of the modern self -- Some unwelcome limits on freedom and dignity -- Part 2: the God-centered self. The self-giving God of the Gospel -- The irony of the divine "weakness" -- The awakening presence -- A new way of being human being -- The divine adoption -- The emergence of God-centered identity -- The freedom of the children of God -- God's love as the ground and measure of human dignity -- The reconciliation of heaven and earth.