Matthew Matters (Didsbury Lectures)

Product Description
The Gospel of Matthew says some things about Jesus, and attributes words to Jesus, that are unique to this Gospel. If we pay careful attention to these passages, we may find Matthew both challenging some of our most treasured assumptions and providing new, exciting possibilities for the life of the church. Jesus as the teacher and embodiment of Divine Wisdom, calling to us to learn gentleness and humility from him, leads us into a path of discipleship that has profound implications for Christians' relationship with the world--but especially with Jews and Muslims.
Review
""What will startle reader after reader is how every chapter of Matthew Matters matters! In its utterly fresh vocalizations of an ancient Wisdom, lucid waves of insight keep crashing across the pages. We discover anew the gentle radicality of this Gospel, the proto-feminism of its Divine Sophia. We are surprised by fetching engagements with other religions, particularly Jewish and Muslim. We are disarmed by its defamiliarized Wesley, its hints of Whitehead. In its unpretentious, loving brilliance it welcomes readers of any background into a becoming--really still possible--'Wisdom Community.'"" --Catherine Keller, author of Facing Apocalypse: Climate, Democracy and Other Last Chances ""Yes, Michael Lodahl's new book really matters. In this day of overproud religion and overproud unreligion, Matthew Matters breathes a loving and humble Spirit into the public square. Here is deep faith and gentleness, devotion to the gospel and hospitality to other peoples of the Book. Most timely of all, here is a renewal of John Wesley's redoubled wisdom about God's love: that, in Lodahl's words, 'Love does not force its way, ' and that, for the faithful, this love is a command 'to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.'"" --Peter Ochs, author of Religion without Violence: The Practice and Philosophy of Scriptural Reasoning
About the Author
Michael Lodahl is Professor of Theology & World Religions at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He is the author of Shekhinah/Spirit (1992), The Story of God (1994), God of Nature and of Grace (2003), Claiming Abraham (2010), and Renewal in Love (2014).