Talking the Walk: Letting Christian Language Live Again - Hardcover

Dawn, Marva

3.7

10 ratings by Goodreads

9781587430619: Talking the Walk: Letting Christian Language Live Again

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1587430614 ISBN 13: 9781587430619

Publisher: Brazos Press, 2005

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Father. Hell. Atonement. Discipleship. Let's be honest, these words haven't been winning any popularity contests lately. In fact, they have become strangely embattled in today's conversations about faith--variously ignored, overused, or flat-out misunderstood. Besides, hasn't culture taught that "Father" is exclusive, "community" promotes conformity, and "doctrine" is intellectually na�ve? In her probing new book, Marva Dawn challenges these assumptions, encouraging readers to ponder these embattled words, and indeed all words, before they dismiss them. Dawn looks at the significance of this language in the history of the Christian faith, arguing that words are events and the ways in which they are spoken can influence other's behavior. As she eloquently argues, "churches cannot flourish if the names are corrupted." Written for all Christians, this book will particularly serve pastors, who grapple with words and language-based choices every day.

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About the Author:

Marva Dawn (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) has authored many books, including Reaching Out without Dumbing Down; Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God; and A Royal "Waste" of Time: The Splendor of Worshipping God and Being Church for the World. She is currently a teaching fellow in spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia.

From Publishers Weekly:

Dawn, whose many books (Keeping the Sabbath Wholly) have earned her something of a cult following, believes that many Christians have either distorted or ignored crucial words in the Christian faith. Here, she reclaims a classic Christian vocabulary, offering short reflections on more than 60 words. The topics range from theological ("justification") to social ("class"). Some of Dawn's meditations are delightfully perspicacious: analyzing the punctuation in many English renditions of the Apostle's Creed, she shows that we are too quick to ignore Jesus' real suffering on the cross. "Decadence" used to mean a serious decline in morals; why, Dawn wonders, have we named our favorite chocolate desserts after depravity and dissipation? But other essays are confusing. In a strange and puzzling poem, Dawn tries to reclaim "x"—the letter used to stand in for a signature, but now it denotes a generation. Really, she says, it should point us to the cross. Dawn spends too much time riding the gender hobbyhorse. Many have spurned the word "Father" because it is patriarchal, but Dawn improbably insists that to "call God Father... does not indicate gender." The gems in this collection sparkle, but there are too many duds. (Nov.)
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