In this rich book Matthew Levering explores nine key virtues that we need to die (and live) well: love, hope, faith, penitence, gratitude, solidarity, humility, surrender, and courage.Retrieving and e
In this rich book Matthew Levering explores nine key virtues that we need to die (and live) well: love, hope, faith, penitence, gratitude, solidarity, humility, surrender, and courage.
Retrieving and engaging a variety of biblical, theological, historical, and medical resources, Levering journeys through the various stages and challenges of the dying process, beginning with the fear of annihilation and continuing through repentance and gratitude, suffering and hope, before arriving finally at the courage needed to say goodbye to one’s familiar world.
Grounded in careful readings of Scripture, the theological tradition, and contemporary culture,
Dying and the Virtues comprehensively and beautifully shows how these nine virtues effectively unite us with God, the One who alone can conquer death.
J. Todd Billings
— Western Theological Seminary
“I love this book! In Dying and the Virtues Matthew Levering explores the path of discipleship in life’s final chapter with an acute mind and an attentive heart. Many today prefer to push the reality of dying and death to the sidelines until it becomes unavoidable, missing its profound significance for us as individuals, as families, and as the church. Levering gives a compelling theological portrait of how the triune God is at work even amidst fear, suffering, and loss on our mortal journey, bringing life through the crucified and risen Lord.”
David Vincent Meconi, SJ
— Saint Louis University
“St. Paul assures us that whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. In this book Matthew Levering illuminates how death, which may seem like a loss and even an embarrassment, is in Christ actually an invitation to unite oneself to the Eternal One in a way and at a time that the world of the supposed ‘living’ can never really understand.”
Ephraim Radner
— Wycliffe College, University of Toronto
“This is a rich and sophisticated ars moriendi for our time, drawn from the storehouse of the Christian tradition that Levering has been so profoundly exploring over the past years. . . . His focus upon the divine graces of Christian virtue now shaping the fullness of living and dying in Christ provides extraordinary fruit.”
Patrick M. Clark
— University of Scranton
“An extraordinarily erudite and penetrating exploration. . . . Rather than responding to the mystery of death with abstract concepts or schemas, Levering introduces readers into the company of great thinkers and faithful witnesses from across the ages, offering their insights as the wisdom of trustworthy companions rather than the prescriptions of professional experts. This book drives home the central Christian conviction that the only satisfactory response to death is the person of Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice reveals death’s true meaning and whose virtues open the way to eternal life.”
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Matthew Levering holds the James N. and Mary D. Perry Jr. Chair of Theology at Mundelein Seminary and is a longtime participant in Evangelicals and Catholics Together. Among his many other books are Engaging the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit: Love and Gift in the Trinity and the Church and Proofs of God: Classical Arguments from Tertullian to Barth.
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