Volf, Miroslav - Exclusion and Embrace

[Kevin Rector]

I read Exclusion and Embrace a few years ago and it's not much of an understatment to say that it radically changed my understanding of my faith. It might be the best book I've ever read.

Miroslav Volf is a professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School. He got his doctoral degree studying under Jurgen Moltmann at Tubigen. He is Croatian and was raised in the context of communist Yugoslavia and his later life encompassed living in a land that was torn apart by civil war between Croats and Serbs.

In this book Volf uses the metaphors of Embrace and it's opposite Exclusion to describe the Christian life. He places the whole conversation within the context of the trinitarian God who is redemptively always making space within Godself for the "other". So then the Christian life is embodied when we redemptively make space within our own lives for the other. We open our arms to embrace the other. It is this will to embrace that is key moreso than the actual embrace. The will to embrace the other (who may well be our enemy) is the image of God on us and as such could literally be said to define our holiness.

This is an fairly academically written book and as such can get a bit dense at times, but it is an incredibly important book. I highly recommend it to anyone who has not read it.

[Jon Twitchell]

Dr. Scot McKnight utilizes Volf quite heavily in his recent book "Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us." Also an important read--and possibly more accessible than Volf (who I have not yet read).

Grace and Peace,

Jon

[Kent Campbell]

I agree with Kevin's assesment of Volf's book Exculsion and Embrace having read it myself. Yes, Volf does make the move that the will to embrace is the key to actual embrace. However, I would say, and I think Volf would agree, that eventhough the will to embrace is key and must be examined first and foremost we cannot just stop at the will. The actual embrace, yes even of our enemies, must take place for full reconcilation to take place. Just as God makes a space with God's self for His enemy, sinful humanity, and does embrace us we too must not only have the will to embrace but make moves to actually embrace.

The Peace of God
Kent Campbell

[Marsha Lynn]

Dr. Scot McKnight utilizes Volf quite heavily in his recent book "Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us." Also an important read--and possibly more accessible than Volf (who I have not yet read).

Grace and Peace,

Jon

I came here to post a review of Scot McKnight's book and this thread caught me eye since I knew that he relied heavily on Volf.

McKnight also gives credit to Ronald Sider for the following:

A holistic gospel:

teaches a ministry that integrates discipleship, evangelism and social action, and works toward both spiritual and social transformation.
supports a spectrum of social action that includes charity, compassion, community development, public policy, and justice advocacy, addressing both individual and systemic sources of human problems.
see ministry as fundamentally relational, seeking to develop long-term relationships with ministry recipients and welcoming them into church fellowship.
views mission as both local and global in scope.


I've enjoyed both books I've encountered by McKnight. (The other is The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others.) In this book, he views God's grace as starting with the world, then applying to the faith community, and only within that community reaching down to individuals. I don't know that he's breaking new ground, but I like the way he pulls together what's happening in the emergent church and presents it in a compelling and accessible manner that sticks with me.

Marsha

[Hans Deventer]

This is an fairly academically written book and as such can get a bit dense at times, but it is an incredibly important book.

I just finished the book and agree on the "fairly academically written". It's like digging in a mine. There certainly is gold to be found but it's hard work.