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The Fullness of Time
Advent: The Season of Hope
"Christians believe not just in one coming of Christ, but in three." We tend to think of Advent as the season of anticipation before Christmas―and while it is that, it’s also much more. Throughout its history, the church has observed Advent as a preparation not only for the first coming of Christ in his incarnation but also for his second coming at the last day. It's also about a third the coming of Christ to meet us in our present moment, to make us holy by his Word and Sacrament. In this short volume, priest and writer Tish Harrison Warren explores all three of these "comings" of Christ and invites us into a deeper experience of the first season of the Christian year. Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring how its traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals all point us to Jesus.
128 pages, Hardcover
Published August 29, 2023
90 people are currently reading
817 people want to read
About the author
Tish Harrison Warren
18 books687 followersTish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. After eight years with InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries at Vanderbilt and The University of Texas at Austin, she now serves as co-associate rector at Church of the Ascension in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She writes regularly for The Well, CT Women (formerly her.meneutics), and Christianity Today. Her work has also appeared in Comment Magazine, Christ and Pop Culture, Art House America, and elsewhere. She and her husband Jonathan have two young daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 160 reviews
December 14, 2023
I bought this book solely on the merit of its authorship having done zero research, and expected a daily Advent Devotional to walk though this year - this book is not that. Rather, it is a beautiful, brief dissertation of the history and spiritual depth of the Advent season. As always, Tish brings a breath of fresh air into our time by encouraging readers to engage in historical church practices. Instead of being prescriptive, she gently provides direction to liturgies that can enrich this special season (which, I never knew before reading this book, is the first season of the church calendar! Why does no one talk about that??)
10/10 recommend getting this for your 2024 Advent, and I suggest you read it just before the season to plan out how you can observe some of the practices Tish outlines.
“Our King is coming! Get ready!”
10/10 recommend getting this for your 2024 Advent, and I suggest you read it just before the season to plan out how you can observe some of the practices Tish outlines.
“Our King is coming! Get ready!”
April 1, 2023
The book Advent, the Season of Hope, has a lot of good and uplifting information in it. It seems to be marketing itself a bit as a devotional plus, meaning it has devotional material plus some additional theological and educational material. In that sense, I like it.
Oftentimes devotionals can come across as lacking and trite, or perhaps a bit fluffy. This book does not give that vibe. However - the book is very disjointed. Each chapter seems like one long ramble - jumping from one thought to the next, without any clear delineation. I believe it would be more helpful to either format the writings into daily readings, or at least adding section headings to break up the material when the author starts a new thought. However, this may not work as there are so many little thoughts the author jots down - some of which are not fully formed and are only a sentence or two long. This is very much stream of consciousness writing.
There are many times where the author makes a statement, and you're expecting the "so what?" to be answered or fulfilled, but it is not. There are other times when the author makes statements that probably require deeper theological knowledge than your average Christian might have (I have a MA in Catholic theology, and regularly teach religion), but the author does not expand. She just expects that you have a background that knows what she's talking about and where she's coming from.
I think overall the book is good, but I will not be recommending it due to the aforementioned issues. It needs some better organization and some additional fleshing out before I could legitimately recommend it to anyone. I'm hopeful these issues will be corrected before the book is published. I believe it has a lot of promise!
I received this ARC from NetGalley. Opinions provided are my own.
Oftentimes devotionals can come across as lacking and trite, or perhaps a bit fluffy. This book does not give that vibe. However - the book is very disjointed. Each chapter seems like one long ramble - jumping from one thought to the next, without any clear delineation. I believe it would be more helpful to either format the writings into daily readings, or at least adding section headings to break up the material when the author starts a new thought. However, this may not work as there are so many little thoughts the author jots down - some of which are not fully formed and are only a sentence or two long. This is very much stream of consciousness writing.
There are many times where the author makes a statement, and you're expecting the "so what?" to be answered or fulfilled, but it is not. There are other times when the author makes statements that probably require deeper theological knowledge than your average Christian might have (I have a MA in Catholic theology, and regularly teach religion), but the author does not expand. She just expects that you have a background that knows what she's talking about and where she's coming from.
I think overall the book is good, but I will not be recommending it due to the aforementioned issues. It needs some better organization and some additional fleshing out before I could legitimately recommend it to anyone. I'm hopeful these issues will be corrected before the book is published. I believe it has a lot of promise!
I received this ARC from NetGalley. Opinions provided are my own.
