Shattering Sound of Amazing Grace
Disquieting Tales from St. John's Gospel
by David J. Schlafer
David J. Schlafer, acclaimed preacher, teacher, and writer, weaves words and ideas like a Celtic braid. He places us in the company of some of the people who appear in the Gospel of John - Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the woman taken in adultery, Martha and Mary, the man born blind, the bride and groom at Cana - and examines them in two unusual sources of light:
- The classic line from C. S. Lewis: "Every idea we form of God, God must, in mercy, shatter."
- John Newton's hymn "Amazing Grace".
Schlafer offers refreshment: He helps us refresh our ideas of God. He refreshes the meaning of the well-worn phrase "Amazing Grace," giving it new life and urgency. He refreshes our grasp of John's Gospel by centering on Jesus' interpersonal encounters rather than on the famous discourses, which are too often considered only in the abstract and at the expense of the dramas John narrates. The Shattering Sound of Amazing Grace is an inspired meeting with Jesus and the people of John's Gospel.
