My book, For the Life of the World: Jesus Christ and the Church in the Theologies of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Stanley Hauerwas, has recently been published. In celebration of its appearance there is going to be a book launch event at Good Shepherd Community Church in Scarborough on Wednesday, July 6. More information about the event can be found here. Print and electronic copies can be purchased through the Wipf and Stock website, Amazon, or ordered through your local bookstore. There will also be a limited number of copies available for purchase at the book launch. To whet your appetite, here’s the blurb from the back cover: Continue reading “For the Life of the World” Now in Print
Tag Archives: Hauerwas
“For the Life of the World” Cover Design
I’ve recently been given a glimpse of the cover design for my forthcoming book: For the Life of the World: Jesus Christ and the Church in the Theologies of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Stanley Hauerwas (Pickwick Publications).
I particularly appreciate the striking juxtaposition of colours and images. Not to mention that the image of a garden in the wasteland is one of my favourite biblical metaphors for the new creation reality of the church.
I’ll have more to say about the book in the days ahead as the release date draws near. Suffice to say, though, the appearance of the cover design signals that the day is fast approaching!
Old Lawyers Never Die, They Just Lose Their Appeal!
After 42 years of practicing law, my dad hung up his tabs and gown and left the legal profession at the end of this past calendar year. This past weekend my family and some close friends gathered to celebrate my dad’s retirement. It was a wonderful evening of laughter, reminiscing and giving thanks. Towards the end of the evening I had the opportunity to share a few words with the group and to extend a blessing to my dad as he entered into this next phase of life. The following reflections upon retirement and vocation are based upon the thoughts I shared at the celebration. However, at the risk of making it a less compelling read, I have opted to leave out the more personal recollections. Continue reading Old Lawyers Never Die, They Just Lose Their Appeal!
The Devil Goes Prime Time
The question of the existence of the devil is a notoriously difficult theological problem. On the one hand, as Carl Braaten has observed, “True Christianity is stuck with the Devil, like it or not” (“Powers in Conflict: Christ and the Devil,” in Sin, Death, and the Devil, ed. Carl E. Braaten and Robert W. Jenson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 96). The devil is a recurring character in the narrative of Scripture. He is described in the New Testament as, among other things, the “prince of this world” (John 12:31), as one who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), and as “the strong man” whose house Jesus has come to plunder (Mark 3:27). To excise all of the references to the devil from Scripture would leave many holes in the pages of our Bibles. Continue reading The Devil Goes Prime Time
The Politics of Preaching
Yesterday I received the electronic issue of Didaskalia‘s forthcoming issue on the theme of political theology. From scanning the table of contents, it looks like it could be quite an interesting issue. It includes engagements by established and emerging Canadian theologians with Žižek, Barth, Bonhoeffer, Cavanaugh, and Newbigin, among others. Appearing in the issue is my essay, “Unapologetically (A)Political: Stanley Hauerwas and the Practice of Preaching.” Rather than summarize my own work, here’s how the editor of the issue, H.C. Hillier, introduces my essay in his preface to the issue: Continue reading The Politics of Preaching
An Unsentimental Christmas
“Sentime
ntality, not atheism, is the deepest enemy of the Christian faith,” the theological ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has averred on numerous occasions. (This particular formulation is from Approaching the End (2013), 88.) Perhaps no time of year is as fraught with the danger of sentimentality for Christians as is Christmas. However, this seemingly owes more to the cultural observation of Christmas returning to its pagan roots in the winter festival of Saturnalia, then it does to the story of the Nativity. Continue reading An Unsentimental Christmas