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December 25, 2023“Advent is training in hope because this season tells us that when things lie fallow they do not lie in waste; things that seem dormant are not dead, and times of waiting are not without meaning, purpose, or design. God is working, sometimes almost imperceptibly, deep beneath the surface of time. Waiting is part of his redemption. It is part of his gift to us. It is part of his grace.”
Thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God.
December 4, 2023
I am hoping to read through the Fullness of Time series this liturgical year, and beginning with Warren's Advent was a true delight. These books are brief and slim but the writing is taut. It made good reading in one sitting, but I will likely return to it to savor each chapter individually. Warren presents historical origins, theological meanings, and contemporary practices of Advent, walking that fine Anglican middle way between endorsing the apocalyptic nature of Advent yet not condemning the fun of Advent calendars.
I am thoroughly grateful for this series and dear Esau McCaulley for leading and editing it. I finally have a good, readable resource to recommend to the folks who ask me for an entrée to liturgical living and the meanings of the church's seasons. For a culture that has lost liturgical ways of life, here are gentle texts that return to the ancient fountains and sip from the flowing streams. Jaroslav Pelikan wrote that traditionalism is the dead faith of the living, but tradition is the living faith of the dead. The Fullness of Time series leads us wayward Protestants back to the living faith of our spiritual ancestors and offers explanations of and practices for living our ancient faith.
I am thoroughly grateful for this series and dear Esau McCaulley for leading and editing it. I finally have a good, readable resource to recommend to the folks who ask me for an entrée to liturgical living and the meanings of the church's seasons. For a culture that has lost liturgical ways of life, here are gentle texts that return to the ancient fountains and sip from the flowing streams. Jaroslav Pelikan wrote that traditionalism is the dead faith of the living, but tradition is the living faith of the dead. The Fullness of Time series leads us wayward Protestants back to the living faith of our spiritual ancestors and offers explanations of and practices for living our ancient faith.
February 7, 2025
What I love so much about this book and Tish Harrison Warren’s writing in general, is that she grounds her faith and work in Scripture and church history. In a culture where Christianity is increasingly viewed as individual she reminds us of all those that came before us who have grieved, celebrated, and attempted to live their lives around the birth, life, and death of Jesus. This short, beautiful book is a reminder of what Advent is and should be—a season of waiting, bright sadness, and reflecting on Christ’s past, present, and future coming. Merry Christmas!
December 19, 2024
Tish’s words are better than mine so in lieu of a review wherein I wax poetic about how much her writing means to me I’ve just pasted some of my favorite excepts from this book -
“We begin our year not only by waiting but by readying ourselves to receive the gifts of repentance, healing, and restoration that God gives by grace. We come to God openhanded, holding our imperfect and incomplete lives before him. We need him to come to us, to rescue and restore us, even today, in our everyday lives.”
“In Advent we take time to reflect on how Jesus, whom the people of Israel longed for, meets us today. We look at the places in our own lives where we yearn for Christ to come, places where we need hope, encouragement, help, and deliverance.”
“Advent is the season when we practice watching for grace. It is a time when we pay extra attention to how Christ continues to come, how he enters into the darkest corners of humanity and of our own lives. It is a time when we invite Christ to meet us and, in the words of Rich Mullins, to "shake us forward and shake us free.”
“Advent asks us to name what is dark in the world and in our own lives and to invite the light of Christ into each shadowy corner.
To practice Advent is to lean into a cosmic ache: our deep, wordless desire for things to be made right. We dwell in a world shrouded in sin, conflict, violence, and op-pression. Christians must be honest about the whole of life-both death and resurrection, both the darkness and the light.”
“Advent is training in hope because this season tells us that when things lie fallow they do not lie in waste; things that seem dormant are not dead, and times of waiting are not without meaning, purpose, or design. God is working, sometimes almost imperceptibly, deep beneath the surface of time. Waiting is part of his redemption. It is part of his gift to us. It is part of his grace. Above all, trust in the slow work of Gody
writes Teilhard De Chardin. ‘We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.’ But, he says, "’Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.’"
“Yet all of our waiting— our struggles and sorrows, our doubts and fears, our days and weeks—will be a vital part of the story. It will be part of the "hallelujah" that echoes from a creation that once groaned. It will be part of the restoration of all things. It will be part of what is being born.”
