Beebe Launches New Book With Campus Signing
For thousands of years, individuals and societies have sought to know God in many ways. A new book by Richard J. Foster and Westmont President Gayle D. Beebe, “Longing for God: Seven Paths of Spiritual Devotion,” explores the primary approaches developed throughout Christian history. The authors believe that no single path is the Christian path to the exclusion of others — and that no single path is sufficient for every person.
Celebrate the April 3 release of “Longing for God” by attending a book signing Friday, April 3, from 2-4 p.m. on Magnolia Lawn at Westmont. The book will be on sale at the discounted price of $20 (which includes tax; cash or check only), and both Foster and Beebe will be on hand to sign it. The event is free and open to the public.
“Reading ‘Longing for God’ is like stepping into an unfamiliar room and finding a wonderful group of vital and brilliant brothers and sisters in the way of Christ, reaching out to us from across the ages and from all kinds of personal characteristics and circumstances,” says Dallas Willard, author of “The Divine Conspiracy.” “We need to reach back and let them help us to know the fullness of life in the kingdom of God for who and where we are now.”
The approaches described in the book have provided millions of people with the guidance they need to make sense of their own life and to enlighten their own spiritual journey. Each chapter presents a path from the perspective of classic spiritual writers whose work has endured over time. Beebe provides the historical context and introduces the thoughts of three to four individuals (such as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther and John Wesley), and Foster reflects on their writings and ends each section with a prayer.
“Unlike our biological existence, where our DNA unfolds through a natural progression, our spiritual DNA must develop through deliberate effort and practice,” the authors say in their introduction. “All spiritual disciplines require care to produce growth and progress.”
As a student at George Fox University, Beebe studied under Foster, who is best known for his book “Celebration of Discipline.” Over the years the two have collaborated in both writing and teaching and worked together on the acclaimed Renovaré Study Bible.
The publisher of “Longing for God,” InterVarsity Press, will also release seven foreign-language editions in April: Chinese, Croatian, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish, with editions in Afrikaans, English-South Africa, French and Swedish to follow later this year or in 2010.