by Christopher R. J. Holmes (Author)
This book gets at the heart of the Christian life by considering some of the great truths of God's existence. Christopher Holmes, an expert in contemporary theology, engages with the church fathers along with Augustine and Aquinas to offer a rich, accessible account of the triune God and the divine perfections. Holmes shows how we share in the life of God through imitation and participation and how the doctrines of the triune God and the divine attributes shape our understanding of the Christian life. Throughout, Holmes demonstrates the importance of theology for Christian faith and practice.
Back Jacket
"Immensely practical, deeply devotional, and thoroughly biblical"
This book demonstrates how the doctrines of the triune God and the divine attributes shape our understanding of the Christian life.
"It would not have occurred to the theologians of Christian antiquity or even those of the High Middle Ages that metaphysics, doctrine, and the spiritual life were discrete disciplines. Today, alas, we can scarcely imagine them as anything else. The great liberating force of Holmes's book is its relentless dedication to restoring a unity that believers should never have put asunder."
--David Bentley Hart, author of Roland in Moonlight and Tradition and Apocalypse
"God's existence, perfection, infinity, and immutability are not abstractions. Holmes shows, instead, why they are the source and summit of Christian living. Drawing fresh insights from the rich wellspring of theologians from the East and West, A Theology of the Christian Life offers a Christ-shaped program of spiritual renewal through participation in God. Holmes is immensely practical, deeply devotional, and thoroughly biblical."
--Hans Boersma, Nashotah House
"This book undertakes the counterintuitive task of showing how those attributes of God that distinguish Creator from creature are at the same time to be imitated by us. In doing so, it brings austere aspects of the doctrine of God alive in their spiritually transformative implications. It looks forward to the eschaton in the company of the church fathers and of Scripture, breathing a clear air that enables a rare theological boldness."
--Susannah Ticciati, King's College London
"It has been said of various thinkers in the Christian tradition that they were 'God-intoxicated' men and women. The same may be said of Holmes. I know of no other contemporary theologian who does a better job of showing the deep interconnections between God's being and perfections and the Christian life, especially the life of prayer. This is a lovely book and one that I will recommend enthusiastically to my students."
--Joseph Mangina, Wycliffe College
Author Biography
Christopher R. J. Holmes (ThD, University of Toronto) is associate professor in systematic theology and head of the theology program at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. He is the author of a number of books, including The Holy Spirit and The Lord Is Good.