Word Made Fresh: An Invitation to Poetry for the Church

by Abram C. Van Engen

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2024

Overview

Have you ever read a book that turned your world upside down? What about a poem?

Poetry has the power to enliven, challenge, change, and enrich our lives. But it can also feel intimidating, confusing, or simply “not for us.” In these joyful and wise reflections, Abram Van Engen shows readers how poetry is for everyone—and how it can reinvigorate our Christian faith.

Intertwining close readings with personal storytelling, Van Engen explains how and why to read poems as a spiritual practice. Far from dry, academic instruction, his approach encourages readers to delight in poetry, even as they come to understand its form. He also opens up the meaning of poetry and parables in Scripture, revealing the deep connection between literature and theology.

Word Made Fresh is more than a guide to poetry—it’s an invitation to wonder, to speak up, to lament, to praise. Including dozens of poems from diverse authors, this book will inspire curious and thoughtful readers to see God and God’s creation in surprising new ways.

Key Features

• Combines close readings with personal storytelling
• Explains how and why to read poems as a spiritual practice
• Encourages readers to delight in poetry, even as they come to understand its form

Contents

• Table of Contents
• Foreword by Shane McCrae
• Introduction: Poetry Is for Us

Part 1: How?

• 1. Read Personally
• 2. Read for Pleasure
• 3. Ask Questions
• 4. Think of Poetry like Friendship
• 5. Consider Form
• 6. Erase to Discover More

Part 2: Why?

• 7. To Name Creation
• 8. To Tell the Truth
• 9. To Rejoice with Those Who Rejoice
• 10. To Weep with Those Who Weep
• Coda: Poetry in Action
• Study Guide
• Acknowledgments
• Credits
• Indexes

Praise for Word Made Fresh

I’ve never read a book like Word Made Fresh. And I’ve come to realize that it’s a book I’ve been seeking for most of my life. . . . Word Made Fresh is an introduction that stays with its reader beyond the moment of introduction to ensure that the reader can make a home with and in poetry. . . . When I was fifteen, poetry discovered me. And now I feel as if I know it for the first time.

—from the foreword by Shane McCrae

Product Details

• Title: Word Made Fresh: An Invitation to Poetry for the Church
• Author: Abram C. Van Engen
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 298
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Religious poetry, American › History and criticism; Religious poetry, American; Christian poetry, American
• ISBNs: 9780802883605, 0802883605
• Resource ID: LLS:WRDMDFPTRYCHRCH
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-06-13T21:50:56Z

About Abram C. Van Engen

Abram C. Van Engen is associate professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis, where he is also associate professor (by courtesy) at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics.