The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work [Paperback]

Darrell Cosden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2006 | ISBN-10: 1565636694 | ISBN-13: 978-1565636699

Does a person’s day to day work have any ultimate value from the perspective of Eternity? Should our work be seen as a discipline through which we connect spiritually with God and others? Is ordinary work the primary way that people can participate in God's mission to make all things new? What is the heavenly good of earthly work?

In this book Darrell Cosden takes us on a spiritual and theological journey of discovery exploring these questions. Creatively, constructively, and sometimes provocatively, he shows us that the heavenly good of earthly work really makes the gospel good news for ordinary people by offering the possibility of a genuinely purpose-full Christian life.

"Surprising, substantial, thoroughly informed, clear, and readable . . . a premier resource for understanding work in Christian perspective."
—William Messenger, Director of the Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Workplace, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

"[O]ur understanding of the Christian message has been immeasurably enriched [by this book]. Highly recommended!"
—Brian McLaren, pastor, author and activist (anewkindofchristian.com)

"This is cutting-edge theology of the highest order. [It]... makes a vital contribution to the ongoing search for a new paradigm of the Christian mission in the twenty-first century."
—Dr. David Smith, Lecturer in Urban Mission and World Christianity, International Christian College, Glasgow.

"This is an important, clearly written book."
—J. Richard Middleton, Associate Professor of Biblical Studies, Roberts Wesleyan College

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Darrell T. Cosden is Lecturer in Theology and Ethics at International Christian College, Glasgow. He is the author of A Theology of Work (Paternoster, 2005).

Product Details

• Paperback: 148 pages
• Publisher: Hendrickson Pub (August 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565636694
• ISBN-13: 978-1565636699
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,140,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Read!, August 16, 2007

By 

Michael J. Kurtyka "Mike K." (Glasgow, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work (Paperback)

I finished this week The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work by Darrell Cosden. Darrell was a professor of mine at the International Christian College where he taught. I recommend this book if you want to get at the theology behind our work.

His book is a personal reflection and that is what I particularly found helpful. He sketches out how our view of work has been shaped over the history of the Christian faith and then builds on that to help form a missional view of work, it's eternal value, and how we can see our work as a spiritual discipline (not necessarily in that order). I got slowed down in some of the theology in the beginning of the book but read it carefully and in the end I was compelled to take in his arguements at the end.

If you are interested in Christian ethics in the marketplace, tentmaking, mission, missional living, etc. then this is a foundational read! It really helped me reorient my thinking about work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a holistic view of daily work as christian mission, November 29, 2010

By 

Donner C. S. Tan (Singapore) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work (Paperback)

I enjoy this book not least because it is one among several thoughtful contributions that have taken the scholarly works of NT Wright and Richard Middleton to the streets on the *Resurrection of Christ* and the *Creation of human beings as God's image-bearers* respectively. It strongly repudiates the escapist concept of the gospel that has our heads almost exclusively buried in another world, that is to be too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good. It exposes the bankruptcy of the truncated idea of Christian mission as one that is simply interested in getting people ready for heaven, and casting a disdainful eye on what one does in his daily life. In Corsden's view, the dichotomy between spiritual and secular arena is a false one. All of life is spiritual and missional if it is oriented towards the kingdom of God. So is the dichotomy between clergy and laity as if the work of the laity is second fiddle to the work of 'evangelistic ministry' and 'overseas mission', important as they are. No, the clergy's main task is to equip and join in with the whole church in doing the work of God. Whether we are preachers, homemakers, educators, office workers, builders,or cleaners and so on, we are out on a mission for Christ.

'We are not saved by works but our works are saved along with us' as he puts it. Our work will survive into eternity if it stands the test of God's judgement. Our work redeemed confirms us as God's image-bearers and there is no extinction of that holy, rejuvenating and life-affirming work in the new heaven and new earth! It is paradoxically bound up with the shalom of our final, eternal rest!

On another front, it is a wake-up call to the humanists who presume that we can build heaven here on earth without God. The disasters of the Enlightenment project (eg. the holocaust, atomic bomb, ecological disasters) are a sober reminder not to repeat the ancient error of building the tower of Babel. The Sabbatic nature of Christian work which leaves much living space for God's mighty work keeps our daily work from devolving into this promethean mindset.

Corsden's theology of work is not new, but a timely recovery of the missional nature of our daily work as participating in God's work in renewing and restoring the good earth he made. Hence, we find here a short, and highly readable exposition of what Christian work ought to be and how understanding it is foundational to our view of mission and calling as God's people recruited to do good works everyday (not just when we are in church!), to the praise of his glory! This book gets even better near the end where he spells out how this practical piece of theology gets to work.