The Bible and The New York Times
The Bible and the New York Timesis a collection of sermons by Fleming Rutledge, an Episcopal priest with an exceptional ability to engage the shifting stories reported in the contemporary media without losing her firm footing in scripture. She's not a flashy preacher--no rhetorical fireworks here--but her sermons have a quietly urgent style that comes from her fearless interest in some of the most frightening stories in the world. The explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, for example, would not be most preachers' first choice to illustrate an Advent sermon. But for Rutledge, they're a natural and mutually illuminating match, because "Advent is designed to show that the meaning of Christmas is diminished to the vanishing point if we are not willing to take a fearless inventory of the darkness." In his introduction toThe Bible and The New York TimesWilliam Willimon offers a near-perfect summary of what's so difficult and extraordinary about these sermons: "The reason why it's tough speaking of Jesus is much the same reason why they kicked him out after his first sermon at Nazareth--Jesus spoke of and enacted a Good News which assaulted our settled definitions of news."--Michael Joseph Gross--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.