“We begin our year not only by waiting but by readying ourselves to receive the gifts of repentance, healing, and restoration that God gives by grace. We come to God openhanded, holding our imperfect and incomplete lives before him. We need him to come to us, to rescue and restore us, even today, in our everyday lives.”
“In Advent we take time to reflect on how Jesus, whom the people of Israel longed for, meets us today. We look at the places in our own lives where we yearn for Christ to come, places where we need hope, encouragement, help, and deliverance.”
“Advent is the season when we practice watching for grace. It is a time when we pay extra attention to how Christ continues to come, how he enters into the darkest corners of humanity and of our own lives. It is a time when we invite Christ to meet us and, in the words of Rich Mullins, to "shake us forward and shake us free.”
“Advent asks us to name what is dark in the world and in our own lives and to invite the light of Christ into each shadowy corner.
To practice Advent is to lean into a cosmic ache: our deep, wordless desire for things to be made right. We dwell in a world shrouded in sin, conflict, violence, and op-pression. Christians must be honest about the whole of life-both death and resurrection, both the darkness and the light.”
“Advent is training in hope because this season tells us that when things lie fallow they do not lie in waste; things that seem dormant are not dead, and times of waiting are not without meaning, purpose, or design. God is working, sometimes almost imperceptibly, deep beneath the surface of time. Waiting is part of his redemption. It is part of his gift to us. It is part of his grace. Above all, trust in the slow work of Gody
writes Teilhard De Chardin. ‘We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.’ But, he says, "’Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.’"
“Yet all of our waiting— our struggles and sorrows, our doubts and fears, our days and weeks—will be a vital part of the story. It will be part of the "hallelujah" that echoes from a creation that once groaned. It will be part of the restoration of all things. It will be part of what is being born.”
November 26, 2023
Warren explains and expounds on the meaning of the season of Advent. As an Anglican priest, she writes from the perspective of a high-church liturgical tradition, which I found quite interesting since my experience is largely from the other end of the spectrum.
She notes that Advent is the time of waiting, anticipating the coming of Christ in the incarnation, the coming of Christ in the “last days,” and the coming of Christ in our present moment. The chapters are titled: Yearning, Longing, Crying Out, Stirring, Approaching.
From the conclusion:
“Advent is training in hope because this season tells us that when things lie fallow they do not lie in waste; things that seem dormant are not dead, and times of waiting are not without meaning, purpose, or design. God is working, sometimes almost imperceptibly, deep beneath the surface of time. Waiting is part of his redemption. It is part of his gift to us. It is part of his grace.
"’Above all, trust in the slow work of God,’ writes Teilhard De Chardin. ‘We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.’ But, he says, ‘Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.’”
[…]
“Someday all of our Advents will end. The wait will be over. The Lord will come. Yet all of our waiting—our struggles and sorrows, our doubts and fears, our days and weeks—will be a vital part of the story. It will be part of the ‘hallelujah’ that echoes from a creation that once groaned. It will be part of the restoration of all things. It will be part of what is being born.”
[…]
“And remember: our king is coming. Get ready.”
This book is part of the Fullness of Time series, which also includes volumes about Lent, Easter, Christmas, Pentecost, and Epiphany. I think I’ll go ahead and start Christmas next, which is written by the series editor, Esau McCaulley.
She notes that Advent is the time of waiting, anticipating the coming of Christ in the incarnation, the coming of Christ in the “last days,” and the coming of Christ in our present moment. The chapters are titled: Yearning, Longing, Crying Out, Stirring, Approaching.
From the conclusion:
“Advent is training in hope because this season tells us that when things lie fallow they do not lie in waste; things that seem dormant are not dead, and times of waiting are not without meaning, purpose, or design. God is working, sometimes almost imperceptibly, deep beneath the surface of time. Waiting is part of his redemption. It is part of his gift to us. It is part of his grace.
"’Above all, trust in the slow work of God,’ writes Teilhard De Chardin. ‘We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.’ But, he says, ‘Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.’”
[…]
“Someday all of our Advents will end. The wait will be over. The Lord will come. Yet all of our waiting—our struggles and sorrows, our doubts and fears, our days and weeks—will be a vital part of the story. It will be part of the ‘hallelujah’ that echoes from a creation that once groaned. It will be part of the restoration of all things. It will be part of what is being born.”
[…]
“And remember: our king is coming. Get ready.”
This book is part of the Fullness of Time series, which also includes volumes about Lent, Easter, Christmas, Pentecost, and Epiphany. I think I’ll go ahead and start Christmas next, which is written by the series editor, Esau McCaulley.
