Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian

by Miroslav Volf, Christian Wiman

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.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Christian, Nonfiction, Poetry, Christianity

267 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 13, 2026

About the author

Miroslav 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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Reviews

[Richard Propes · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Tamara D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Chris Wiman so I picked up this new book without hesitation. It’s the kind of book that probably needs 2 readings to fully grasp. I gave it 4 not 5 stars simply because I got more out of the parts written by Wiman than those written by Volf.

All in all, worth reading.

[Luke Burnham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Their relationship, love for one another, and brutal honesty about themselves is so beautiful.

[Adrian Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

i often find myself - especially with books on spirituality - agreeing with whatever i am reading at that moment (how presidential of me!).

it's nice to see back and forths, debates over points and distinctions i am too dull to make on my own. love, love, loved it.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

*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 :)

[Jiayuan · Rating 4 out of 5]

How wonderful it is to find a kindred spirit in Wiman, the poet, of this book, and a teacher in Volf the theologian. I highlighted so many lines and felt healed in seeing my own doubts and similar thoughts and musings in reading their conversations.

[Kelly Brill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miroslav Volf and Christian Wiman both teach at Yale Divinity School - Volf is a theologian, Wiman a poet-theologian. Here they share their remarkable correspondence - sometimes incredibly esoteric and sometimes vulnerable, personal - the kind of conversation almost any thoughtful friends might have about faith. How do you define belief? What do you do with parts of the Bible that don't fit with your image of God? What is your prayer life like? What does it mean to live the Christian life? We learn a bit about Volf's background and family history and how he was influenced by his childhood in Croatia, Serbia and Yugoslavia. Wiman references the cancer he has lived with for twenty years.

Here's Wiman: "I could no more turn away from God than I could decide to stop breathing. What I do wish, though, is that I could get out of my own way more often, that gift and grace could be more purely aligned."

They frequently reference writers important to them: Bonhoeffer, Marilynne Robinson, Fanny Howe, Luther, Jurgen Moltmann, among others.

I was moved by this book (at least the parts I understood!) I was moved by the deep friendship of these men, their willingness in engaging in the old-fashioned practice of letter-writing as a way of understanding each other better and learning from each other. They are genuinely curious and compassionate and show no signs of ego or competitiveness.

This is, however, dense reading. Would I understand it all if I read it a couple of more times, more carefully? I can't answer that yet!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Crystal Hurd · Rating 5 out of 5]

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. ❤️

[Peter Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Letters on life between Miroslav Volf and Christian Wiman. Intelligent, emotional, and very human.

[Shannon Seidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Letters between friends. Letters between scholars. Whatever you define this as, this was a beautiful theological and philosophical conversation among two men via email...and it was so worth it. I would definitely recommend the physical copy, not audio, because there are so many nuggets to grab ahold of. I listened to audio the first time through and wanted to highlight and capture so much, that I had to go get the physical copy. The conversation veered into deep subjects, but because it was among friends it still felt joyful and light.

[Danette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful expression of faith framed in the grace of respect and friendship.

[Brice Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glimmerings is an endlessly satisfying work of exploratory theology made possible only through disagreement.

Christian Wiman has long been a hero of mine, precisely because he’s the kind of person who rejects the idea of heroes altogether. His writing is loose, indulgent, and often frustratingly self-conscious. And yet, all of those things make him a refreshing voice on matters of faith because it’s all so personal. He is more concerned with being true in his beliefs than whether his beliefs are true. Across his body of work, I constantly find myself wanting to argue, sometimes for clarification and sometimes because I find much of what he writes to be smarmy and irritating.

In Glimmerings, Miroslav Volf is that voice of argumentation, and the friction between the two men brings out their best. Volf is the kind of the theologian that is so well-established in his knowledge that he can hold belief loosely and without fear, and Wiman is the kind of poet that frames the purest faith as semantically emptied to the point of distilled aesthetic. These letters are so exciting because—unlike so much of American Christian discourse—the conversations are never intended to convert. This is a friendship where disagreement is generative, and the two authors happily help each other polish their beliefs, even when they seem to be in opposition.

It's tension without contention, a gentleness worthy of naming a Fruit of the Spirit.

Glimmerings might not be for everyone. Because these are letters, they can be frustratingly recursive, but isn't that what friendship is like? So much of the time we share with each other is spent reiterating our feelings and experiences until they become new. It's certainly easier to forgive in our actual friendships than in a book riddled with pretentious esotericism, but even this feels like a feature instead of a bug here. The best friendships allow us to slip between registers, posturing and rambling until we settle on the words that feel like home.

It's this dance between confidence and uncertainty that animates the dialogue between Wiman and Volf, and it's exactly the kind of energy that allows us to find glimmerings of truth in our own lives.

Sometimes it's helpful just to see somebody else work it out.

[F.C. Shultz]

Enjoyed this one. Listened to the audiobook since this is a conversation between two people and it worked well. The narrators were outstanding. I’ll be returning to it often. Here are some quotes I appreciated.

“Faith is not a way to hold God close. Faith is trust that God will see me, hear me, know me, and come.” (MV)

“God uses our words sometimes.” (MV)

“Theology is a lot like poetry, in that it requires a renewable innocence.” (CW)

“To me, prayer is, above all, about opening a space for God in the world.” (MV)

[James Passaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Matt Aspinall]

I'm still in the midst of reading this, but this has just been a joy to read. I'm going slow due to my love for the words on the page and the beauty of the letters wrestling with the divine.

[Ron Kastner · Rating 4 out of 5]

To read and ponder - often.