A Graceful Life: Lutheran Spirituality for Today

by Bradley Hanson

The author understands spirituality to be the attitudes, convictions, and practices that give a definite shape to religious faith. Further, he asserts that spirituality is experiential and practical, for it concerns the specific forms by which faith is expressed and nurtured. The book describes the special emphases of Lutheran spirituality and recommends practices that nurture a vital spirituality. After an introductory chapter on the contemporary context, each of the seven chapters explores a major theme of Lutheran spirituality. A final chapter speculates on the future of Lutheran spirituality. Each chapter includes questions for reflection and group and individual practices. An appendix gives suggestions for group use.

216 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

About the author

Brad Hanson was Professor of Religion at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa until he retired in 2000. Then he became Director of Grace Institute for Spiritual Formation, which offers two year programs in spiritual formation.
Brad's April, 2014 book, Spirituality and Your Life Story uses psychologist Dan McAdams' idea that we make sense of life by composing our own life story. Since we all do this in a cultural context that promotes certain story lines, Brad explores how our personal identity and spirituality are influenced by major story lines embedded in our family history and culture. He draws on his personal interviews with various individuals. using Dan McAdams' interview structure.
Brad is also the author of The Call of Silence (1980), Teach Us To Pray (1990), Introduction to Christian Theology (1997), A Graceful Life: Lutheran Spirituality for Today (2000), Grace That Frees: The Lutheran Tradition (2004). He is also the editor of Modern Christian Spirituality (1990),

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grabbed this one form the "free pile" at school. Pretty darn good. I think that this could be a nice book for someone that feels a bit "in a rut." You don't need to automatically look to other traditions for spirituality. Sometimes it's just enough to be reminded of the richness of all that Lutheran theology behind what we do.