Way of Love: Recovering the Heart of Christianity - Hardcover

Wirzba, Norman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 006238581X ISBN 13: 9780062385819

Publisher: HarperOne, 2016

Synopsis

The pioneering scholar and author of Food and Faith and Living the Sabbath asserts that Christianity has slid off its rightful foundation, arguing that the faith only makes sense and can only be expressed in a healthy way if it seen as based on love, with a mission of training others in the way of love.

It’s often said that God is love, yet his message of compassion and caring for others is often overshadowed by the battles dividing us politically, culturally, and religiously. Why does Christianity matter if it isn’t about love? asks Duke University professor of Theology and Ecology Norman Wirzba.

The Way of Love invites readers to experience Christianity that is centered on love. Extensive theological training cannot replace the way of love that transforms and connects each of us to God and the faith, Wirzba contends. Interweaving illuminating testimonials, historical references, and Scripture, he reveals how love allows us to move into the fullness of life; when we do not love we lose our faith. “To fail to love,” he reminds us, “is to lose God.”

About this title

From the Back Cover:

·        A Burundian Tutsi woman who witnesses the murder of her village by Hutus raises the twenty-seven Tutsi and Hutu orphans left behind.

·        A community garden manager in the mountains of North Carolina experiences grace when she welcomes a vegetable thief to work in the garden alongside her.

·        A young woman struggling to support the child she had after her rape inspires the founding of a nonprofit dedicated to supporting women in poverty.

·        A college professor embraced by a local congregation discovers healing and joy while dying of cancer.

What these stories have in common is that they are wonderful models for not only inspiring us but for explaining what Christianity is really about. Norman Wirzba contends that Christianity can only be explained and justified if it is seen as a “way of love.” The primary purpose of the church, he argues, is to train, equip, and grow its members in the ways of love. When Christians forget this centering purpose, things begin to collapse. Through stories drawn from today’s world as well as from church history and the Bible, Wirzba illustrates how our fractured world can be healed by making love central to the Christian faith.

If the church hopes to have a vibrant future, it needs to reject fear, purity, and power as its guiding principles and rediscover the very center of its message: to love.

Why Is Christianity Failing?

When people think about Christianity, “love” is often not the first thing that comes to mind. According to Duke University professor Norman Wirzba, this is the central problem that plagues the Christian faith today. In Way of Love he invites readers to rediscover the heart of Christianity as a training regimen for how to love. This is the path that leads to the truly “abundant life” Jesus promised his followers, a path whereby both individuals and the whole world can flourish.

“In these pages, Norman Wirzba reminds us that Christianity’s focal point is a vision of God’s love that creates, sustains, and redeems the world. Way of Love is a gift.”—from the Foreword by Diana Butler Bass, author of Grounded

“Love is one of the most hackneyed and trivialized words in our language. Wirzba wants to rescue this essential word from the dustbin of the everyday and restore it to usefulness. Connecting love and the hope of heaven, he provides a most satisfying and convincing conclusion.”—Eugene H. Peterson, author of The Pastor

“A winsome, accessible presentation of love in Christian thought. Wirzba rightly focuses on this theological conviction as the single most important dimension of Christianity and calls Christians back from far less constructive versions of their faith. Highly recommended.”—David P. Gushee, author of Changing Our Mind

“Wirzba reminds us that the Christian faith should be training us to love. But he also inspires, cajoles, and provokes us to live this out. If you want to love better—and who doesn’t?—this is the book for you.”—Tony Jones, author of Did God Kill Jesus?

About the Author:

NORMAN WIRZBA is a professor of theology and ecology at Duke University Divinity School and a pioneer of scholarly work on religion, philosophy, ecology, and agrarianism. He is also the author of Way of Love, Food and Faith, Living the Sabbath, The Paradise of God, and From Nature to Creation. He lives near Hillsborough, North Carolina.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 006238581X
• ISBN 13: 9780062385819
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272