Accidental Saints
Finding God in All the Wrong People
-
-
4.5 • 95 Ratings
-
-
- $13.99
-
- $13.99
Publisher Description
What if that person you've been trying to avoid is your best shot at grace today?
...And what if that's the point?
In Accidental Saints, New York Times best-selling author Nadia Bolz-Weber invites readers into a surprising encounter with what she calls “a religious but not-so-spiritual life.” Tattooed, angry and profane, this former standup comic turned pastor stubbornly, sometimes hilariously, resists the God she feels called to serve. But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people—a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, a felonious Bishop and a gun-toting member of the NRA.
As she lives and worships alongside these “accidental saints,” Nadia is swept into first-hand encounters with grace—a gift that feels to her less like being wrapped in a warm blanket and more like being hit with a blunt instrument. But by this grace, people are transformed in ways they couldn’t have been on their own.
In a time when many have rightly become disillusioned with Christianity, Accidental Saints demonstrates what happens when ordinary people share bread and wine, struggle with scripture together, and tell each other the truth about their real lives. This unforgettable account of their faltering steps toward wholeness will ring true for believer and skeptic alike.
Told in Nadia’s trademark confessional style, Accidental Saints is the stunning next work from one of today’s most important religious voices.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bolz-Weber, pastor of the House for All Saints and Sinners in Denver, Colo., presents a compulsively readable account of her meetings with many remarkable sinners who still retain the glimmers of God's grace. Bolz-Weber isn't your typical pastor; she is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, covered in tattoos, often profane, and convinced that God can be met in the darkest places, just as readily as in any church. Stepping through the liturgical year, reflecting on the deepest meanings of Christ's presence in these rites, the author deftly explains why God's love should be the heart of every sacred (and secular) experience. There is great healing to be found in this kind of preaching. Some readers may blanch at her often rough language, but her love for God and for humankind shines through on every page.
Customer Reviews
Very good book
This book is about the messiness of real life. I am deeply moved when she tells her story. I am (slowly) beginning to understand grace and mercy - something we discuss but don't define. I am a Lutheran and appreciate her dedication to the sacraments. I highly recommend this book - regardless of your faith or lack of faith. We all need to realize the unconditional love and forgiveness that happens to us but are too busy to recognize it.
Thanks!
Never do reviews but had to say reading this was awesome. Loved it. A priceless treasure. A gift from God.
No Truth/Bad Theology
I love reading biographies and memoirs. Especially from a pastor talking about the many personalities that make up the church, but I’m not limited to only reading biographies of people that believe the same thing as me. The problem I have here, is Nadia taking scripture and changing it into what she wants.
In reading reviews, the only thing people seem to be upset about is her language. No one seems to care that she has twisted the word of God to fit her needs. We can’t just negate scripture because it makes us uncomfortable. Language is a surface issue, there’s a much deeper problem here of changing people’s perspectives of the Bible as a whole, making it all relative and subject to ones opinions.
If I could get past her doctrine and just focus on the people’s stories I wouldn’t have even felt the need to write a review.