Book Study

Book Study: The Difficult Words of Jesus—A Beginner's Guide to His Perplexing Teachings 

Thursdays, January - February [TBD] | 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Reception Room in Parish House

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Adult Formation is an important part of Calvary Church. Our adult learning opportunities provide a forum where people can dialogue and be intellectually challenged.  A journey of spiritual growth helps you make sense of God, the world, and our place in it.  Although our Rector leads the discussion, everyone is involved. Book Study explores important contemporary theological works, and a variety of other topics. The group usually reads a new book every four months.

The Difficult Words of Jesus—A Beginner's Guide to His Preplexing Teaching by Amy-Jill Levine

Jesus provided his disciples with teachings on how to follow Torah, God’s word; he told them parables to help them discern questions of ethics and human nature; and he offered them beatitudes for comfort and encouragement. But sometimes Jesus spoke words that followers, then and now, have found difficult. He instructs disciples to hate members of their own families (Luke 14:26), to act as if they were slaves (Matthew 20:27), and to sell their belongings and give to the poor (Luke 18:22). He restricts his mission (Matthew 10:6); he speaks of damnation (Matthew 8:12); and he calls Jews the devil’s children (John 8:44). In The Difficult Words of Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine shows how these teachings would have sounded to those who first heard them, how they have been understood over time, and how we might interpret them in the context of the Gospel of love and reconciliation.

Previous Studies: 

Being Human: Bodies, Minds, Persons by Rowan Williams; The Spiritual Life by Evelyn Underhill; Forgiveness and Reparation, the Healing Journey by Mpho Tutu van Furth, Being Christian by Rowan Williams, and Following Jesus: Finding our Way Home in an Age of Anxiety by Henri Nouwen