Christian Spirituality: The Classics is a unique and comprehensive guide to thirty key Christian spirituality texts. Ranging from Origen and Augustine to Jonathan Edwards, Thérèse of Lisieux and Thomas Merton, it offers a view of the texts which is founded in scholarship, but which also presents them as living documents that invite- even compel -contemplative reflection and existential response.

Each chapter briefly describes the classic text's author and audience, gives a synopsis of its contents, suggests some of its influence in history, and then explores aspects of the text's meaning for readers today. Key themes include:

What is the meaning of life?

How can human beings find truth?

How can they discover who they really are?

How can they live together in peace?

How can they live more fully in God's presence in this world and be united with God in the world to come?

The scholars who have written these chapters are all experts on their respective topics, but they wear their learning lightly. Anyone wishing to discover the riches of Christian spirituality will find this the ideal introduction and should be able to progress to a deeper understanding of the texts themselves.

Over the centuries the church developed a number of metaphors, such as penal substitution or the ransom theory, to speak about Christ's death on the cross and the theological concept of the atonement. Yet too often, says Scot McKnight, Christians have held to the supremacy of one metaphor over against the others, to their detriment. He argues instead that to plumb the rich theological depths of the atonement, we must consider all the metaphors of atonement and ask whether they each serve a larger purpose.

A Community Called Atonement is a constructive theology that not only values the church's atonement metaphors but also asserts that the atonement fundamentally shapes the life of the Christian and of the church. That is, Christ identifies with humans to call us into a community that reflects God's love (the church)--but that community then has the responsibility to offer God's love to others through missional practices of justice and fellowship, living out its life together as the story of God's reconciliation. Scot McKnight thus offers an accessible, thought-provoking theology of atonement that engages the concerns of those in the emerging church conversation and will be of interest to all those in the church and academy who are listening in.

One of the most popular current views on spirituality is that there are varied paths to God. In this new Ancient-Future series book, Bob Webber evaluates this common misunderstanding of spirituality as separated from God's story, extremely self-focused, and shaped by our surrounding culture. This challenging work offers a corrective, calling us to an alternative Christian spirituality, one that reveals two sides-that of God's "divine embrace" of us and our passionate response. The Divine Embrace is a fresh, grounded look at true spirituality that will be embraced by pastors, thinking Christians, and anyone looking for an engaging and thorough treatment of this topic.

Foundations of Spiritual Formation takes a unique approach to its subject, arguing that we become like Christ in the context of authentic, Christian community. Without undermining individual Bible study, private prayer, and meditation, the authors emphasize these pursuits for the purpose of both personal and community enrichment-that the whole body, as well as the individual, may be built up.

Part 1 lays the groundwork of spiritual formation. Jonathan Morrow develops a distinctively evangelical theology, while Richard Averbeck writes about worship. Then Gordon Johnston and Darrell Bock delve into the text of Scripture, grounding the pursuit of spiritual formation in revealed truth.

Part 2 focuses on functional aspects of spiritual formation. Klaus Issler emphasizes the importance of the heart in spiritual formation, while Reid Kisling illustrates the vital connection between character development and spiritual formation. Bill Miller explores love's role as the motivation for spiritual formation. Andrew Seidel examines servant leadership, and George Hillman extends the discussion to include the significance of calling. Gail Seidel discusses personal narrative as a catalyst for spiritual formation, and in closing, Harry Shields advocates the public preaching of the Word as a tool for spiritual formation.