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Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life
Long captivated by the idea of one-way love or Gods grace, Paul Zahl has often contended with accusations of being long on grace but short on law. Grace in Practice begins with Zahls response to the classic tension between law and grace. He then sets up the four pillars of his own theology of grace: humanity, salvation, Christ, and the Holy Spirit in the Trinity. Having discussed grace in theological terms, Zahl goes on to address the practicality of grace, developing a systematic theology of grace that is radically understood from the Bible and consistently applied to everyday life. After helpfully narrowing down specific fields of grace, asserting throughout that grace always trumps both law and church, Zahl concludes with an expanded view of grace in everything, extending this good news to all creation.
279 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 2007
56 people are currently reading
344 people want to read
About the author
Paul F.M. Zahl
24 books20 followersThe Very Rev. Dr. Paul Francis Matthew Zahl is a retired Episcopal priest. He formerly was rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, MD, and dean and president of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, Ambridge, PA.
He studied at Chapel Hill, Harvard, St. John's College (Nottingham), the University of Nottingham, Trinity College (Bristol), Wycliffe Hall (Oxford) and the University of Tubingen, where he received his doctorate in systematic theology in 1994. He has also served as rector of Episcopal churches in Scarborough, NY and Charleston, SC; was Curate of Grace Church in New York City; and was Dean of the Cathedral Church of the Advent (Episcopal) in Birmingham, AL. He and his wife, Mary, are the parents of three sons, John, David and Simeon.
He studied at Chapel Hill, Harvard, St. John's College (Nottingham), the University of Nottingham, Trinity College (Bristol), Wycliffe Hall (Oxford) and the University of Tubingen, where he received his doctorate in systematic theology in 1994. He has also served as rector of Episcopal churches in Scarborough, NY and Charleston, SC; was Curate of Grace Church in New York City; and was Dean of the Cathedral Church of the Advent (Episcopal) in Birmingham, AL. He and his wife, Mary, are the parents of three sons, John, David and Simeon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
March 21, 2024
Not every book is for every person. And this book is not for me. Some may appreciate Zahl's meandering, anecdotal style. However it became difficult to separate argument from illustration and consider what Zahl was arguing and how he intended it to cohere. Appeals to pathos-inspired movie clips, quotes from beloved mentors, and examples of the every-day distracted, stumbled, and slowed the reading process. The biggest problem with anecdotes is that you can't argue against them. There is a fundamental difference between Law, given by God for society, and a speed limit sign. There is, further, a fundamental difference between a speed limit sign and the intersection where two high schoolers were killed. But the illustration ties them together as assumed givens and uses the emotional weight of premature death as the convincing factor for readers to say, "yes, all speed limits are good and I should obey them even when I don't want to."
Zahl's discussion on Law is ultimately problematic as he treats the Law as a problem to be solved. (A semi-Marcionite perspective he denies by saying that Christ tightened the Law even further... so that he could solve it.) Even much Lutheran theology won't create that kind of dichotomy.
Perhaps it simply proves that modern NA theology can't grasp concepts of law outside of abstracted, legislative, punishable dictates set down from a vastly oversized nation.
Return to the oikonomia and begin from the family household to understand law and grace and you'll get what Zahl aims for along with a better foundation for beginning.
Zahl's discussion on Law is ultimately problematic as he treats the Law as a problem to be solved. (A semi-Marcionite perspective he denies by saying that Christ tightened the Law even further... so that he could solve it.) Even much Lutheran theology won't create that kind of dichotomy.
Perhaps it simply proves that modern NA theology can't grasp concepts of law outside of abstracted, legislative, punishable dictates set down from a vastly oversized nation.
Return to the oikonomia and begin from the family household to understand law and grace and you'll get what Zahl aims for along with a better foundation for beginning.
August 27, 2009
This book was given to me by a friend. Zahl was the last doctoral student of Ernst Kasemann, the great Lutheran exegete. The premise of the book is simple; it focuses on Luther's strident distinction between Law and Gospel, and then shows the reader how that distinction flows through all of life. Zahl really shines when he's talking about the implications of the gospel, but his discussion of the Law seemed way too dire for me. Zahl maintains that the Law is always and everywhere a big fat "NO" to any human potential apart from God. While this is undoubtedly true so far as it goes, I don't follow him that this is the whole story. I think scripture clearly teaches that there are positive uses of the Law post-conversion. Zahl attempts to get around such scriptures by positing a canon-within-the-canon approach to exegesis. This is where he lost me. If I allow him this move, I have to allow everyone else this move. This type of scholarship won't do. We can't simply pick and choose portions of scripture we want to emphasize at the expense of others. If we can't make our theology fit the entire witness of God's revelation, we should be sent back to the drawing board. Ultimately, Zahl's explication of the purpose of the Law is too austere for me. I'd much rather read Calvin on this subject any day...
