The Gospel In The Dock

C. S. Lewis famously penned the phrase “God in the Dock” and proposed that there was a “great divide” between ancient and modern humans, in that our ancestors would have rightly seen themselves “in the dock” before God, while we moderns have placed God there before us. But what if what God's love most desires for us, the gospel or “good news” of the only way of life for humanity, has been “in the dock” before us from the time of Adam and Eve? And what if it is also the case that the gospel is often “in the dock” as though it is not good—even for the church? This book builds upon and expands the “life and death” stakes Lewis proposed by demonstrating that the gospel way of faith itself has been placed in the dock by us and in many ways ruined our relationships with God, with our own selves, with one another, and even with the natural world itself which we are meant to “steward” for its good. In these pages the reader will discover why the gospel that requires faith is good news, but why we so tragically default to our divisive and self-destructive ways.

Lewis addresses theological and ethical questions with profoundly Christian insight in these 48 essays. Drawn from a variety of sources and written to meet a variety of needs, the essays range from popular newspaper pieces to learned defenses of the faith.

The postliberal, cultural-linguistic theology of the "Vale School" has been one of the most important theological developments in the United States during the latter Twentieth century. In this unique book, which combines theological analysis and homiletical reflection, Charles Campbell examines postliberal theology as it is embodied in the work of Hans Frei and develops the implications of this theological position for the theory and practice of preaching. Arguing that the trouble with homiletics today is fundamentally theological, Campbell offers Frei's theological position as a means for enriching the Christian pulpit and renewing the church.

Most anticipated in the IRISH TIMES, TORONTO STAR, and the BOOK CULTURE newsletter • INDIE NEXT LIST PICK • LIBRARY READS SELECTION • PERFECT FOR BOOK CLUBS • DEBUT NOVEL "A consistently surprising, evocative, almost impossible to put down, and gloriously original work." —Booklist A stunning debut novel from the Northern Irish poet Eoghan Walls, The Gospel of Orla is the coming-of-age story of a young girl, Orla, and the man she meets who has an astonishing and unique ability. It is also a road novel that takes us across the north of England after the two flee Orla’s village together. Here the mysteries of faith charge full bore into the vagaries of contemporary mores. A humorous, wise, deeply human and sometimes breathtaking work of lyrical fiction. “A melancholic, funny, and magical coming-of-age story, The Gospel of Orla is glorious, wise, and totally weird. I loved it.” —Annie Hartnett, author of Unlikely Animals "Utterly convincing and fresh and original." —Colm Tóibín, author of The Magician "In his debut novel, poet Eoghan Walls imagines the intersection of the material and the mystic. . . . As the troubled teenager ricochets between circus illusion and divine touch, she and the reader are beckoned to ponder where magic ends and miracles begin." —Kia Corthron, author of Moon and the Mars