Epiphanies: Stories for the Christian Year - Softcover

9780801064463: Epiphanies: Stories for the Christian Year

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801064465 ISBN 13: 9780801064463

Publisher: Baker Books, 2003

What might it be like to experience the dramatic events of the Christian year as if for the first time? Readers familiar with and new to the seasonal liturgies will be challenged and delighted by this book. Here, the renowned authors of the Chrysostom Society, a contemporary Christian writers group, offer original work. Walter Wangerin Jr., Virginia Stem Owens, Philip Yancey, and many others serve as spiritual mentors and guides, offering readers the opportunity to apply transcendent wisdom in each religious holy day. With messages to be savored for the sheer pleasure of word craft, as well as motivating insights, this text will equip the devotional heart. Its beautiful tellings-from histories of saints to personal memoirs-are provocative and profound. Readers will find everything from humorous narrative to journal entries here, taking the word stories to an entirely new level. Epiphanies is a treasury to rouse the soul and a superlative gift book.

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From the Back Cover:

�These stories . . . lead the reader from the ordinary to the extraordinary.� -Library Journal

One of the most powerful and lasting ways of keeping time in the ancient world was with stories and traditions. The first Christians were influenced by both the Jewish and Roman calendars. But they soon found that neither could meet their unique needs as the first followers of Christ. So Christians developed their own stories. These narratives, eventually replacing those on the Roman calendar, became the basis of the familiar Christian calendar of today.

But just as Roman observances gave way to Christian stories and celebrations, American culture today is replacing the ancient Christian rhythms of the year with secular ones. Instead of meditating on the birth of Christ during Advent, we count the shopping days left until Christmas. Instead of remembering sacrifice during Lent, we are filled with anxiety over tax forms.

Thankfully, the Chrysostom Society has preserved in these pages original stories of the Christian seasons. Told with a fierce reverence, the stories help us keep track of redeemed time-fixed on �the still point of the turning world.� Eugene H. Peterson is professor emeritus of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Author of more than twenty-five books, his most recent work is The Message. Emilie Griffin is the author of Turning: Reflections on the Experience of Conversion and Clinging: The Experience of Prayer. She writes from her home in Louisiana.

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