June 14, 2012
This was a thick book about grace being our everyday way of doing life. So wich. Here were my favorite sections:
1. “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1) Every word of Paul’s letter to the Galatians demolished the law as having any enabling or creative powers to get people to change. At the same time, every sentence of Galatians sustains the content of the law. The problem is always how to get there, how to effect what the law requires. Only grace does that.
2. p73 - The irony of grace is not only that it sabotages any interview you might have with a Wall Street law firm but that it actually prepares you to do the best work you will ever do if you should actually land the job. For when the work is produced from natural desire and motive, rather than from the idea of actions resulting in proposed consequences, the best work is done.
3. p87 - When grace is heard and received, when it is not confounded in any degree by the law, it paints a masterpiece: a person unconditionally affirmed who becomes instantaneously the expresser of love, joy, peace, meekness, kindness, and creativity.
4. p91 - The law, the stress of life, driving you to a breakdown, reduces you to a walking question mark. The question is answered, amazingly, by God’s one way love.
5. p142 - Everyone needs the same amount of love, which is 100% unconditional love, the one-way love of God.
6. p145 - Grace ends competition (I do more than he/she does) in marriage. It demolishes self-righteousness and increases, past the Richter scale, the level of compassion required for love to exist, thrive, and continue.
7. p180 - One-way love is wholly in the eye of the beholder. Because it stands apart from the receiver, grace makes no distinctions between receivers. Therefore, grace is an even distribution of affection.
8. p180 - People who suffer from the bitterness of proportional loving, which is the law, are able to find an immediate alternative in the evenness of the love of Christ.
9. p241 - The pastoral response is always the response of listening and passive reception. It is not the response of trying to fix things. Grace never tries to fix, but trusts God to do this. Grace listens.
10. p247 - The theology of grace works. It relieves people of burdens and births a new view of their future. It creates the spontaneous and unself-conscious response of works of love. It engenders what the law demands.
11. p257 - I wish to stand in only one specific place, even if it continually moves. This is the place of God’s one way love and its imputing accuracy, which rescues the human situation in every case where it is given play. It witnesses no sector of human affairs immune to disease, but also none immune to cure.
12. p258 - The beginning of wisdom comes when individual human beings put an end to the possibility of overcoming. Only then are they able to deliver their life over to God. If there is the slightest chance of a person doing it for himself or herself, God’s grace is made null. And the death of human hope in the death of God makes it possible for a person to trust the Outsider.
1. “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1) Every word of Paul’s letter to the Galatians demolished the law as having any enabling or creative powers to get people to change. At the same time, every sentence of Galatians sustains the content of the law. The problem is always how to get there, how to effect what the law requires. Only grace does that.
2. p73 - The irony of grace is not only that it sabotages any interview you might have with a Wall Street law firm but that it actually prepares you to do the best work you will ever do if you should actually land the job. For when the work is produced from natural desire and motive, rather than from the idea of actions resulting in proposed consequences, the best work is done.
3. p87 - When grace is heard and received, when it is not confounded in any degree by the law, it paints a masterpiece: a person unconditionally affirmed who becomes instantaneously the expresser of love, joy, peace, meekness, kindness, and creativity.
4. p91 - The law, the stress of life, driving you to a breakdown, reduces you to a walking question mark. The question is answered, amazingly, by God’s one way love.
5. p142 - Everyone needs the same amount of love, which is 100% unconditional love, the one-way love of God.
6. p145 - Grace ends competition (I do more than he/she does) in marriage. It demolishes self-righteousness and increases, past the Richter scale, the level of compassion required for love to exist, thrive, and continue.
7. p180 - One-way love is wholly in the eye of the beholder. Because it stands apart from the receiver, grace makes no distinctions between receivers. Therefore, grace is an even distribution of affection.
8. p180 - People who suffer from the bitterness of proportional loving, which is the law, are able to find an immediate alternative in the evenness of the love of Christ.
9. p241 - The pastoral response is always the response of listening and passive reception. It is not the response of trying to fix things. Grace never tries to fix, but trusts God to do this. Grace listens.
10. p247 - The theology of grace works. It relieves people of burdens and births a new view of their future. It creates the spontaneous and unself-conscious response of works of love. It engenders what the law demands.
11. p257 - I wish to stand in only one specific place, even if it continually moves. This is the place of God’s one way love and its imputing accuracy, which rescues the human situation in every case where it is given play. It witnesses no sector of human affairs immune to disease, but also none immune to cure.
12. p258 - The beginning of wisdom comes when individual human beings put an end to the possibility of overcoming. Only then are they able to deliver their life over to God. If there is the slightest chance of a person doing it for himself or herself, God’s grace is made null. And the death of human hope in the death of God makes it possible for a person to trust the Outsider.
