Known for her bestselling detective novels, Dorothy L. Sayers lived a fascinating, groundbreaking life as a novelist, feminist, Oxford scholar, and important influence on the spiritual life of C.S. Lewis. This pioneering woman not only forged a literary career for herself but also spoke about faith and culture in revolutionary ways as she addressed the evergreen question of to what extent faith should hold on to tradition and to what extent it should evolve with a changing culture. Thanks to her unmatched wisdom, prophetic tone, and insistent strength, Dorothy Sayers is a voice that we cannot afford to ignore. Providing a blueprint for bridge-building in contemporary, polarizing contexts, Subversive shows how Sayers used edgy, often hilarious metaphors to ignite new ways to think about Christianity, shocking people into seeing the truth of ancient doctrine in a new light. Urging readers to reassess interpretations of the Bible that impede the cause of Christ, Sayers helps twenty-first-century Christians navigate a society increasingly suspicious of evangelical vocabularies and find new ways to talk and think about faith and culture. Ultimately, she will inspire believers, on both the right and the left, to evaluate how and why their language perpetuates divisive certitude rather than the hopeful humility of faith, and will show us all a better way forward.
Does God use flawed people despite their shortcomings? Mere Believers tells the stories of eight remarkable men and women living in tumultuous times, revealing surprising and inspirational answers. William Wilberforce defined Christian as "a pilgrim travelling on business through a strange country." In Mere Believers, historian Marc Baer examines eight Christian figures from the past, indicating how their conversion not only directed them to new vocations ("travelling on business"), but also impacted in profoundly positive ways the society and culture of that "strange country" they called home. The book reveals how faithful lives can have revolutionary consequences, offering poignant models for vocational discernment and spiritual formation. Mere Believers helps readers engage our own times better by bringing them into conversation with courageous Christians of the past. The subjects represent a variety of Christian traditions. They are male and female, black and white, English, Welsh, Scottish, and an African immigrant. Mere Believers reveals how what we believe is the legacy of what they achieved, that some of the best minds and hearts in the past have been committed, culturally wise Christians, and in turn how their lives and worldviews have shaped our own--including, paradoxically, those who reject Christianity.
Worlds of Common Prayer exposes the surprisingly radical potential of nineteenth- and twentieth-century book-length liturgical poetry. Major authors as dissimilar as Christina Rossetti and T.S. Eliot used the Anglican liturgical calendar as a weapon to break the order of clock time and destabilize the secular world order.
In "Keeping the Sabbath Wholly," Dawn introduced the vital Sabbath aspects of resting, ceasing, feasting, and embracing. Now, she expands these into a way of life for serving God and the Kingdom every single day of the week. (Practical Life)
A scholarly volume that reflects the rich diversity of Anglican theology With contributions from an international panel of writers, Twentieth-Century Anglican Theologians offers a wide-ranging view that presents a survey of over twenty diverse Anglican thinkers. The book explores well-known figures including William Temple, Austin Farrer, Donald MacKinnon, and John A.T. Robinson. These theologians are set in a wider context alongside others from India, China, Australia, Ghana, and elsewhere. Notably, the subjects include a number of women from Evelyn Underhill, the first woman to teach the clergy of the Church of England, to Esther Mombo, a major contemporary Anglican figure, from Kenya. The book reflects the rich diversity of Anglicanism, suggesting the ongoing vitality of this religious tradition. This important book: Contains information on a number of prominent women Anglican thinkers Includes contributions from experts from around the world Presents material on both familiar figures and others that are unjustly little known Written for students and teachers of Anglicanism, Anglican clergy, and ecumenical colleagues, Twentieth-Century Anglican Theologians is the first book to reflect the diversity of the Anglican tradition by considering its global theological representatives.
C. S. Lewis is one of the best loved and most engaging Christian writers of recent times, and he continues to be a powerful defender of the faith. It is in his imaginative fiction that his genius finds its fullest expression and makes its most lasting theological contribution. Famously, Lewis had friends - who, like him, employed powerfully creative imaginations to explore the profundities of Christian thought and their struggles with their faith.
Today's church finds itself in a new world, one in which climate change and ecological degradation are front-page news. In the eyes of many, the evangelical community has been slow to take up a call to creation care. How do Christians address this issue in a faithful way? This evangelically centered but ecumenically informed introduction to ecological theology (ecotheology) explores the global dimensions of creation care, calling Christians to meet contemporary ecological challenges with courage and hope. The book provides a biblical, theological, ecological, and historical rationale for earthcare as well as specific practices to engage both individuals and churches. Drawing from a variety of Christian traditions, the book promotes a spirit of hospitality, civility, honesty, and partnership. It includes a foreword by Bill McKibben and an afterword by Matthew Sleeth.