Customer Reviews

Divine Embrace, The: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life (Ancient-Future)

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Though you wouldn't know it from the title, this is the fourth book in Robert E. Webber's excellent and highly acclaimed Ancient-Future series, one of the most significant contributions to the discussion of the relationship between postmodernism and Christianity. In light of that, emerging church leader Brian McLaren, an admitted fan of Webber's writing, considers THE DIVINE EMBRACE the author's "best and most important book to date." I fully agree, and given that his previous books were all good and important as well, that means McLaren and I place this one in the exceptional category.

One element that makes this book so important is Webber's clarification of the word "spirituality" --- specifically, Christian spirituality as defined and experienced by the ancient church. Webber rescues the word from its ambiguous, anemic use in contemporary society and restores to it all the vibrancy and God-centeredness that is inherent in genuine Christian spirituality. "God has put his arms around us in the divine embrace and has restored our fellowship to him," Webb writes. The book, he explains, is the Christian story of that embrace, "the spirituality that proceeds from it, and how this spirituality can be recovered in a relativistic, postmodern world where spirituality is viewed as a common, contentless experience of otherness." If that postmodern view of spirituality leaves you cold, dissatisfied and more restless than ever, THE DIVINE EMBRACE not only explains why that is but more importantly shows what you can do about it.

Part of Webber's genius lies in his ability to articulate a thorough study of spirituality in a warm, reflective tone. There is plenty of research and information here, particularly about how the Christian view of spirituality was manifested throughout history. But Webber speaks to the heart as well as the mind, and you're likely to find yourself worshiping God right smack in the middle of a section about the devastating effects of scholastic theology on medieval mysticism. And because the concept of the incarnation is central to the entire book, Webber keeps it real and down-to-earth by frequently reminding us that God came to us in the flesh and lived among us.

"Spirituality is grounded in God's embrace of our human condition and the reversal of human life accomplished by God's two hands [the incarnate Word and the Spirit] and modeled for us in Jesus," Webber writes. "Jesus is not only the sacrifice for our sin, the victor over death for us, he is also the perfect example of the one who lives in full union with the embrace of God." He emphasizes that the authentic Christian life is neither a superspiritual one nor a rejection of everyday life on earth: "It is, rather, an intentional living into the purposes of God."

Readers familiar with Webber's other books, including the groundbreaking THE YOUNGER EVANGELICALS, can rest assured that THE DIVINE EMBRACE measures up to the high standard those other books set. And new readers can't do better than to discover the richness of Webber's wisdom, knowledge and insight, as well as his considerable talent as a writer, in this latest volume in the Ancient-Future series.

--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford

While I was in Canada for the Holidays, I was blessed to accomplish some reading. The "Divine Embrace" was not a planned read, because I was going to spend most of the time on hockey books. But I brought this book along "case in just". Thankfully I did. This is one of the best Christian books I have ever read. For those of you who read this blog, you know I read a lot. This book dealt with the topic of spirituality in a highly Biblical way. It roots spirituality in the narrative of the God story. Unlike many modern expressions that are centered in self, this spirituality is centered in the story of God. It gives a great overview of the various expressions through the ages of Christianity. This section was extremely interesting. The author continues by fleshing out the practice of spirituality. One of the strongest points of the book is his emphasis on baptism. The book is deep, but readable. It has a spirituality that is highly rooted in the Biblical text. If you are looking for a wonderful book on spirituality and the various expressions of this discipline, this is the book for you. I highly recommend it to Christians that desire to grow stronger in their relationship with God.

Webber overcomes what I understand to be one of the greater difficulties for conservative evangelicals in pursuit of Christian spirituality--connecting that spirituality to the gospel. It is definitely worth the read. One weakness I note in the work is a point of clarity--Webber critiques spirituality which is a turn to the self. He seems to mean a spirituality which encourages too much introspection in lieu of other elements of spirituality. This critique could be more clear. He does not as a rule name names in this critique; such a practice would have been helpful. Walking the line between clarity and graciousness is not always so easy. I will be pleased if I do it as well as Webber has this work.

