Overview

"In ""Raging with Compassion"", Michael Ramsey prize-winning author John Swinton argues for a practical theodicy, one embodied in the life and practices of the Christian community. This practicality does not seek to provide an explanation for the existence of evil, but rather presents ways in which evil and suffering can be resisted and transformed. This, he insists, will enable Christians to live faithfully with unanswered questions as they await God's redemption of the whole creation. Swinton explores essential practices of redemption - lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness, hospitality, and friendship - drawing out their implications for the faithful resistance of evil. Enhanced by case studies from current events and by Swinton's own experience as a pastor and mental health nurse, ""Raging with Compassion"" seeks to inspire fresh Christian responses and modes of practice in our broken, fallen world."

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9780334056386

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Reviews

Thoughtful, heartfelt and deeply faithful... -- Samuel Wells It takes a particular gift, persuasiveness, and credibility to challenge a paradigm so ingrained and so evaded by a generation of textbooks. Long experience as both a mental health nurse and a theologian has given John Swinton that credibility. The community of Christians, gathered around a suffering Lord, has unique resilience to respond to evil creatively. This hopeful book recovers a theodicy of action and faithfulness. It has immense pastoral value. -- Ian Torrance This is an important book which should be read by anyone in Christian ministry, dealing as it does with the timeless truths that underpin practical theology: listening in silence, lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness and hospitality. The book is particularly strong in its treatment of lament and the use of the psalms. Although first published by Eerdmans in 2007, this book has not gone out of date, except in one respect. Where it might benefit from being updated is in its references to the issue of asylum seekers and our failure as a society to offer hospitality to those in need. Another strength of the book is the author's insistence on the need for the church to avoid being tempted to try and explain suffering and evil rather than responding `to evil by faithfully engaging in the practices of love in the midst of evil'. Criticism notwithstanding, this book is thoroughly recommended. -- Marion Gray * The Reader, Winter edition *

Thoughtful, heartfelt and deeply faithful... -- Samuel Wells It takes a particular gift, persuasiveness, and credibility to challenge a paradigm so ingrained and so evaded by a generation of textbooks. Long experience as both a mental health nurse and a theologian has given John Swinton that credibility. The community of Christians, gathered around a suffering Lord, has unique resilience to respond to evil creatively. This hopeful book recovers a theodicy of action and faithfulness. It has immense pastoral value. -- Ian Torrance This is an important book which should be read by anyone in Christian ministry, dealing as it does with the timeless truths that underpin practical theology: listening in silence, lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness and hospitality. The book is particularly strong in its treatment of lament and the use of the psalms. Although first published by Eerdmans in 2007, this book has not gone out of date, except in one respect. Where it might benefit from being updated is in its references to the issue of asylum seekers and our failure as a society to offer hospitality to those in need. Another strength of the book is the author's insistence on the need for the church to avoid being tempted to try and explain suffering and evil rather than responding 'to evil by faithfully engaging in the practices of love in the midst of evil'. Criticism notwithstanding, this book is thoroughly recommended. -- Marion Gray * The Reader, Winter edition *

Thoughtful, heartfelt and deeply faithful... -- Samuel Wells It takes a particular gift, persuasiveness, and credibility to challenge a paradigm so ingrained and so evaded by a generation of textbooks. Long experience as both a mental health nurse and a theologian has given John Swinton that credibility. The community of Christians, gathered around a suffering Lord, has unique resilience to respond to evil creatively. This hopeful book recovers a theodicy of action and faithfulness. It has immense pastoral value. -- Ian Torrance

"""Thoughtful, heartfelt and deeply faithful..."" -- Samuel Wells ""It takes a particular gift, persuasiveness, and credibility to challenge a paradigm so ingrained and so evaded by a generation of textbooks. Long experience as both a mental health nurse and a theologian has given John Swinton that credibility. The community of Christians, gathered around a suffering Lord, has unique resilience to respond to evil creatively. This hopeful book recovers a theodicy of action and faithfulness. It has immense pastoral value."" -- Ian Torrance This is an important book which should be read by anyone in Christian ministry, dealing as it does with the timeless truths that underpin practical theology: listening in silence, lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness and hospitality. The book is particularly strong in its treatment of lament and the use of the psalms. Although first published by Eerdmans in 2007, this book has not gone out of date, except in one respect. Where it might benefit from being updated is in its references to the issue of asylum seekers and our failure as a society to offer hospitality to those in need. Another strength of the book is the author’s insistence on the need for the church to avoid being tempted to try and explain suffering and evil rather than responding ‘to evil by faithfully engaging in the practices of love in the midst of evil’. Criticism notwithstanding, this book is thoroughly recommended. -- Marion Gray * The Reader, Winter edition *"

Author Information

John Swinton is a Scottish theologian. He is the Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the School of Divinity, History, and Philosophy, University of Aberdeen. He is the author of 'Becoming Friends of Time' and 'Dementia: Living in the Memories of God' for which he won the 2016 Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing.

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