From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Foster (
Celebration of Discipline) has built a career exploring foundational spiritual practices like fasting, prayer, study and worship. Here he zeroes in on Bible study to help Christians grow in their faith. Although Bible study is nothing if not a well-trod topic, Foster breathes new life into it by drawing on ancient resources: he is especially interested in the age-old practice of
lectio divina, sacred reading that requires the attention of both mind and heart. Foster cautions several times that
lectio divina is neither a magical solution to problems nor an approach that bypasses the living God by treating the Scriptures as a sort of Ouija board. He warns that the Bible is also not an owner's manual for successful living or even moral living; we shouldn't read it merely to serve our own needs. Rather,
lectio divina offers an invitation to enter the Bible as a story (or a complex group of stories) and enter its river of life. As usual, Foster's work is not for those readers who are seeking quick answers or a behavioral checklist of what the Bible says they should do. Rather, it is a deep reflective guide to spiritual rumination and growth.
(Apr. 22) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
“For some time now Richard Foster has been teaching us how to live with a living God. Those of us who would follow Jesus, must inculcate and practice the disciplines required for discipleship. Who better points us toward the discipline life than Richard Foster? This is a transforming, radiant book.” (Will Willimon, Bishop, the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church and author of Conversations with Barth about Preaching (Abingdon, 2007) )
”Richard Foster awakens us to God’s continued desire to commune with us despite the deafness of our sin-blunted ears. From long experience, he shows how the dynamic use of the spiritual disciplines can open our ears to God’s voice. A book to read slowly.” (David Neff, Editor in Chief, Christianity Today )
“Alluring warmth, empathetic breadth, and twenty-twenty perceptiveness, mild on sin but firm on grace, have together become the hallmark of the Renovare books. This pathway into the “with-God life” is a worthy addition to the study.” (J.I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College and author of Knowing God. )
Foster is a reliable, compelling guide for a life in which God is a defining agent. The news from Foster is good indeed: God is with us! (Walter Brueggemann, Emeritus Professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary )
“A deep reflective guide to spiritual rumination and growth.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )
You hold in your hands a very wise book written for anyone who craves a deep, palpable connection to God. If you want to discover new ways of entering the Bible, and letting it enter you, you will find no better guide than Richard Foster. (Lauren F. Winner, Duke Divinity School, author of Girl Meets God )