"The Divine Embrace" takes the reader back to the ancient past to help them learn to live out authentic Christian spirituality in today's world. Robert E. Webber encourages and equips the reader to live out God's story in their lives individually and in the corporate life of the church. Webber maintains that God's story is the very essence of Christian living and that spiritual life is a constant movement toward Christ-likeness.

The book is divided into two parts. Part One covers the history of spirituality from the ancient church to the present day. In this section Webber explains how spirituality became separated from the divine embrace.

Part Two focuses on the recovery of a biblical and historical spirituality. Weber goes on to present the challenge of returning to the divine embrace and covers such topics as the story of God's incarnation, death and resurrection, baptism into union with Christ, and the disciplines of Christian spirituality, and the nurture of the church.

"The Divine Embrace" is both comprehensive and concise. I was truly impressed with the thoroughness of Webber's research as evidenced by the notes at the end of the book, as well as the amazing quality of the selected bibliography, and the complete index to the book itself. I found the "Summary for Reflection and Conversation" section included at the end of each chapter both interesting and helpful.

Webber is articulate, brilliant in his field and portrays authenticity of character through his writing. "The Divine Embrace" is a book that can benefit pastor and layman alike and will appeal to anyone eager for a deeper relationship with God.

I am really enjoying this book. Anything about the Divine Embrace inspires me. I find this to be an easy read and it speaks to my heart and feeds my soul.

From theological, narrative, historical, eschatological, and practical perspectives, Webber traces Christian spirituality from Constantine to today. He guides the reader through past trends in Christian spirituality, their implications for the culture and church in which they occurred, and how they contributed to the current climate of Christian spirituality in North America. The Divine Embrace is a highly recommended volume for the honest critique of misguided spiritualities and Christ-formed suggestions moving forward into the new spiritualities of the 21st century through the story of God; a great addition to the Ancient/Future series.

Like many other reviewers here, I am a Webber fan too! He is our hero in so many ways and a safe guide as we wade through the waters of post-modernism with its many seductions and threats. Webber has in so many of his other works shown us how to live out the Christian faith in an era that bears much semblance to the pre-Constantinian period where many other faiths are giving the Christian story a run for the money!

This last book in his ancient-future series serves more as a broad overview of his understanding of the Christian story vis-a-vis the various distortions that have crept in through the ages.

The Church has had to battle the heresies of Platonism/Gnosticism that splits matter from spirit in favor of the latter, medieval obsession with one's forensic status before God with its accompanying guilt and legalism, intellectualism and Romanticism which are opposite outcrops of the Enlightenment split between the intellect and experience, and modern day spiritual narcissism and private interiority. Webber lays out these distortions with candor and poignant critique and invites us to recover what the ancient Patristic Church has maintained as the first order understanding of the Christian story, which is 'recapitulation' - the healing and reconciliation of the fallen world to God through the redemptive works of Christ.

By pointing us to the core of the Christian story, he then lays out the ways in which Christians can make this story their own through the core practices of baptism,repentance and cultivation of Christian virtues, daily disciplines such as work, study and prayer as well as worship and immersion in the life of the church.

This pretty much sums up the scope of Webber's legacy in writing and teaching and serves as a good refresher and one-volume condensation of his lifelong reflections on Christian spirituality. As such, it is a good resource that points us to the various aspects of his thoughts which one can pursue in a more focused way in his other books, such as 'ancient-future evangelism', 'ancient-future time', or 'the younger evangelicals' that go more into the brass tags .

As always, Webber is articulate and methodical, giving us neat schematics that help us recapitulate his thoughts. The references in his footnotes to some ancient sources are very helpful too. He brings out to us treasures of the church, ancient and new!

This book was really good. It tells of how to have unity in the church.

Have to have a good knowledge of subject. Not and easy read though Webber is thorough in his content. Not alot of embellishment.