December 7, 2024
A very encouraging little primer on Advent. Warren reminded me especially of the ways that Advent is like a “little Lent” and affirmed the notion that practicing Advent is really quite countercultural. She manages to be instructive and practical without being a holiday buzzkill- in fact, she addresses that very tension. I will definitely return to this one in future years.
December 24, 2023
Come friends, let us wait.
With hope and trust in God's work.
Our king is coming.
With hope and trust in God's work.
Our king is coming.
December 22, 2023
“Someday all of our Advents will end. The wait will be over. The Lord will come. Yet all of our waiting—our struggles and sorrows, our doubts and fears, our days and weeks —will be a vital part of the story. It will be part of the "hallelujah" that echoes from a creation that once groaned. It will be part of the restoration of all things. It will be part of what is being born.
Until then we live each minute of our lives between Jesus’ first advent in the nativity and His final advent. Until then we dwell in liminality, in the meantime.”
Until then we live each minute of our lives between Jesus’ first advent in the nativity and His final advent. Until then we dwell in liminality, in the meantime.”
December 26, 2024
Advent AND Tish Harrison Warren?!!!
Since Advent is Christian new year I believe it teaches us how to live as followers of Jesus, and specifically wait for our King in the now & not yet, throughout the rest of the year. Tish Harrison Warren beautifully deepens this belief in me. I’m finishing her work encouraged, inspired, receiving grace from our Lord & holding fast to hope.
Since Advent is Christian new year I believe it teaches us how to live as followers of Jesus, and specifically wait for our King in the now & not yet, throughout the rest of the year. Tish Harrison Warren beautifully deepens this belief in me. I’m finishing her work encouraged, inspired, receiving grace from our Lord & holding fast to hope.
January 11, 2025
A beautiful contribution to my sanctification and the opening up of new life.
December 26, 2023
Tish doesn’t miss.
“Advent is not merely a collection of themes, scriptures, practices, and prayers but a daily immersion in mystery, a lesson in grace learned through how we rub against time.”
“Advent is not merely a collection of themes, scriptures, practices, and prayers but a daily immersion in mystery, a lesson in grace learned through how we rub against time.”
February 1, 2024
Tish Harrison Warren speaks my language. This book is a beautiful journey into the advent season. I had no idea there was so much richness to the history of observing the advent season. The thing I was most challenged by was how similar advent is to lent – a season of waiting as opposed to celebration. I have always celebrated advent with a calendar and lots of fun time with family; however, to realize the truer essence of the season is about the waiting and longing for the arrival of the King was really eye-opening. This is one I will probably revisit next advent season.
November 28, 2024
Advent: The Season of Hope by Tish Harrison Warren is a true delight to read. Like the other contributions to the Fullness of Time series from IVP academic, Advent is not an Advent devotional, but is rather a brief, but encompassing theological discussion on the advent season. Warren draws from common church practice, church history, biblical studies, and the broader voices of Evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox theology as a means of providing her audience an accessible, readable, and thorough understanding of the Advent season. In this short book Warren broadly discusses the key concepts of yearning, longing, prophetic crying out, stirring, and the process the Christian should assume as they prepare themselves for the coming of Christ.
The true joy of Harrison’s book is the gracious tone she assumes as she both writes to Christians more familiar with the liturgical calendar and those who are not. As a Pentecostal who is familiar with the liturgical calendar in concept, but not in practice, this was a refreshing and eye-opening experience. Warren’s work in my experience helped to educate me not only on the need for Advent, but also the need for a greater awareness of the liturgical calendar in the life of the Christian community. This is certainly a resource I will be returning to often as I continue to consider, write about, and discuss the season of Advent.
I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley, but the opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are my own.
The true joy of Harrison’s book is the gracious tone she assumes as she both writes to Christians more familiar with the liturgical calendar and those who are not. As a Pentecostal who is familiar with the liturgical calendar in concept, but not in practice, this was a refreshing and eye-opening experience. Warren’s work in my experience helped to educate me not only on the need for Advent, but also the need for a greater awareness of the liturgical calendar in the life of the Christian community. This is certainly a resource I will be returning to often as I continue to consider, write about, and discuss the season of Advent.
I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley, but the opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are my own.
