Transforming Conversion: Rethinking the Language and Contours of Christian Initiation

The image of conversion to Christ as a one-time experience dominates contemporary culture, but for evangelical Gordon Smith this 'punctiliar' model fails to encompass an experience that often unfolds over time and takes varied forms. In Beginning Well, he describes the Christian life as an ongoing process by which we become 'what we were created to be--fully human, transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.' We see this process at work in the conversion stories of Augustine, Ignatius of Loyola, John Wesley, and Dorothy Day, then explore models from evangelical history and the New Testament. The second half of the book uses the writings of C. S. Lewis, Chesterton, Tolstoy, and others to establish the hallmarks of conversion--benchmarks against which new converts and 'second-generation' Christians alike can gauge their spiritual growth and maturity. Transforming Conversion functions almost as a sequel to Beginning Well, tracing conversion as experienced in the early Church (including monastic models), the Reformation, and even in multi-cultural contexts such as Muslim conversions to Christianity. Smith's insightful biblical exegesis draws extensively upon Ephesians and Acts--and further demonstrates that salvation and conversion did not become synonymous until the modern revivalist movement. The final chapters explore the importance of situating conversion within a communal, rather than a narrowly individualistic, context that includes sacraments (baptism, confession) and 'a compelling theology of sainthood' to guide the mature Christian life.…