Toxic Spirituality: Four Enduring Temptations of Christian Faith

by Eric W. Gritsch

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2009

Overview

G.K. Chesterton long ago observed that real Christianity had in some ways never really been tried. Eric Gritsch, a renowned historian, a pastor, and a theologian for half a century, offers Christianity a reality check, exposing four historical movements that have weakened and abused the core of the Christian tradition. These movements represent wayward views on the relationships between Christians and Jews; between the authority of Scripture and tradition; between the church and worldy power; and between faith and morals. Readers encounter these wayward traditions in their historical trajectories, in the ways these traditions have diminished the gospel, and in the ways they have been impediments of an effective contemporary Christian witness. They represent the enduring temptation to be "like God "(Gen. 3:5), a temptation marked by a zeal for secure, unchanging, and ultimate Christian life on Earth. The author confronts these wayward traditions with the enduring challenge of faithful, cruciform, penultimate discipleship in the time between the first and second advent of Christ.

Key Features

• Draws Christians toward responsible Christian faith
• Details how Christians are seduced by "toxic spirituality""
• Illuminates paths out of bad spirituality

Contents

• Anti-Semitism
• Fundamentalism
• Triumphalism
• Moralism

Product Details

• Title: Toxic Spirituality: Four Enduring Temptations of Christian Faith
• Author: Eric W. Gritsch
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 2009
• Logos Release Date: 2016
• Pages: 176
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Religious fanaticism › Christianity; Religious addiction › Christianity; Enthusiasm › Religious aspects--Christianity
• ISBNs: 9780800664411, 0800664418
• Resource ID: LLS:TXCSPRTLTY
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:34:48Z

About Eric W. Gritsch

Eric W. Gritsch (originally Erich Walter Gritsch, April 19, 1931, Neuhaus am Klausenbach) is an American Lutheran ecumenical theologian and Luther scholar.