August 21, 2023
Very very excellent overview of the liturgical season of Advent. This whole series has been such a gift to read, even though much of the information I’ve known. Some of it was new to me. All in all, if you’re new or curious about Anglican liturgy, this is a great place to start learning. Each book is theologically rich and explains everything very well.
December 5, 2024
This was my 2nd time reading it, a valuable and succint read that I will probably come back to yearly. I love everything I've ever read from Warren.
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December 3, 2023Advent by Tish Harrison Warren 💜
Today is the first Sunday of Advent according to the Church calendar, and I highly recommend this new book by @tishharrisonwarren that is part of @ivpress’s Fullness of Time series, which provide a rich, deeper understanding of the seasons in the Church calendar. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Lent book by @esaumccaulley earlier this year, who also happens to be the series editor for these books, so I was delighted to receive this copy of Advent from @ivpress.
The introduction stresses that these books are not intended as devotionals; however, I have found these books to be really wonderful inclusions in my morning devotional reading, as they are rich with Scripture and theological insight. Tish Harrison Warren is a thoughtful and scholarly writer, and that tone is consistent with this book.
Grab a copy for yourself from @ivpress or wherever you buy books. It’s a small book that you will enjoy slowly working your way through this Advent season. My library has this one available as an audiobook via @hoopladigital, so check out your library options as well.
Love this quote from the book:
Advent is the season when we practice watching for grace. It is a time when we pay extra attention to how Christ continues to come, how He enters into the darkest corners of humanity and of our own lives. It is a time when we invite Christ to meet us and, in the words of Rich Mullins, to ‘shake us forward and shake us free’” (Warren 15).
Today is the first Sunday of Advent according to the Church calendar, and I highly recommend this new book by @tishharrisonwarren that is part of @ivpress’s Fullness of Time series, which provide a rich, deeper understanding of the seasons in the Church calendar. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Lent book by @esaumccaulley earlier this year, who also happens to be the series editor for these books, so I was delighted to receive this copy of Advent from @ivpress.
The introduction stresses that these books are not intended as devotionals; however, I have found these books to be really wonderful inclusions in my morning devotional reading, as they are rich with Scripture and theological insight. Tish Harrison Warren is a thoughtful and scholarly writer, and that tone is consistent with this book.
Grab a copy for yourself from @ivpress or wherever you buy books. It’s a small book that you will enjoy slowly working your way through this Advent season. My library has this one available as an audiobook via @hoopladigital, so check out your library options as well.
Love this quote from the book:
Advent is the season when we practice watching for grace. It is a time when we pay extra attention to how Christ continues to come, how He enters into the darkest corners of humanity and of our own lives. It is a time when we invite Christ to meet us and, in the words of Rich Mullins, to ‘shake us forward and shake us free’” (Warren 15).
December 24, 2023
I picked up this book needing to remedy the disconnect I was feeling from the season of Advent, and truly, this was exactly what I needed. It challenged me, as I realized how much I need Advent in my spiritual practice and how much I need it especially during this time of year. I was tearful as I realized that in many ways, I’ve never known how to truly embody the Advent season, and that more often than not, I prioritize my traditions and sentimentality over my worship. And it’s not worth it. This book was the spiritual food I needed to help me rethink how I’ve spent my time in the days leading up to Christmas, and has given me a lot of guidance as I think about how I can adjust my expectations and plans in order to better prioritize the Advent season next year. I will definitely be reading it again next year, and perhaps every year as I try to approach this time of year with worship rather than defaulting to the hustle and bustle of commercial American Christmas.
December 25, 2024
Beautiful book on what advent has been historically and can look like in your own life today by looking back at the traditions of this church season. I appreciated the 4 prayers of advent chapter and how they were explained and expanded on. And the chapter about the 8 practices of advent was very helpful in finding restful and true ways to walk through this season.
Looking forward to reading the whole series and learning more about fasts and feasts of the church calendar.
Our King is coming. Get Ready!
Looking forward to reading the whole series and learning more about fasts and feasts of the church calendar.
Our King is coming. Get Ready!
December 18, 2023
Timely. I read it recovering from a forced slow down by Covid. “Slowing down” and “making room” with this book was a pleasant surprise during this season. I can see me re reading this as I’m an Advent newbie. Can’t wait for Christmas to read the next in the series. As always Tish Warren leads you to expand your thinking as you learn about this practice.
November 29, 2024
A wonderful introduction to the wonder-ful season of preparation, longing, and hope! 💜🩷🤍
“Advent is not merely a collection of themes, Scriptures, practices, and prayers but a daily immersion in mystery, a lesson in grace learned through how we rub against time.”
