Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith Paperback - 1999
by Kathleen Norris
The beloved author of "The Cloister Walk" takes readers on a moving journey in this thoroughly original investigation of faith. Taking as her starting point the "scary words" that can intimidate and distance us from our religious heritage--words like "judgment, faith, dogma, salvation", and "sinner"--Norris blends history, theology, storytelling, etymology, and memoir to reflect on their meanings.
Summary
Struggling with her return to the Christian church after many years away, Kathleen Norris found it was the language of Christianity that most distanced her from faith. Words like "judgment," "faith," "dogma," "salvation," "sinner"—even "Christ"—formed what she called her "scary vocabulary," words that had become so codified or abstract that their meanings were all but impenetrable. She found she had to wrestle with them and make them her own before they could confer their blessings and their grace. Blending history, theology, storytelling, etymology, and memoir, Norris uses these words as a starting point for reflection, and offers a moving account of her own gradual conversion. She evokes a rich spirituality rooted firmly in the chaos of everyday life—and offers believers and doubters alike an illuminating perspective on how we can embrace ancient traditions and find faith in the contemporary world.
First line
I was about sixteen years of age when I discovered the word "eschatology."
Details
- Title Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith
- Author Kathleen Norris
- Binding Paperback
- Edition First Printing
- Pages 400
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Riverhead Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
- Date April 1, 1999
- Features Table of Contents
- ISBN 9781573227216 / 1573227218
- Weight 0.91 lbs (0.41 kg)
- Dimensions 8.25 x 5.49 x 1.02 in (20.96 x 13.94 x 2.59 cm)
- Ages 18 to UP years
- Grade levels 13 - UP
-
Themes
- Religious Orientation: Catholic
- Religious Orientation: Christian
- Theometrics: Catholic
- Theometrics: Mainline
- Library of Congress subjects Christian life - Presbyterian authors, Christianity - Terminology
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 97045211
- Dewey Decimal Code 230.03
Media reviews
"A unique and glorious voice."Boston Globe
"[Kathleen Norris] writes about religion with the imagination of a poet."Chicago Tribune
"It's hard to imagine less off-putting or pious writing about religion than this sublimely commonsensical lexicon of words and concepts that, as Kathleen Norris explains them, have rarely sounded less frighteningor quite so simple to understand."Elle
"One of the most eloquent yet earthbound spiritual writers of our time...frequently irreverent and funny...She makes us converts to her simple faith of warmth."San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle
"Definitely worthwhile reading...She combines an impressive understanding of theology with personal experience, making her essays read like letters from a highly literate friend."People
Citations
- New York Times, 04/25/1999, Page 32
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