Overview
What does the atonement mean, practically speaking? How is Christ the answer to a strained relationship with a spouse, child, parent, or sibling? What if I am being mistreated-how can the atonement help me cope with that? How can I discover the desire to repent when I don't feel the need to repent" And how can I invite others to do the same? These are the challenging, difficult questions of daily life, questions to which the gospel must provide answers if it is to have living, cleansing, redeeming power.The Peacegiver is a book about the answers to these questions. Unlike other books about the atonement, The Peacegiver is written as an extended parable. It tells the story of a man struggling, with the help of a loved one, to come unto Christ. IN reading the rich details of his often difficult journey, we find ourselves embarked on a personal journey of our own. His questions are our questions; his problems, our problems; his discoveries, our discoveries. Along the way, the truths of the gospel are unfolded with surprising clarity and power, illuminating aspects of the atonement that few of us have ever heard or considered before. These surprising implications show us the way to deep and lasting peace in our hearts and homes.
"My peace I give unto you," the Savior declared. The Peacegiver explores in a deeply personal way what we must do to receive the peace he stands willing to give.
About the Author:
James L. Ferrell is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Yale Law School. Professionally, he has authored numerous books and serves as managing director of The Arbinger Institute, a renowned management-consulting firm and scholarly consortium that specializes in peacemaking. He and his wife, Jackie, have five children.
Synopsis
What does the atonement mean, practically speaking? How is Christ the answer to a strained relationship with a spouse, child, parent, or sibling? What if I am being mistreated-how can the atonement help me cope with that? How can I discover the desire to repent when I don't feel the need to repent" And how can I invite others to do the same? These are the challenging, difficult questions of daily life, questions to which the gospel must provide answers if it is to have living, cleansing, redeeming power.
The Peacegiver is a book about the answers to these questions. Unlike other books about the atonement, The Peacegiver is written as an extended parable. It tells the story of a man struggling, with the help of a loved one, to come unto Christ. IN reading the rich details of his often difficult journey, we find ourselves embarked on a personal journey of our own. His questions are our questions; his problems, our problems; his discoveries, our discoveries. Along the way, the truths of the gospel are unfolded with surprising clarity and power, illuminating aspects of the atonement that few of us have ever heard or considered before. These surprising implications show us the way to deep and lasting peace in our hearts and homes.
"My peace I give unto you," the Savior declared. The Peacegiver explores in a deeply personal way what we must do to receive the peace he stands willing to give.
About the Author:
James L. Ferrell is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Yale Law School. Professionally, he has authored numerous books and serves as managing director of The Arbinger Institute, a renowned management-consulting firm and scholarly consortium that specializes in peacemaking. He and his wife, Jackie, have five children.
Publishers Weekly
Rick is a believer in Christ and father of four, but his marriage is locked in a miserable death spiral of petty arguments and wounded pride. Rick is crushed with self-pity and resentment toward his wife when his deceased grandfather begins visiting him in dreams in an effort to bring him to the peace and forgiveness promised by Christ. This homiletic storytelling in a nonfiction book may not work for everyone, but the sermon embedded in the tale is terrific. Ferrell offers powerful interpretations of two Old Testament stories: the relatively obscure encounter between David and Abigail (wife of Nabal) that takes place in 1 Samuel, and the better-known story of Jonah and Nineveh. In both, Ferrell finds archetypes of Christ and evidence of how the atonement is designed to make it as easy as possible for us to forgive others and thereby attain our own peace and salvation. The genius of this little book is to weave biblical insights back into the story of modern-day Rick and his wife-to show how moments of forgiveness not only stay life-and-death battles, but also the daily battles that lead to bitter estrangements of loved ones. Both the protagonist and the author are LDS (Mormon), but the book is easily accessible to anyone seeking insights to the core Christian doctrine of the atonement.