Takeaway: Good introduction to Peterson’s idea of ‘practicing resurrection’ through engagement within the church.
I am pretty invested in Amazon’s store infrastructure. I have been a member of Amazon Prime for about two years. Recently in addition to the free shipping that is normally a part of Amazon Prime, Amazon has included free streaming video and the ability to borrow one free Kindle book a month. I am using this free book a month to explore books that I would not normally buy.
This month I borrowed Eugene Peterson’s Living The Resurrection. It is a short book, only three chapters and just over 100 pages in the main text. I would not normally spend $7.99 to purchase such a short book by an author that I have read so much before. If you have Amazon Prime and would like to explore some of Peterson’s theological writing, this is a good introduction.
I appreciate several things about Peterson’s writing. He is biblical, he walks through extended portions of scripture and does not take them out of context to support his position. He also is a story teller. He insures that his point is not only biblical but well illustrated so that it is understandable by a wide range of readers. Third, he has a strong commitment to the church and to Christian community.
This book is a good example of his commitment to Christian community. The theme of the books is following Jesus by ‘practicing resurrection’ (in the sense of a life style or a doctor’s practice, not attempting until you get better).
This book was written in 2006 and is really a shorter, earlier version of his full length Practice Resurrection. I am a big fan of the book Practice Resurrection, it was one of my votes for top book of 2010. So I like the idea behind Living the Resurrection, but I think that Practice Resurrection is a better book. It gives a fuller treatment to spiritual development through Christian community and a greater range of scripture and story in support of his point.
Purchase Links: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle Edition
Other Books Reviewed by Bookwi.se by Eugene Peterson
- The Wisdom of Each Other: A Conversation Between Spiritual Friends by Eugene Peterson
- Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ
- The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways that Jesus is the Way
- Eat This Book/Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places (reviewed together)
- The Pastor: A Memoir (Audiobook review)
- Tell it Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and His Prayers
- A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene H Peterson
