Böcker av Karen Swallow Prior

"Thoughtful, elegantly written, literate, and timely"Contemporary American evangelicalism is suffering from an identity crisis--and a lot of bad press.In The Evangelical Imagination, acclaimed author Karen Swallow Prior analyzes the literature, art, and popular culture that has surrounded evangelicalism and unpacks some of the movement's most deeply held concepts, ideas, values, and practices. She shows that understanding what the term "evangelical" means today means understanding not only evangelicalism's faith commitments but also the images, metaphors, assumptions, and stories that have cultivated evangelical culture."Prior is among the most helpful Christian literary critics writing today. Her call for the reformation of evangelicalism is a call to repent, to allow new metaphors and analogies to drive us to more faithfully read and put into practice the Scriptures. An insightful work of love that aids a holy transformation of our imaginations."--Tish Harrison Warren, Anglican priest and author of Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night"A marvelous book--thoughtful, elegantly written, literate, and timely. An evangelical herself, Prior has done a masterful job of identifying the unstated assumptions that have shaped evangelical Christianity. American evangelicalism is in crisis; The Evangelical Imagination helps us to understand why and what needs to be done to make it an instrument of grace in a world that desperately needs it."--Peter Wehner, contributing writer, the New York Times and The Atlantic"As an artist and follower of Jesus often falling into the gaps and fractures of the church and the world, I found this book to be a refreshing and eye-opening guide to navigating beyond the borderlands. Sanctified imagination is critical in developing as the body of Christ, in being the harbingers of hope and creators of beauty, and Prior is one of the most trusted voices to help us find our thriving."--Makoto Fujimura, artist and author of Art and Faith: A Theology of Making"This book brings together the history of evangelicalism, Prior's expertise in Victorian literature, and sensitive analysis of the present moment into an indictment of the 'evangelical imagination, ' but an indictment with hope because of evangelical engagement with the gospel."--Mark Noll, author of A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada

The summer of 2020 has shown us how much we all depend on one another. Whatever else they do, pandemics show us we are not alone. Covid-19 is proof that, yes, there is such a thing as society; the disease has spread precisely because we aren¿t autonomous individuals disconnected from each other, but rather all belong to one great body of humanity. The pain inflicted by the pandemic is far from equally distributed. Yet it reveals ever more clearly how much we all depend on one another, and how urgently necessary it is for us to bear one another¿s burdens.It¿s a good time, then, to talk about solidarity. The more so because it¿s a theme that¿s also raised by this year¿s other major development, the international protests for racial justice following George Floyd¿s death. The protests, too, raised the question of solidarity in guilt, even guilt across generations. By taking up our common guilt with all humanity, we come into solidarity with the one who bears it and redeems it all. In Christ, sins are forgiven, guilt abolished, and a new way of living together becomes possible. This solidarity in forgiveness gives rise to a life of love.This issue of Plough explores what solidarity means, and what it looks like to live it out today, whether in Uganda, Bolivia, or South Korea, in an urban church, a Bruderhof, or a convent.

An acclaimed author helps readers learn to love life, literature, and God through their encounters with great writing.

What we want for schools reveals what we value as a society."What's the point of school?" Parents have a stock set of responses, but the question remains unsettled, even two centuries after the Prussians invented compulsory education. The Prussian idea of what a school is for - to mold the populace to serve the state - seems unacceptable today. In vogue, instead, are slogans like "acquiring marketable skills" and "realizing your full potential." These ideas powerfully shape our culture. Ultimately, they boil down to pursuing one supreme value: individual success in a competitive world.Schools are a mirror of our society as a whole; what we want for schools makes plain what and whom we value in our common life. In the Christian tradition, the life of discipleship is also a school. In this educational community, under the instruction of our one Teacher, we learn not to seek empowerment, but to find strength in weakness; not to out-achieve others, but to serve them; not to pursue our passion, but to obey a call.Also in this issue: poetry by Christian Wiman; reviews of new books by Robert Macfarlane, Jackie Morris, Francisco Cantú, Leif Enger, Carol Anderson, Stephanie Land, and Susan Wise Bauer; and art by Margaret McWethy, Albrecht Dürer, Raphael, Gérard David, Jackie Morris, Gustaf Tenggren, Sergey Dushkin, Anja Percival, Dmitry Samofalov, Christoph Wetzel, Sherrie York, Cathleen Rehfield, Pawel Kuczynski, and Jason Landsel.Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus' message into practice and find common cause with others.