The Way of Jesus: Living a Spiritual and Ethical Life

by Jay Parini Narrated by Ronnie Butler

Overview

Renowned poet and novelist Jay Parini's The Way of Jesus is a book for progressive Christians and spiritual seekers who struggle, as Parini does, with some of the basic questions about human existence: its limits and sadnesses, and its possibilities for awareness and understanding.

Part guide to Christian living, part spiritual autobiography, The Way of Jesus is Jay Parini's exploration of what Jesus really meant, his effort to put love first in our daily lives. Called “one of those writers who can do anything” by Stacy Schiff in the New York Times Book Review, Parini-a lifelong Christian who has at times wavered and questioned his beliefs-recounts his own efforts to follow Jesus's example, examines the contours of Christian thinking, and describes the solace and structure one can find in the rhythms of the church calendar. Parini's refreshingly undogmatic approach to Christian thinking incorporates teachings from other religions, as well as from poets and other writers who have helped Parini along his path to understanding.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

03/26/2018
In this gracious and instructive book, poet and novelist Parini (The Last Station) builds a plan for living out what Jesus meant when he commanded his followers to put love first. Parini describes growing up in Scranton, Penn., and how his father’s conversion to Christianity forced a shift in his own thinking about faith. Although he believed in Jesus, his father’s frequent sermonizing made him question whether the followers of all other religions were really doomed to hell. This curiosity then opened him to teachings from Buddhism and Hinduism, which led the way to his concluding that “belief is simply a fondness, a yearning; not a contractual arrangement with God.” Parini breaks the book into four sections discussing his own faith journey, the history of Christian thinking, the church calendar year, and a selection of poems by T.S. Eliot. Devout readers will find the third chapter, “The Christian Mind,” especially relevant as he confronts the claims of prosperity gospel preachers, processes political corruption in the Vatican, and considers the collateral effects of the Protestant Reformation. In the final chapter, Parini eloquently mines Eliot’s Four Quartets as inspiration for living a life filled with “prayer, observance, discipline, thought, and action,” which also serve as his keys for living a spiritual and ethical life. Parini’s thoughtful book will appeal to devout Christians as well as skeptical readers interested in the teachings of Christ. (Mar.)

From the Publisher

Accessible and engaging, Jay Parini’s The Way of Jesus is a cross between a memoir and a travel diary, except the landscape he is exploring is his own soul. The compelling spiritual narrative that results is informed by insight, personal reflection, and wide reading. In his own words, it is all about resurrection—now.”
—The Right Reverend Robert Atwell, Bishop of Exeter

“For two millennia, the figure of Jesus has haunted the imagination of spiritual seekers around the world, including many great writers, philosophers, and theologians. It might seem there could be nothing fresh to say about him. Yet in each generation, thoughtful observers find new meaning in his life and teachings, as Jay Parini does in this compelling account. A poet as well as a scholar, Parini delves into the history of the faith he espouses and into the mystery at the core of existence. ‘Jesus was first and foremost a teacher,’ he tells us. The same could be said of the man who wrote this lucid, candid, eloquent book.”
—Scott Russell Sanders, author of Earth Works: Selected Essays

“Jay Parini’s The Way of Jesus is at once learned and down to earth; rueful at one moment and joyous at the next. Above all, this is the author’s own story—dispatches from an authentic, ongoing quest for a more vital and spirit-filled life. Its most memorable elements, for me, are its eloquent meditations on the ecclesiastical year and its culmination in an arresting reading of Eliot’s Four Quartets.”
—John Elder, author of Reading the Mountains of Home

Kirkus Reviews

2018-01-23
A personal look at living through Jesus.Poet and biographer Parini (English and Creative Writing/Middlebury Coll.; Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal, 2015, etc.) provides a slim yet dense volume on what he calls "the way of Jesus." In this attempt to describe the modern life of faith and convince others of its worthiness, the author often falls short. Despite being broken into four distinct chapters, the book is awkwardly structured. Parini begins by telling the story of his faith life, including the usual moments of falling away and a healthy dose of skepticism. The author finally found comfort in modern, liberal Christian theology, and he promotes a "mythic view" of Christianity, which dismisses questions of factual truth and literalism, focusing instead on the larger and more universal truths to be found in Scripture. With this view established, Parini examines the various components of the Christian faith, ranging from the Old and New Testaments to the incarnation. He rejects salvation and resurrection as traditionally understood, arguing instead that Jesus taught "Resurrection Thinking," an ongoing personal renewal. The author moves on to describe the church year from an Anglo-Catholic perspective, and he concludes with a chapter heavily laden with wisdom from T.S. Eliot. As for "the way of Jesus," Parini uses the term widely and defines it in various ways, as "a road," a move toward transformation, "the story of Incarnation," and "a way of life." The author offers a view of Christianity that many readers may find difficult to accept. Steeped in tradition, established prayers, and even the use of rosaries, at the same time it is vague, open-ended, and personalized. "Is Jesus God?" the author asks at one point; "Yes and no," is his answer. Parini presents Christianity as a way of life but not as a path toward truth.A scattershot introduction to Christianity for the skeptical.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171938239
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	03/27/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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