Who We Were Meant to Be: Rediscovering Our Identity as God's Royal Priesthood

by Matthew Burden

What is our purpose in life? Is there an even grander story at work behind our salvation in Christ? Drawing on the reflections of early church writers and theologians, Who We Were Meant to Be invites the reader to consider the whole tapestry of God’s plan from start to finish, culminating in a vision of all creation being restored and renewed as the temple of God’s glory. Guided by the wisdom and insights of the patristic age, this book urges us to take up the mantle of our appointed role as royal priests, not only as a status to be enjoyed, but as a vocation to shape our entire lives. We have an open invitation to recapture the grand theological vision of Christianity’s early centuries, and to step once again into the transfiguring light of who we were meant to be.

262 pages, Paperback

Published December 21, 2021

About the author

Matthew Burden is the author of more than a dozen books across several different genres (poetry, pastoral theology, fiction, memoir, historical missiology). He is active in publishing and presenting in academic venues, particularly in the fields of church history, patristics, and biblical theology. He holds a PhD in theology and advanced degrees in history and divinity. His interests include birding, writing original hymns, classic Christian literature, apologetics, and global Christianity. More important than any of that, though, is the fact that he is a husband, father, and the pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Calais, Maine.