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Now we come to that area of theology that is so abused in the modern church: authority! (Can I hear a, “touch not God’s anointed”?) In all seriousness, I’ve never spent any significant time thinking about issues of apostolic authority. This should be interesting. . . .

Contemplative Prayer © 1969 Image: Doubleday 116 pages Merton is one godly man. I’ve read many books on prayer that have left a vague aftertaste of unlived academia. Contemplative Prayer, on the other hand, is a book of personal experience informed by a brilliant mind. This is not a book for beginners. It would have [...]

It is time for Muslims and Christians to rebel against religion as a marker of identity and weapon in worldly struggles. It usurps the place of God in their lives. —Miroslav Volf, Allah: A Christian Response, 253-4.

I remember the day I proposed to my wife. We had been dating for over a year and we both knew we were going to get married. All of our friends knew it was only a matter of time before the engagement. All that was left to do was ask. Finally, the day arrived. I [...]

Allah: A Christian Response © 2011 HarperCollins 326 pages I want to believe him—I tried to believe him. In the end, Volf himself offered the argument (in order to refute it) that convinced me. Let me rewind. My friend Brian Lachine pointed out that Volf always tells you precisely what he’s going to argue before [...]

A man walks into a bookstore and looks up books on loneliness, and every woman in the store hits on him. A woman looks for books on loneliness, and the store clears out. —Douglas Coupland, Player One, 8.

Judas and Jesus: Amazing Grace for the Wounded Soul ©2005 Cascade Books: Wipf & Stock Publishers 130 pages Judas has become more of an expression than a person. To call someone a “Judas” is to name them a betrayer. No one in the Gospels plays a more villainous role than Judas. But, is he beyond [...]

Prejudices are errors born of ignorance, self-absorption, resentment, and fear—all stances incompatible with the active love of neighbor enjoined on Muslims and Christians alike by their common God. —Miroslav Volf, Allah: A Christian Response, 203.

We now turn the corner from the question of Israel to Paul’s broader understanding of the church. Funny coincidence: I just finished reading the papers from the 2010 Wheaton Theology Conference on the works of N. T. Wright. In a tantalizing foretaste of his big book on Paul, Wright questions why so many Pauline theologians [...]

A Better Hope: Resources for a Church Confronting Capitalism, Democracy, and Postmodernity © 2000 Brazos Press: Baker Book House 288 pages A Better Hope was my first introduction to Stanley Hauerwas, and I’m sure it will prove to be the start of a long fruitful journey. In this audaciously subtitled book, Hauerwas has collected 14 [...]