While I read many new books and share ratings for the best of them with you once a month, I most frequently share quotes of interest via X, the platform previously known asTwitter. Today, I’m sharing 10 quotes from recently published books as an invitation to theological conversation about one or more of the topics they explore.
- When Jesus said “I am the way,” I don’t think he meant that knowing about him was the way to heaven. –Matthew Distefano (Sitting in the Shade, 2023)
- Good religion is trying to learn whatever lessons my relationships offer by keeping the spirit of loving God and one another at the forefront of our lives. –Amy Butler (Beautiful and Terrible Things, 2023)
- Christian nationalism is not a politically enthusiastic version of Christianity, nor is it a religiously informed patriotism. Christian nationalism is a prosperity gospel for nation-states, a liberation theology for white people. –Russell Moore (Losing Our Religion, 2023)
- Shalom is refusing to get mired too deeply in the past and refusing to live too far into the future. –Mark Feldmeir (Life After God, 2023)
- Most churches in America are not equipped to engage those who have left the church or in many cases even retain the people we have. –Jim Davis & Michael Graham (The Great Dechurching, 2023)
- The act of understanding someone else’s story doesn’t require you to agree with it, or to give up your own. –Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen (Difficult Conversations, rev. 2023)
- If the Reformation was a crisis of authority . . . then this reckoning (or perhaps even a new reformation) is one of credibility. –Karen Swallow Prior (The Evangelical Imagination, 2023)
- One of the truly beautiful and terrible things about being human is our capacity to sense the gap between what is and what should be. –Jason Adam Miller (When the World Breaks, 2023)
- More than any one single policy, basic income would extinguish the fire of perfectionism. Unlike the fake freedom of winner-takes-all markets, basic income provides real freedom. –Thomas Curran (The Perfection Trap, 2023)
- In our experience, far too little energy and attention are dedicated to birthing and nurturing new forms of Christian community that are uniquely designed for today’s world. –Dwight Zscheile, Michael Binder, and Teresa Pinkstaff (Leading Faithful Innovation, 2023)
So What?
The above list includes considerable theological diversity and covers many topics. I invite you to select one or two for focused reflection.
- Why did this quote stand out from among the others for you?
- Do you primarily agree or disagree with it? Why?
- Who is one person you’d like to engage in further conversation about your selected quote? How might you do so?
Feel free to share your replies here as well.
Note: All of the quotes in this post have or will soon appear on my Twitter feed (to see more of this content follow @sowhatfaith).