Anglican Communion - General & Miscellaneous, General & Miscellaneous Christian Theology, Prayer-books & Devotional Literature - Christianity, Faith, Christianity - General & Miscellaneous, Psychology & Self-Improvement - Christian Life, Spiritual Life -

A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life

Name: A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life
Author: William Law
ISBN: 9780486498003

by William Law, J.H. Overton (Preface by)

Available on Bookshop Write a review

Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.

Overview

One of the most remarkable books of devotion ever written, this examination of the Christian life continues to resonate with readers 300 years after its initial publication. Praised by readers as varied as Samuel Johnson, Edward Gibbon, and John Wesley, the book offers reflections on prayer, personal holiness, and charity.

Synopsis

One of the most remarkable books of devotion ever written, this examinationof the Christian life continues to resonate with readers 300 years after its initialpublication. Praised by readers as varied as Samuel Johnson,Edward Gibbon, and John Wesley, the book offers reflections onprayer, personal holiness, and charity.Reprint of the Macmillan and Co. Limited, London, 1898 edition

About the Author, William Law

Born in 1924, William Sloane Coffin, Jr.'s young life of wealth and comfort was suddenly rearranged by the death of his father in 1933. A series of moves led mother and children first to California and then to Europe. As a boy, Coffin's first ambition was to be a concert pianist. In Paris he was able to study with Nadia Boulanger and later in Geneva met Ignacy Paderewski.
When World War II erupted, the family returned to the United States, and Coffin attended Phillips Academy in Andover, graduating into an army uniform. As an officer he used his linguistic skills in intelligence work. After the war he attended Yale University, alma mater to his father and grandfather, and later studied at Union Theological Seminary in New York City with Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich. Uncertain of a calling to the ministry, he left Union for the newly organized CIA and was assigned to Europe.
He eventually settled on a career as a minister and returned to Yale as chaplain, where he held the university pulpit for seventeen years. During the 1960s and 1970s a great thirst for social justice energized Coffin, and he led vigorous protests against both the evils of segregation and the Vietnam War. He has remained a social activist and protester to this day.
From 1977 to 1987 Coffin was pastor of Riverside Church in Manhattan. From this pulpit, his well-earned fame as a preacher of great power and conviction spread nationwide. No one in 1983 who heard him preach the eulogy for his son, Alex, shortly after he died in an auto accident, could ever doubt either his courage or the depth of his confidence in the abiding presence of God's grace.
Reverend Coffin currently lives a life of active retirement in Strafford, Vermont

John F. Thorton is a literary agent, former book editor, and the coeditor, with Katharine Washburn, of Dumbing Down (1996) and Tongues of Angels, Tongues of Men: A Book of Sermons (1999). He lives in New York City.

Susan B. Varenne is a New York City high-school teacher with a strong avocational interest in and wide experience of spiritual literature (M.A., The University of Chicago Divinity School; Ph. D., Columbia University).

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Publishers Weekly

William Law, the 18th-century Anglican priest who heavily influenced the theology of John and Charles Wesley, lambastes pious hypocrisy and the corruption of the church in A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, the latest reissue in Vintage' s Spiritual Classics series. Law' s prose is fresh and vivid as he illustrates the holy Christian life as one lived wholly for God. His thoughts on prayer, personal holiness and service to the poor will resonate with many contemporary readers. (Aug. 13) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.