Unclean

Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality
Cover of the book Unclean by Richard Beck, Wipf and Stock Publishers
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Richard Beck ISBN: 9781621890102
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers Publication: March 4, 2011
Imprint: Cascade Books Language: English
Author: Richard Beck
ISBN: 9781621890102
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Publication: March 4, 2011
Imprint: Cascade Books
Language: English

I desire mercy, not sacrifice. Echoing Hosea, Jesus defends his embrace of the unclean in the Gospel of Matthew, seeming to privilege the prophetic call to justice over the Levitical pursuit of purity. And yet, as missional faith communities are well aware, the tensions and conflicts between holiness and mercy are not so easily resolved. At every turn, it seems that the psychological pull of purity and holiness tempts the church into practices of social exclusion and a Gnostic flight from the world into a too spiritual spirituality. Moreover, the psychology of purity often lures the church into what psychologists call The Macbeth Effect, the psychological trap that tempts us into believing that ritual acts of cleansing can replace moral and missional engagement. Finally, time after time, wherever we see churches regulating their common life with the idiom of dirt, disgust, and defilement, we find a predictable wake of dysfunction: ruined self-images, social stigma, and communal conflict. In an unprecedented fusion of psychological science and theological scholarship, Richard Beck describes the pernicious (and largely unnoticed) effects of the psychology of purity upon the life and mission of the church.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

I desire mercy, not sacrifice. Echoing Hosea, Jesus defends his embrace of the unclean in the Gospel of Matthew, seeming to privilege the prophetic call to justice over the Levitical pursuit of purity. And yet, as missional faith communities are well aware, the tensions and conflicts between holiness and mercy are not so easily resolved. At every turn, it seems that the psychological pull of purity and holiness tempts the church into practices of social exclusion and a Gnostic flight from the world into a too spiritual spirituality. Moreover, the psychology of purity often lures the church into what psychologists call The Macbeth Effect, the psychological trap that tempts us into believing that ritual acts of cleansing can replace moral and missional engagement. Finally, time after time, wherever we see churches regulating their common life with the idiom of dirt, disgust, and defilement, we find a predictable wake of dysfunction: ruined self-images, social stigma, and communal conflict. In an unprecedented fusion of psychological science and theological scholarship, Richard Beck describes the pernicious (and largely unnoticed) effects of the psychology of purity upon the life and mission of the church.

More books from Wipf and Stock Publishers

Cover of the book The Passion of the Infant Christ by Richard Beck
Cover of the book Nurturing Different Dreams by Richard Beck
Cover of the book For the Love of God by Richard Beck
Cover of the book New Testament Foundations by Richard Beck
Cover of the book The Living Legacy by Richard Beck
Cover of the book Religion in the Anthropocene by Richard Beck
Cover of the book Blessed Peacemakers by Richard Beck
Cover of the book Trust in an Age of Arrogance by Richard Beck
Cover of the book The Domestication of Martin Luther King Jr. by Richard Beck
Cover of the book Divine Presence by Richard Beck
Cover of the book Lovingkindness by Richard Beck
Cover of the book Formation for Life by Richard Beck
Cover of the book The Future of Love by Richard Beck
Cover of the book Teach from the Heart by Richard Beck
Cover of the book Out of Exodus by Richard Beck
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy