Things Hidden: Scripture As Spirituality | Richard Rohr | richard releases the freshest breeze of...

Things Hidden: Scripture As Spirituality | Richard Rohr | Counterintuitive common wisdom

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Things Hidden: Scr...

	Things Hidden: Scripture As Spirituality Richard Rohr Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 2008 - 238 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

richard releases the freshest breeze of resurrection air

with this book, once again richard
releases the freshest breeze of resurrection air
within the catholic tradition.

i entreat mr bunbury to read the book again,
but this time with easter-eyes
and thus enter the joy of being wrong
(to paraphrase james alison,
another one of the freshest, catholic voices).

rohr here gives us in simple language
(and without losing any of the depth)
an interpretation of the paradigmatic work of rene girard.
for this christianity as a whole is to be grateful.

but mostly the book continues richard's
efforts to expand on the venture that is
living one's life grafted upon the
life-abundant of resurrection-spirit.

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Counterintuitive common wisdom

Rohr is improving. He's an experienced practical pastor, whose reflections on scripture are direct and commonsensical. His lines are often powerful: "We can't always be correct, but we can be connected", or "the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better". And his questions are hard as an anti-Christian might ask: "was Jesus a sado-masochist? Did he relish victimhood?"

Throughout the book Rohr takes on the common self-righteous attitude that religion is about separating from or destroying evil. He shows how Jesus did the opposite, building relations with even the most despised and hated people. It's a kind of wisdom I wouldn't call "hidden", just contrary to our more immediate reactions.

--author of "Different Visions of Love"

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Things Hidden

Things Hidden: Scripture As Spirituality This is the most important book I have read in a long time. It changes lives and allows the practicing Christian a more balanced perspective on life especially at this time. It really is the preaching of "Good News" as Christ taught. The message is what I needed to hear even though I already knew it. Fr. Richard puts it together so well.

Nothing To Be Afraid of in God

"The amazing wonder of biblical revelation that I hope to make clear in this book is that God is much different than we thought, and also much better than we feared," promises Richard Rohr in the first chapter of Things Hidden. The book is based on the author's earlier talks on great themes of scripture. Two key themes he stresses are "Divine, unmerited generosity" is offered unconditionally, and the Spirit promised by Jesus is available to all.

In the Bible, writes Rohr, any time God or an angel breaks into human life, the event is prefaced by "Do not be afraid." God's entering the scene was considered bad news. "Even today most feel that God's love and attention must be earned and then we deeply resent the process." The earliest Hebrews saw God as punitive and petty, demanding of blood sacrifices. By the time of Abraham the sacrificial instinct "matured a bit," Rohr tells us, and animals became the sacrifice of choice "to please this fearsome God." When we get to the Risen Jesus, there is nothing to be afraid of in God.

The author uses numerous examples to show the gradual enlightenment. Of the Adam and Eve story, he suggests that seeking knowledge may seem more like virtue than sin. However, it isn't knowledge that God is trying to keep us from, but "lust for certitude, explanation, resolution and answers." He sees Noah's Ark as an image of how God liberates us, embodying "the contradictions, the opposites, the tensions and the paradoxes of humanity." And in Mary, he finds God's total gift of grace. She asks how the angel's proposition will come about without wondering why she is chosen or protesting her unworthiness "It takes all of the Bible to work up to one perfect vessel that knows how to say an unquestioning yes to an utterly free gift."

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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