A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good
Digital Logos Edition
In A Public Faith, Miroslav Volf offers his wise perspective on how Christians can, “[Promote] the practice of Christian faith in all spheres of life so that what is broken in our individual lives and cultures can be mended, and we all can flourish as God’s creatures.” Covering such timely issues as witnessing in a multifaith society and political engagement in a pluralistic world, this compelling book highlights things Christians can do to serve the common good.
With Logos Bible Software, this volume is enhanced with cutting-edge research tools. Scripture citations appear on mouseover in your preferred English translation. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Powerful topical searches help you find exactly what you’re looking for. Tablet and mobile apps let you take the discussion with you. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.
A Public Faith was named one of the “Top 100 Books” and one of the “Top 10 Religion Books” of 2011 by Publishers Weekly.
Praise for the Print Edition
Highly original . . . The book deserves a wide audience and is one that will affect its readers well after they have turned the final page.
—Christianity Today
Why should Christians use the resources of their faith to speak to and serve the common good rather than reducing the faith to a message that soothes individuals or energizes them to pursue success? And how can they do that without coercing those who are not Christians? In A Public Faith, Miroslav Volf sets for himself the daunting task of addressing these two deep and urgent questions in a way that is both widely accessible and takes account of the scholarly literature. He succeeds on all counts. It is a wonderful guide for the perplexed in our times.
—Nicholas Wolterstorff, Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology, Yale University
Firmly rooted within his own tradition of Christianity, Miroslav Volf has produced an indispensable guide for voices of faith within the arena of public discourse. A Public Faith is arguably the most important book on the topic since H. Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture.
—Randall Balmer, professor of American religious history, Columbia University
Product Details
- Title: A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good
- Author: Miroslav Volf
- Publisher: Brazos
- Publication Date: 2013
- Pages: 192
About the Author
Miroslav Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School and director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. He has written more than 15 books, including Exclusion and Embrace, After Our Likeness, and The End of Memory.
Top Highlights
“Second, Christian engagement concerns all dimensions of a culture” (Page 97)
“Third, maybe the most difficult challenge for Christians is to actually believe that God is fundamental to human flourishing.” (Page 74)
“A faith that makes a difference is a faith that helps us discern and motivates us to do what is right and excellent” (Page 32)
“Our work can find its ultimate meaning when, in working for ourselves and for community, we work for God.” (Page 34)
“prophets sometimes transform God in their imagination into a caricature of the true divinity” (Page 11)
- Title: A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good
- Author: Miroslav Volf
- Publisher: Brazos
- Print Publication Date: 2011
- Logos Release Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Christian sociology; Common good › Religious aspects--Christianity
- ISBNs: 9781441249890, 9781587432989, 9781587433436, 1441249893, 1587432986, 1587433435
- Resource ID: LLS:PBLCFTHHWFLLWRS
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:10:56Z
Professor Volf is the founding Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. His books include Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation (1996; revised edition, 2019), winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion and named one of Christianity Today’s 100 most important religious books of the 20th Century; Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World (2016); The Home of God: A Brief Story of Everything (2022), co-authored with Ryan McAnnally-Linz; and, most recently, co-authored with Matthew Croasmun and Ryan McAnnally-Linz, Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most (2023).
A member of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. and the Evangelical Church in Croatia, Professor Volf has been involved in international ecumenical dialogues (for instance, with the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity) and interfaith dialogues (including the Muslim and Christian “A Common Word” initiative), as well as a participant in the Global Agenda Council on Values of the World Economic Forum. A native of Croatia, he regularly teaches and lectures in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, and across North America. Amongst his many invited lectureships, he has given the Dudleian Lecture at Harvard University; the Chavasse Lectures at Oxford University; the Waldenstroem Lectures at Stockholm School of Theology; the Gray Lectures at Duke University; the Stob Lectures at Calvin University; and the Cadbury Lectures at the University of Birmingham. In May 2025, he delivered the Gifford Lectures in Aberdeen, UK.