March 19, 2014
Hearing from Zahl that it's ok to be dissatisfied with both the church and the world was profoundly reassuring. It's all right to be in between. Someone finally said it. I needed to read it.
March 23, 2024
A "Tour de Force"! DNF
November 1, 2014
There is much to commend in this book. First, the author paints a devastating picture of human nature. Emphasizing the doctrine of original sin, total depravity and the unfree will leaves the reader in a position where the only hope is God to act. This is actually refreshing in a strange way because we see this depravity all around us. Zahl, is constantly giving examples of human sinfulness through real life examples he has seen throughout his thirty years of pastoral ministry.
This low anthropology sets the stage for radical grace. Our only hope is grace from God through Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection. We are void of righteousness before God, therefore we need a righteousness from God imputed to us. The author tells many stories and spends the last half of the book explaining how his theology of grace touches real life. I found the chapters on marriage and children fascinating and challenging, though I don't agree with all of his conclusions.
With all that there is to commend this book, there is also some issues I have with it. First, Zahl stresses the importance of the distinction between law and Gospel. As one who grew up and evangelical, this distinction is so refreshing. However, though the author says that the law in itself is good, he gives the reader the impression that the law is bad. The law is bad, experientially, because we are sinners and can't do it. It seems like the author is dangerously close to Law and Gospel reductionism. This view leads the author to express concerns about words like: responsibility , accountability, discipleship, ect. Though the author tries to clarify the importance of the law at times, the overall feel of the book is the law is bad so stay away from it in all your relationships and only live by grace.
The author also has strong opinions in regards to the institutional church. I appreciated that he made the reader see that original sin effects the church. Therefore, there is no perfect church. Yet, at times his criticisms seemed to be grounded more in his personal opinions than scripture. He offered some advice on preaching that is helpful but at times went too far in my opinion. He used JD Jakes as a model for good preaching!
The author ends his book stressing that this emphasis on grace in everyday life "works". Grace is powerful, refreshing, and good works producing. This book has made me think more how grace can impact every part of my day. Grace is counterintuitive. As a grace recipient, I do want to distribute grace to everyone in my life and sometimes showing grace looks like the worst option. However, I'm not convinced yet that what the author prescribes will work in every circumstance. I would recommend this book to a discerning reader who is interesting in reading a book that will challenge your views on grace, sin, and everyday life. The book was easy to read and thought provoking throughout.
This low anthropology sets the stage for radical grace. Our only hope is grace from God through Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection. We are void of righteousness before God, therefore we need a righteousness from God imputed to us. The author tells many stories and spends the last half of the book explaining how his theology of grace touches real life. I found the chapters on marriage and children fascinating and challenging, though I don't agree with all of his conclusions.
With all that there is to commend this book, there is also some issues I have with it. First, Zahl stresses the importance of the distinction between law and Gospel. As one who grew up and evangelical, this distinction is so refreshing. However, though the author says that the law in itself is good, he gives the reader the impression that the law is bad. The law is bad, experientially, because we are sinners and can't do it. It seems like the author is dangerously close to Law and Gospel reductionism. This view leads the author to express concerns about words like: responsibility , accountability, discipleship, ect. Though the author tries to clarify the importance of the law at times, the overall feel of the book is the law is bad so stay away from it in all your relationships and only live by grace.
The author also has strong opinions in regards to the institutional church. I appreciated that he made the reader see that original sin effects the church. Therefore, there is no perfect church. Yet, at times his criticisms seemed to be grounded more in his personal opinions than scripture. He offered some advice on preaching that is helpful but at times went too far in my opinion. He used JD Jakes as a model for good preaching!
The author ends his book stressing that this emphasis on grace in everyday life "works". Grace is powerful, refreshing, and good works producing. This book has made me think more how grace can impact every part of my day. Grace is counterintuitive. As a grace recipient, I do want to distribute grace to everyone in my life and sometimes showing grace looks like the worst option. However, I'm not convinced yet that what the author prescribes will work in every circumstance. I would recommend this book to a discerning reader who is interesting in reading a book that will challenge your views on grace, sin, and everyday life. The book was easy to read and thought provoking throughout.
June 22, 2015
A deeply challenging and thought provoking book about the relationship between law and grace and then the systematic theology of life/relationships/society/church that results from it. Am still mulling over a lot and will be rereading it again in order to process and consider against the Bible, and to try to separate the clear truth I'm convicted of versus the things that make me *feel* uneasy rightfully or wrongfully.
I hadn't read a Christian book like GRACE IN PRACTICE before, in that it's author was not a reformed Protestant pastor or teacher, and he has a deep well of literary and cultural references to draw from and use as metaphors. It was a much slower read for both that reason and because it was so radical!