“Advent is not merely a collection of themes, Scriptures, practices, and prayers but a daily immersion in mystery, a lesson in grace learned through how we rub against time.”
December 18, 2024
Tish is a dear friend and deserves every good thing! Advent is such a sweet yet harrowing season worthy of examination. Orienting and inhabiting time “Before Christ” though living in a post-incarnational world is something that challenges belief, doubts, and my always damned agendas
December 8, 2023
This is a very well written and much needed book. I don’t really connect with her writing style, but still, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It helped me appreciate Advent and understand it more clearly. I may read it again.
December 11, 2024
Prachtig.
December 25, 2023
Well worth the read; will return to it!
December 21, 2024
Loved it. Will probably make this an annual read!
March 5, 2024
Loved reading this as an advent devotional. I attend a liturgical church and was raised Irish Catholic plus 10 years of Catholic education growing up - but wow i learned so so much about Advent from THIS book! Thank you Tish Harrison Warren. I so appreciate your books.
December 24, 2024
Such a beautiful and refreshing perspective. I want to live like this.
December 6, 2024
SUMMARY: From chocolate to Lego and everything in between Advent calendars begin filling store shelves come November. This often consumeristic celebration of Advent divorced from its 4th-century roots neglects the heavier themes of waiting, hope, darkness, light, repentance, rest, emptiness, and filling. In a world that equates December with yuletide debauchery and commercial frenzy, Tish Harrison Warren masterfully reclaims Advent as a season not of escapism, but of honest reflection and holy longing. This is no glittering holiday self-help book; it’s a profound invitation to slow down, repent, and live in the aching beauty of the "now and not yet."
Through the liturgical calendar, she asserts, we don’t merely recount the gospel story; we are invited to enter it. Her metaphor of the church calendar as “immersive theater” is striking. It suggests a faith that is not observed from a pew but lived out in the grit and glory of daily life.
Warren reminds us that Advent isn’t just about preparing for Christmas—it’s about wrestling with the apocalyptic truth of Christ’s three comings: as a baby in Bethlehem (adventus redemptionis), as the returning King (adventus glorificamus), and as the ever-present Spirit (adventus sanctificationis). This layered perspective rescues Advent from being merely a quaint prelude to Christmas and reestablishes it as a cosmic and deeply personal story of redemption.
Warren’s reflections on the penitential nature of Advent breathe new life into a season too often drowned in syrupy sentimentality. She challenges us to dwell in the “bright sadness” of the season, to name the darkness within and around us, and to long for the light. Here lies the genius of her prose: she confronts the reader with the brutal honesty of a world “shrouded in sin, conflict, violence, and oppression” while gently guiding us toward the hope that darkness cannot overcome.
This “joy-grief” is the paradox that makes Advent so potent. Warren describes it as a time to confess, repent, and lean into the “cosmic ache” for justice, healing, and salvation. Her exploration of repentance—paired intriguingly with rest—redefines it not as a dour obligation but as an invitation to renewal.
In the latter chapters, Warren turns practical without becoming prescriptive. She offers Advent as a gift, not a burden, and encourages historically rooted practices like fasting, prayer, and giving as tools to orient our hearts toward Christ. Her approach is refreshingly non-legalistic: fasting, for instance, is described as a personal and flexible discipline, not a rigid requirement. These practices are not about achieving spiritual perfection but about stirring up love and good deeds.
Her critique of American holiday culture—its “warp speed” revelry and obsession with power or cultural capitulation (p. 80)—is razor-sharp yet not alienating. Warren invites readers to step off the treadmill of consumerism and into the stillness of waiting, offering Advent as a countercultural rhythm of deceleration and grace.
Perhaps Warren’s greatest gift is her ability to capture Advent’s essence as a mystery to be experienced rather than understood. The season’s tension—between time and eternity, presence and absence, longing and fulfillment—is something she urges us to live into, not resolve. Her writing evokes a sense of sacred wonder, a daily immersion in the “joy-grief” of the gospel’s unfolding story.
Advent is a luminous and challenging work, a book that dares readers to pause, reflect, and hope. Warren writes with theological depth and poetic clarity, drawing readers into the sacred rhythms of the liturgical calendar while refusing to gloss over the darkness of our world. This is a book that unsettles as much as it comforts, urging us to embrace the mystery and tension of waiting for Christ.
In a culture desperate for quick fixes and superficial cheer, Advent is a bracing call to deeper faith and slower living. It’s a reminder that true hope is forged not in denial, but in the raw, honest naming of our longings and fears. As Warren so eloquently puts it, Advent is not about “getting it all right” but about being shaped by love, mystery, and the startling light of Christ. It is, quite simply, a gift.
KEY QUOTE: "At Christmas we celebrate how light entered into darkness. But first, Advent bids us to pause and look, with complete honesty, at the darkness. Advent asks us to name what is dark in the world and in our own lives and to invite the light of Christ into each shadowy corner. To practice Advent is to lean into a cosmic ache: our deep, wordless desire for things to be made right. We dwell in a world shrouded in sin, conflict, violence, and oppression. Christians must be honest about the whole of life--both death and resurrection, both the darkness and the light."
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Through the liturgical calendar, she asserts, we don’t merely recount the gospel story; we are invited to enter it. Her metaphor of the church calendar as “immersive theater” is striking. It suggests a faith that is not observed from a pew but lived out in the grit and glory of daily life.
Warren reminds us that Advent isn’t just about preparing for Christmas—it’s about wrestling with the apocalyptic truth of Christ’s three comings: as a baby in Bethlehem (adventus redemptionis), as the returning King (adventus glorificamus), and as the ever-present Spirit (adventus sanctificationis). This layered perspective rescues Advent from being merely a quaint prelude to Christmas and reestablishes it as a cosmic and deeply personal story of redemption.
Warren’s reflections on the penitential nature of Advent breathe new life into a season too often drowned in syrupy sentimentality. She challenges us to dwell in the “bright sadness” of the season, to name the darkness within and around us, and to long for the light. Here lies the genius of her prose: she confronts the reader with the brutal honesty of a world “shrouded in sin, conflict, violence, and oppression” while gently guiding us toward the hope that darkness cannot overcome.
This “joy-grief” is the paradox that makes Advent so potent. Warren describes it as a time to confess, repent, and lean into the “cosmic ache” for justice, healing, and salvation. Her exploration of repentance—paired intriguingly with rest—redefines it not as a dour obligation but as an invitation to renewal.
In the latter chapters, Warren turns practical without becoming prescriptive. She offers Advent as a gift, not a burden, and encourages historically rooted practices like fasting, prayer, and giving as tools to orient our hearts toward Christ. Her approach is refreshingly non-legalistic: fasting, for instance, is described as a personal and flexible discipline, not a rigid requirement. These practices are not about achieving spiritual perfection but about stirring up love and good deeds.
Her critique of American holiday culture—its “warp speed” revelry and obsession with power or cultural capitulation (p. 80)—is razor-sharp yet not alienating. Warren invites readers to step off the treadmill of consumerism and into the stillness of waiting, offering Advent as a countercultural rhythm of deceleration and grace.
Perhaps Warren’s greatest gift is her ability to capture Advent’s essence as a mystery to be experienced rather than understood. The season’s tension—between time and eternity, presence and absence, longing and fulfillment—is something she urges us to live into, not resolve. Her writing evokes a sense of sacred wonder, a daily immersion in the “joy-grief” of the gospel’s unfolding story.
Advent is a luminous and challenging work, a book that dares readers to pause, reflect, and hope. Warren writes with theological depth and poetic clarity, drawing readers into the sacred rhythms of the liturgical calendar while refusing to gloss over the darkness of our world. This is a book that unsettles as much as it comforts, urging us to embrace the mystery and tension of waiting for Christ.
In a culture desperate for quick fixes and superficial cheer, Advent is a bracing call to deeper faith and slower living. It’s a reminder that true hope is forged not in denial, but in the raw, honest naming of our longings and fears. As Warren so eloquently puts it, Advent is not about “getting it all right” but about being shaped by love, mystery, and the startling light of Christ. It is, quite simply, a gift.
KEY QUOTE: "At Christmas we celebrate how light entered into darkness. But first, Advent bids us to pause and look, with complete honesty, at the darkness. Advent asks us to name what is dark in the world and in our own lives and to invite the light of Christ into each shadowy corner. To practice Advent is to lean into a cosmic ache: our deep, wordless desire for things to be made right. We dwell in a world shrouded in sin, conflict, violence, and oppression. Christians must be honest about the whole of life--both death and resurrection, both the darkness and the light."
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