grovespirituality
S 54 Holiness
£2.77
Originally given as addresses at a clergy conference, these studies look in turn at holiness in the Old Testament, the disruptive holiness of Jesus, and what it means to live in the light of God’s call to holiness and the future hope of perfect holiness.
From the introduction: 'Once, while wandering around an old country church, I found myself looking into the worn stone face of someone the guidebook told me was 'a saint'. Very little was actually known about him. I was curious, but his serious, hard-eyed face stirred a familiar unease in me. It was the fear that holiness is something harsh, involving heroic self sacrifices. It is not for ordinary people. Or is it? My conviction is that our vision of Christian holiness has got stuck in certain narrow, unimaginative definitions. We are left responding to the word with the formality and enthusiasm we reserve for substances like disinfectant. That is not the picture of holiness found in the bible (or, in fact, in the lives of saints). True holiness begins and ends in the mystery, joy and fire of God's love.'
From the introduction: 'Once, while wandering around an old country church, I found myself looking into the worn stone face of someone the guidebook told me was 'a saint'. Very little was actually known about him. I was curious, but his serious, hard-eyed face stirred a familiar unease in me. It was the fear that holiness is something harsh, involving heroic self sacrifices. It is not for ordinary people. Or is it? My conviction is that our vision of Christian holiness has got stuck in certain narrow, unimaginative definitions. We are left responding to the word with the formality and enthusiasm we reserve for substances like disinfectant. That is not the picture of holiness found in the bible (or, in fact, in the lives of saints). True holiness begins and ends in the mystery, joy and fire of God's love.'