I hadn't read a Christian book like GRACE IN PRACTICE before, in that it's author was not a reformed Protestant pastor or teacher, and he has a deep well of literary and cultural references to draw from and use as metaphors. It was a much slower read for both that reason and because it was so radical!
November 13, 2012
Zahl is radical. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Not because I agreed with everything, but because sometimes you need to read an imbalanced book on the radical nature of grace. The chief weakness of Zahl's book is that it is so very scant on actual exegesis. He basically assumes a Lutheran framework, spends very little sweat proving it, and proceeds to operate out of it. That's fine if you're a convinced Lutheran, but not for me. On the bright side, Zahl stretched me to consider how transformative grace is in life. The Law just can't transform anything, but we still tend to make it do what it can't. Guilty. Thanks for the reminder.
December 17, 2016
Six stars? The author has a very unique, refreshing perspective on the ramifications of a law/gospel hermeneutic.
March 20, 2019
The guide I needed to see the grace available.
December 13, 2017
This is a very good book with some of the best practical applications of grace that I've seen. Family, relationships, the church, prayer...
I struggled quite a bit with Zahl's application of grace to government. I do agree however that the idea of grace over law must be applied equally in all areas of life. It cannot be compartmentalized. So I will need to think more about this specific application.
Even with that concern, I still highly recommend this book.
I struggled quite a bit with Zahl's application of grace to government. I do agree however that the idea of grace over law must be applied equally in all areas of life. It cannot be compartmentalized. So I will need to think more about this specific application.
Even with that concern, I still highly recommend this book.
June 20, 2024
I usually like punchy books of strongly opinionated authors, but Zahl started losing me around the halfway point when he starts talking from the point of view of Grace for the last ~150 pages. “Grace would do this…”, “Grace would do that…”—it got tiring reading the same words repeatedly as he attempts to apply the Grace v Law distinction in a spitfire way to different parts of life. Struggled to finish.
June 9, 2020
Will post a review later.
December 8, 2020
Bra koncept, många bra tankar.
Men också alldeles för många populärkulturella referenser, och en del traditionella värden som jag anser talar lite emot det som han påstår är hans huvudbudskap.
Men också alldeles för många populärkulturella referenser, och en del traditionella värden som jag anser talar lite emot det som han påstår är hans huvudbudskap.
December 6, 2021
The chapter on grace in families was helpful but much of the book I read contained exaggerations that did not serve to make the author’s case. I do not recommend this book.
September 20, 2022
Particularly liked the section "Grace in the Pulpit, pp. 232-239.
December 11, 2024
Put in the Library of A Recovering Evangelical
September 17, 2008
I had high hopes for this book, but I found Zahl's writing style to be very repetitive, so much so that it was distracting from his main point. Many of his examples and analogies were pulled from pop culture - the movies, books and tv shows - of my parent's generation, which made it hard for me to connect with them and understand what exactly he was trying to say. There were sections which were thought provoking. I doubt that anyone who reads this will agree with everything Zahl has to say, but at the very least he will challenge you to form your own opinions and think about various issues regarding grace and law.
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December 21, 2012The aim of this book is to emphasize something almost entirely foreign to the mission statements, programs, and focus of many churches in the States today, and subsequently, most American Christians. I highly recommend it!
February 15, 2016
Essential Reading
This book makes sense on many levels - I hope this book will be one I turn to again and again when my intellectual & spiritual belief in grace alone confronts the reality of how hard it is to live out
This book makes sense on many levels - I hope this book will be one I turn to again and again when my intellectual & spiritual belief in grace alone confronts the reality of how hard it is to live out
March 13, 2009
A strong affirmation of grace from a conservative Episcopalian. Interesting applications to social issues.
December 21, 2008
Encouraging, practical, inspiring, accessible.
June 29, 2017
Absolutely fantastic. I thought I was "lucky" in life, Paul Zahl wrote about how grace is what I experienced. Life-changing.
October 29, 2012
A lively read that explores why judging others is such a waste of time
August 29, 2012
Excellent conversational tone systematic theology. Paul Zahl eloquently unpacked grace... one-way love.
February 11, 2014
Probably one of the most important books I've read. He causes me to think in ways I haven't. My heart resonates with his message.
June 22, 2015
Wow.
December 31, 2014
The 1st half of the book captured my attention. After that - not so much
November 15, 2009
Really helpful and fresh view of pure grace
March 24, 2017
I will admit, it would've been easy to not give this five stars. There were a number of stances which were taken that are different than ones I have been accustomed to reading/listening to. As the book went on and on about grace and how it applies to all of life though, it stayed steady in its application of one way love. For me, this is in the realm of gospel fluency ideas by Jeff Vanderstelt. If the only thing that happens by reading this book is that your brain is challenged to look around the world, at your kids, your work, your spouse, the entirety of your life, and ask "how does grace respond to this rather than the law?" then the book has accomplished something major and significant in your life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews