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Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian
From award-winning authors and Yale Divinity School colleagues Christian Wiman and Miroslav Volf—two world-renowned scholars exchange letters on the problems of faith today and the presence of divine love that persists through it all.
Whether you’re seeking something to believe in or no longer feel at home in your traditions, the spiritual search can be deeply lonely.
In Glimmerings, leading Christian theologian Miroslav Volf and celebrated poet Christian Wiman engage the tensions of belief felt by many. In an exchange of personal letters, Volf and Wiman give voice to and validate the most pressing spiritual questions of our time. Close friends and Yale colleagues, they reveal through their letters visions of faith that are sometimes sharply divergent, yet always honest and punctuated by warmth, humor, and apology. The result is a vivid, consoling collection in which questions are dignified and the spiritual search in all its complexities is honored.
Whether they’re discussing Scripture’s most problematic texts, Christianity’s most preposterous claims, or their own experiences of God’s presence and absence, Volf and Wiman are united in their shared refusal to oversimplify the realities of human pain. Instead, we are invited to share an honest While certainty can never be ours, perhaps God shows up in “glimmerings.” As we accompany each other in our tensions, we can find strength in solidarity, beauty in mystery, and love that persists even as our faith perplexes.
Whether you’re seeking something to believe in or no longer feel at home in your traditions, the spiritual search can be deeply lonely.
In Glimmerings, leading Christian theologian Miroslav Volf and celebrated poet Christian Wiman engage the tensions of belief felt by many. In an exchange of personal letters, Volf and Wiman give voice to and validate the most pressing spiritual questions of our time. Close friends and Yale colleagues, they reveal through their letters visions of faith that are sometimes sharply divergent, yet always honest and punctuated by warmth, humor, and apology. The result is a vivid, consoling collection in which questions are dignified and the spiritual search in all its complexities is honored.
Whether they’re discussing Scripture’s most problematic texts, Christianity’s most preposterous claims, or their own experiences of God’s presence and absence, Volf and Wiman are united in their shared refusal to oversimplify the realities of human pain. Instead, we are invited to share an honest While certainty can never be ours, perhaps God shows up in “glimmerings.” As we accompany each other in our tensions, we can find strength in solidarity, beauty in mystery, and love that persists even as our faith perplexes.
267 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 13, 2026
26 people are currently reading
125 people want to read
About the author
Miroslav Volf
70 books333 followersMiroslav Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and the founding director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. “One of the most celebrated theologians of our time,” (Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury), Volf is a leading expert on religion and conflict. His recent books include Against the Tide: Love in a Time of Petty Dreams and Persisting Enmities, and Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation—winner of the 2002 Grawmeyer Award in Religion.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 29, 2025
There's something you should probably know about those of us who work in ministry or who are seminary graduates.
We have favorite theologians. Sometimes, we even call ourselves "fans." I mean, don't get me wrong. I like Taylor Swift. I do, I really do. But, I LOVE Miroslav Volf.
For the record, I'm almost willing to bet this will be the only review in which Volf gets compared to Swift. I'm kind of proud of myself.
Volf is, for me, iconic.
Perhaps best known for his Grawemeyer Award in Religion winning book "Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation," Volf is the founding director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology.
Having studied under Jürgen Moltmann (another of my favorite theologians), Volf's theological writings have long been central to my emotional and spiritual healing. Volf argues, for example, that it isn't enough for us to remember the past. We must remember it rightly. The goal of memory should be reconciliation, or embrace.
There's little denying that much of Volf's writing is academic and profoundly intellectual. I've long found myself enthralled by Volf's intellectual writings.
Yet, here we are. With "Glimmerings," something special happens. "Glimmerings" is a series of letters of faith between a poet, Yale professor Christian Wiman, and a theologian, Volf, a Yale theology professor.
Wiman and Volf are friends. While this is a literary endeavor of sorts, there's never a moment where their letters don't feel as if written between two friends (admittedly, two friends having a more intelligent conversation than I'll ever have with my friends). These letters present a different side of Volf, a spiritual humanity that at times nearly made me weep with their warmth and hospitality. Reflecting on everything from the problems of faith today to the tensions of contemporary belief to the presence of divine love that persists relentlessly through it all, "Glimmerings" is, at least for me, a glimpse inside the vulnerable humanity of one of the great contemporary theologians.
This is not to diss Wiman, of course. Such wisdom and honesty and tenderness is present here that I found myself finishing the book and instantly in search of more about him. The two are remarkable here in revealing daily life, those times when we feel less at home in our religious traditions, and even how remarkably lonely it can be to be a spiritual seeker.
This never feels like planned conversations. At times, Wiman and Volf differ greatly. Yet, their letters are immersed in warmth, grace, respect, and a surprising amount of humor. At one point a few years ago, I was hospitalized for dehydration and ended up losing a limb. It was one more benchmark in a life filled with near-death experiences and serious disabilities. I reached out, almost impulsively, to Volf.
Surprisingly, he responded. It was a brief encounter. Yet, it so profoundly moved me it provided me a spark of sorts for continued healing, faith, and trust.
And then, I read more Volf.
Such is the feeling here. The two discuss problematic texts, the oft-weirdness of Christianity (my phrasing not theirs), and their refusal to simplify pain. Yet, they cling to hope. This is particularly moving with Wiman, whose health issues are noted throughout "Glimmerings."
"Glimmerings" proposes that perhaps God shows up in our "glimmerings." As we accompany each other in our tensions, we find strength in solidarity, beauty in ministry, and a love that truly endures.
If it's not obvious yet, I loved "Glimmerings." While I've, of course, believed in Volf as human being. "Glimmerings" brings this brilliant to life in a way that feels profoundly revealing and richly human and incredibly relatable. It's, in my opinion, a sublime companion to many of his books including "Exclusion and Embrace," "End of Memory," and even the recent "Life Worth Living."
Recommended to the highest degree for me, "Glimmerings" is yet another remarkable effort from Miroslav Volf alongside Christian Wiman.
We have favorite theologians. Sometimes, we even call ourselves "fans." I mean, don't get me wrong. I like Taylor Swift. I do, I really do. But, I LOVE Miroslav Volf.
For the record, I'm almost willing to bet this will be the only review in which Volf gets compared to Swift. I'm kind of proud of myself.
Volf is, for me, iconic.
Perhaps best known for his Grawemeyer Award in Religion winning book "Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation," Volf is the founding director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology.
Having studied under Jürgen Moltmann (another of my favorite theologians), Volf's theological writings have long been central to my emotional and spiritual healing. Volf argues, for example, that it isn't enough for us to remember the past. We must remember it rightly. The goal of memory should be reconciliation, or embrace.
There's little denying that much of Volf's writing is academic and profoundly intellectual. I've long found myself enthralled by Volf's intellectual writings.
Yet, here we are. With "Glimmerings," something special happens. "Glimmerings" is a series of letters of faith between a poet, Yale professor Christian Wiman, and a theologian, Volf, a Yale theology professor.
Wiman and Volf are friends. While this is a literary endeavor of sorts, there's never a moment where their letters don't feel as if written between two friends (admittedly, two friends having a more intelligent conversation than I'll ever have with my friends). These letters present a different side of Volf, a spiritual humanity that at times nearly made me weep with their warmth and hospitality. Reflecting on everything from the problems of faith today to the tensions of contemporary belief to the presence of divine love that persists relentlessly through it all, "Glimmerings" is, at least for me, a glimpse inside the vulnerable humanity of one of the great contemporary theologians.
This is not to diss Wiman, of course. Such wisdom and honesty and tenderness is present here that I found myself finishing the book and instantly in search of more about him. The two are remarkable here in revealing daily life, those times when we feel less at home in our religious traditions, and even how remarkably lonely it can be to be a spiritual seeker.
This never feels like planned conversations. At times, Wiman and Volf differ greatly. Yet, their letters are immersed in warmth, grace, respect, and a surprising amount of humor. At one point a few years ago, I was hospitalized for dehydration and ended up losing a limb. It was one more benchmark in a life filled with near-death experiences and serious disabilities. I reached out, almost impulsively, to Volf.
Surprisingly, he responded. It was a brief encounter. Yet, it so profoundly moved me it provided me a spark of sorts for continued healing, faith, and trust.
And then, I read more Volf.
Such is the feeling here. The two discuss problematic texts, the oft-weirdness of Christianity (my phrasing not theirs), and their refusal to simplify pain. Yet, they cling to hope. This is particularly moving with Wiman, whose health issues are noted throughout "Glimmerings."
"Glimmerings" proposes that perhaps God shows up in our "glimmerings." As we accompany each other in our tensions, we find strength in solidarity, beauty in ministry, and a love that truly endures.
If it's not obvious yet, I loved "Glimmerings." While I've, of course, believed in Volf as human being. "Glimmerings" brings this brilliant to life in a way that feels profoundly revealing and richly human and incredibly relatable. It's, in my opinion, a sublime companion to many of his books including "Exclusion and Embrace," "End of Memory," and even the recent "Life Worth Living."
Recommended to the highest degree for me, "Glimmerings" is yet another remarkable effort from Miroslav Volf alongside Christian Wiman.
December 10, 2025
*endless thanks to Harper One & netgalley for the early copy!!
It's difficult to be any percentage of objective and critique this collection of letters* but I will attempt to share some initial thoughts after having greedily consumed all the words in a day and a half, ignoring most responsibilities. The difficulty lies in the fact that Wiman is my favorite poet, writer, speaker, and a favorite general person, so I was tempted to unquestioningly agree with everything he writes here. I do love the fact that the book ends with a poem, and its one of his own. I think he so often quotes others (as you see here but also in his essays and his own works) that he kind of negates how strong his own thoughts and writing (and poems!) are and how effective they are at breaking down defenses, especially about faith and Christianity and theology and religion and the whole scope of existential thought patterns. I hope he knows and sees how grateful people like myself are that he exists and we are alive at the same time, what a glorious gift. To have his miraculous recovery from cancer explained, in much more vulnerable detail and feeling through these letters than I've read before, was truly life-giving and life-sustaining and faith-reviving.
I've never read Volf before, though I have Exclusion & Embrace queued up from the local library, and thus was kind of pre-dispositioned to not take his arguments and thoughts as seriously. I also have an automatic kind of aversion to men discussing theology, I'm just over the lack of diversity in modern religious-ish writing. [Notice, in contrast, how many times Wiman points out that a main reason he dislikes Apostle Paul or the Church of Christ or the modern church is because of how poorly they treat women]. However, you might ask, isn't Wiman also a man, a white man at that? Yes. I'll respond with the same thing I said about author David Dark: he's someone I've allowed to be a spiritual and literary and religious influence in my life, and there are *very few* white men I allow in any of these categories. And I guess Volf is just too thinking-oriented for me to really identify with much, whereas Wiman blends thinking and feeling and doing so well. My faith these days is mostly expressed and experienced through the arts - with music and communal singing highest on the list, and visual art, poems, fiber arts, all other forms of expression ranking much higher than sermons or scripture reading. I think it has to do with that head-and-the-heart divide, but also, I can argue against myself and say that music and poems contain words, as do sermons. It's just different...I need to *feel* something first (I also grew up in a charismatic church like Wiman's) and then I will decide how to talk about it, how to express or explain it, or if it even needs to be expressed.
That's probably enough words from me, so I'll just end with how grateful I am also to add these poems mentioned to my 'attention collection' (a phrase from David Dark):
"Old Pewter", Seamus Heaney, on which the book title is based - "Glimmerings are what the soul's composed of"
"1382", Emily Dickinson, "sumptuous destitution"
"Aubade", Philip Larkin
(I was already aware of this one from Wiman's earlier writings, but it's worth mentioning here and he talks about it more extensively in this book and everyone should read it).
*emails :)
It's difficult to be any percentage of objective and critique this collection of letters* but I will attempt to share some initial thoughts after having greedily consumed all the words in a day and a half, ignoring most responsibilities. The difficulty lies in the fact that Wiman is my favorite poet, writer, speaker, and a favorite general person, so I was tempted to unquestioningly agree with everything he writes here. I do love the fact that the book ends with a poem, and its one of his own. I think he so often quotes others (as you see here but also in his essays and his own works) that he kind of negates how strong his own thoughts and writing (and poems!) are and how effective they are at breaking down defenses, especially about faith and Christianity and theology and religion and the whole scope of existential thought patterns. I hope he knows and sees how grateful people like myself are that he exists and we are alive at the same time, what a glorious gift. To have his miraculous recovery from cancer explained, in much more vulnerable detail and feeling through these letters than I've read before, was truly life-giving and life-sustaining and faith-reviving.
I've never read Volf before, though I have Exclusion & Embrace queued up from the local library, and thus was kind of pre-dispositioned to not take his arguments and thoughts as seriously. I also have an automatic kind of aversion to men discussing theology, I'm just over the lack of diversity in modern religious-ish writing. [Notice, in contrast, how many times Wiman points out that a main reason he dislikes Apostle Paul or the Church of Christ or the modern church is because of how poorly they treat women]. However, you might ask, isn't Wiman also a man, a white man at that? Yes. I'll respond with the same thing I said about author David Dark: he's someone I've allowed to be a spiritual and literary and religious influence in my life, and there are *very few* white men I allow in any of these categories. And I guess Volf is just too thinking-oriented for me to really identify with much, whereas Wiman blends thinking and feeling and doing so well. My faith these days is mostly expressed and experienced through the arts - with music and communal singing highest on the list, and visual art, poems, fiber arts, all other forms of expression ranking much higher than sermons or scripture reading. I think it has to do with that head-and-the-heart divide, but also, I can argue against myself and say that music and poems contain words, as do sermons. It's just different...I need to *feel* something first (I also grew up in a charismatic church like Wiman's) and then I will decide how to talk about it, how to express or explain it, or if it even needs to be expressed.
That's probably enough words from me, so I'll just end with how grateful I am also to add these poems mentioned to my 'attention collection' (a phrase from David Dark):
"Old Pewter", Seamus Heaney, on which the book title is based - "Glimmerings are what the soul's composed of"
"1382", Emily Dickinson, "sumptuous destitution"
"Aubade", Philip Larkin
(I was already aware of this one from Wiman's earlier writings, but it's worth mentioning here and he talks about it more extensively in this book and everyone should read it).
*emails :)
January 25, 2026
There are books that come to you at the right time, and THIS is one of those books. I love Christian Wiman's writings, and this book is just another slice of brilliance and contemplation. ❤️
February 6, 2026
I did enjoy much of this, at times it got rambly and thoughts I didn’t quite feel were finished. I wonder how this idea for a book came about.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews