The Divine Embrace

I am a reader, I like to read no less than one to two books per month, I often juggle several books at once, I always wish I could read more, however, more often then not I find that I get only tidbits from most books. Not so with Webber’s “Divine Embrace.” This is one of those books that sums up a lifetime of theological thought. Perhaps because he wrote it on his deathbed, it is just that. I can usually make my way through a book rather quickly, but not this one. Each section and each chapter requires time out to contemplate its content.

If you are a Christian who suspects that our western faith needs some correction, then I strongly recommend this book to you. In this book Webber gets at the heart of our problem, and that is a truncated spirituality that more often than not leads to a schoziphrenic Christianity. He points out many of the errors that the Eastern Church has identified as endemic in the west for centuries. Since he is a western Christian has an advantage, he knows where the bones are buried. He is personally intimate with the symptoms or our illness. Because of this intimacy, he freely quotes authors that have formed the foundation of what is flawed in the west and connects the dots to where we are today, and then drops a bridge back a place where these faults are not presents. If this book is read with a contemplative mind, it will surely leave the reader with a new spirituality, as well as a new appreciation for the early church, its faith, and its practices. In fact, it may even draw you into such a life.