The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2016

01/02/2016

I am with you

In I Am With You, Episcopal priest and theologian Kathryn Greene-McCreight examines the biblical portrayal of God's presence among us as light in darkness.

With an introduction by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, I Am With You is a reflective and thought-provoking guide to the season of Lent. Close readings of Scripture are woven into a framework patterned on the Offices of the Benedictine day and the seven days of creation.

In his foreword, Archbishop Justin Welby says: “This book is about growing closer to God. That is at the heart of a good Lent. We come to a time of fasting, discipline and study, in order that we may renew our knowledge of His presence. That involves a stripping of those things that divide us from God, developing our obedience to His call and venturing deeper into the fire of His love.

“The themes of light and darkness, and the use of the pattern of the Offices, give contrast and stability to the unfolding chapters. Through the book we travel through day and night, the reality of human experience lived through our lives. At the end the dawn brightens with the hope and certainty of resurrection, the knowledge that in the grace and love of God we are called to eternal life with the one who smashes down the barriers of death.”

The book takes us “back to the heart of orthodox Christianity,” he adds, “which is not a set of dogmatic or doctrinal propositions, nor a way of life, let alone a set of rules – although there are aspects that spring out of the richness of the Christian life in each of these areas.

"It is about the lived experience of the presence of God in all circumstances and all times, including everything that life can throw at us.”

Kathryn Greene-McCreight (PhD, Yale University) is associate chaplain at The Episcopal Church at Yale; priest affiliate at Christ Church in New Haven, Connecticut; and a theological writer whose previous books include Darkness is My Only Companion: A Christian Response to Mental Illness and Feminist Reconstructions of Christian Doctrine. 

To find out more, including a reading guide, visit: http://www.lentbook2016.com/

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