After You Believe
Why Christian Character Matters
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4.2 • 20 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In After You Believe, award-winning author and esteemed spiritual leader Bishop N.T. Wright (Simply Christian, Surprised by Hope) addresses the often neglected question of what happens after you believe, exploring how the development of Christian character is the key to a vibrant faith. Newsweek calls Bishop Wright "the world’s leading New Testament scholar," and After You Believe is an essential work of spiritual formation for fans of C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, or anyone looking to understand more about Christian living and life’s real purpose today.
Moving beyond the common impasse of rules versus "authenticity," Wright reveals how the Christian life is meant to be a journey of character transformation:
Christian Virtue Ethics: Discover how the ancient practice of forming character through habit—what philosophers call virtue—is the biblical key to living as a Christian in the here and now.A Royal Priesthood: Understand your ultimate calling to reflect God’s wise rule into the world and to offer creation’s praise back to its maker.Faith, Hope, and Love: Explore how these three foundational virtues are not just feelings, but practices that shape your mind, will, and habits for the life of the world to come.Renewing the Mind: Learn why Christian thinking is not optional, and how the deliberate renewal of your mind is the engine that drives your transformation into a mature, complete human being.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
How do you develop a character suited for God s Kingdom? Practice, practice, practice. That, in a nutshell, is the message of this volume on building Christian character by Wright, a prodigiously prolific Bible scholar and Anglican bishop of Durham, England. In arguing for this new vision of virtue, which is a vision of Jesus Christ himself, Wright carefully explores such classical exponents of character as Aristotle. He also acknowledges the existence of other notions of encouraging behavior-based rules, duty, or being true to oneself. Drawing on scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, Wright asserts that true transformation comes through the work of the Holy Spirit and through worship, mission, and following Jesus. As the habits of virtue grow, the church community will become the royal priesthood it is meant to be, anticipating (one of the author s favorite words) God s coming new world. A follow-up to Wright s Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope, this solid volume will appeal to Christians who appreciate biblical interpretation that hews to tradition but incorporates an emphasis on contemporary social justice as an element of Christian virtue.
