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The Great Dance: The Christian Vision Revisited
The Great Dance is astonishing vision of human life and the mystery of its intersection with the life of the Triune God. Dr. Kruger charts a course from the Trinity to the incarnation to the union of humanity with God in Jesus Christ. In that light he offers a breathtaking interpretation of our human existence as participation in the life of the Father, Son and Spirit. He uncovers the untold dignity of our ordinary humanity--from motherhood to baseball, from relationships and music to golf, gardening and designing lakes. This is a book about who we are and why we are here and what is really happening in our lives. Step by step, Dr. Kruger walks us through the stratagems of evil and the messes we make of our lives. More important, he explains why we hurt, what we are really after and how to get there, and why faith in Jesus Christ is so critical for abundant life. The Great Dance is theology at its very best--steeped in tradition, yet unfamiliar and exciting, even revolutionary; deeply personal and honest, yet universally relevant. Written with pace and poetry and winsome grace, The Great Dance is the voice of the ancient church speaking to us across the ages through the pen of a Southerner who loves life. Baxter Kruger (PhD, Kings College, University of Aberdeen) is a theologian, writer, and fishing lure designer. A native of Prentiss, Mississippi, he has worked as a minister to college students, as a lecturer in theology, and as an associate pastor. He is an avid fisherman and golfer, loves coaching little league baseball and has designed a range of fishing lures called "Dr. K's Klones". He and his wife Beth have three children -- Baxter, Laura and Kathryn.
124 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
65 people are currently reading
295 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
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September 14, 2024Interesting bits but not that invested.
August 21, 2024
Loved this book! Could be life-changing.
It’s short but could have been even shorter! The last 30 pages-ish felt redundant and not necessary.
It’s short but could have been even shorter! The last 30 pages-ish felt redundant and not necessary.
May 15, 2024
Beautiful book with a beautiful vision of both the incarnation and Christian living. It got repetitive at times, but the experientially true and theologically sound content more than made up for it. This is one I'll look back on and say, "That book changed my life."
October 12, 2018
There's a lot to like about this little book - beautiful and impassioned writing, a style that is approachable to anyone without a theological education or even a background with the Bible, and a willingness to challenge a lot of commonly held conceptions in an effort to wake up Western Christians. Kruger is also clearly well-read and intelligent, with influences ranging from Athanasius, to Calvin, to the Torrance brothers.
My only wish is that Kruger would have balanced this account of theology with a more robust explanation of the cross. In an effort to 'correct' the imbalance in Western theology of focusing almost exclusively on atonement (an effort I resonate deeply with), he pulls the lever hard on 'incarnation' and 'Trinity.' I fear that the pendulum simply swings a bit too far in the opposite direction, though, and could have been a very strong, well-rounded account, if he would have given as much attention to the cross itself as the Gospel writers and Paul.
That being said, for someone entrenched in Western-Reformed theological thinking, this little book packs quite a punch and could be a breath of fresh air. I would easily recommend it to anyone in that position, especially someone for whom that thought-system is running dry.
My only wish is that Kruger would have balanced this account of theology with a more robust explanation of the cross. In an effort to 'correct' the imbalance in Western theology of focusing almost exclusively on atonement (an effort I resonate deeply with), he pulls the lever hard on 'incarnation' and 'Trinity.' I fear that the pendulum simply swings a bit too far in the opposite direction, though, and could have been a very strong, well-rounded account, if he would have given as much attention to the cross itself as the Gospel writers and Paul.
That being said, for someone entrenched in Western-Reformed theological thinking, this little book packs quite a punch and could be a breath of fresh air. I would easily recommend it to anyone in that position, especially someone for whom that thought-system is running dry.
January 27, 2012
I just finished reading this book for the 2nd time. For me this book ranks right up there with The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. One of the things I appreciate most about C. Baxter Kruger's approach in this book is how he continually drives home the point - There is nothing you have to do to win your salvation, Jesus did that through his incarnation, death and resurrection. We have been included in The Great Dance simply because of the love of the Trinity and yet we spend a lifetime learning to accept this to be the case while we try to figure out how to earn our way into the circle.
November 9, 2013
Love this book - reading it again for a group study. Getting just as much out of it and more the 2nd time through.
I must say again - Love this book. Enjoying so much going through it and discussing it.
I must say again - Love this book. Enjoying so much going through it and discussing it.
May 21, 2015
So full of truth and joy !
This book opened my eyes to so many things in my Christian walk and I treasure what God ,Jesus and the Holy Spirit have shown me about the great dance_ want to be right in the middle of it always and forever!"
This book opened my eyes to so many things in my Christian walk and I treasure what God ,Jesus and the Holy Spirit have shown me about the great dance_ want to be right in the middle of it always and forever!"
February 26, 2021
Fantastic, joyful, and practical look at the life of the Trinity and how our salvation brings us into this joyful fellowship. I could go on and on, but simply put, it's a great book for theologian and layperson alike to find joy in this neglected doctrine.
My only hang up is that Kruger doesn't explain union with Christ with enough depth. The HOW we're united with the Trinity is important, but he doesn't fully explain how that comes about. He loosely says that since Christ created and sustains creation, creation is automatically tied to what Christ does. This - I think, though Baxter never says this - leads to universalism, and cuts out the nuance of being covenanted with Christ.
That is a pretty big issue, however, the book as a whole is so good, needed, and approachable that I can't recommend it enough.
My only hang up is that Kruger doesn't explain union with Christ with enough depth. The HOW we're united with the Trinity is important, but he doesn't fully explain how that comes about. He loosely says that since Christ created and sustains creation, creation is automatically tied to what Christ does. This - I think, though Baxter never says this - leads to universalism, and cuts out the nuance of being covenanted with Christ.
That is a pretty big issue, however, the book as a whole is so good, needed, and approachable that I can't recommend it enough.
January 1, 2018
One of the top books I've read this year. I'm writing this review 11 months after I read it and am still working through the implications for life and ministry as a result of reading it. Baxter does an amazing job of starting us off at the right place and in the right direction. How could we start out anywhere else but in the heart of the Great Dance of the Trinity? And from there we see the triune love working its way into our darkness in order to rescue in restore. Contrasting that to the myths and legends we choose to live by sets us up for the battle we all internally face and the one we are called on to fight with the Spirit in others. Read this book and let it sink in.
December 5, 2023
The Great Dance: The Christian Vision Revisited, by C. Baxter Kruger
Nothing wrong with the book, the content is fine, but there is nothing new for readers in 2022. Today it now reads like an attempt to help Evangelicals broaden their understanding of God’s love to us in our community.
It just became a snooze-fest after a third of the way through. ***
“They are not the real dingo.” (p7) … ? Weird language
This quote is cool: “The incarnation is the staggering act of this God reaching out to share their great dance with us.” (p12)
Nothing wrong with the book, the content is fine, but there is nothing new for readers in 2022. Today it now reads like an attempt to help Evangelicals broaden their understanding of God’s love to us in our community.
It just became a snooze-fest after a third of the way through. ***
“They are not the real dingo.” (p7) … ? Weird language
This quote is cool: “The incarnation is the staggering act of this God reaching out to share their great dance with us.” (p12)
December 5, 2020
What a beautiful book. I am often intimidated by theological books and was nervous to start this book. It is on my required reading list for a class so I didn’t have a choice. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised by the way in which the author writes about the Trinity, includes relevant stories and ties it all to our current wrestlings. I will definitely recommend this book!
August 23, 2024
God in Trinity Desires We All Know Jesus Has Come To Join All In Dance Of The Trinity
The writer brings the whole truth of how we all are joined as named persons in the reconciliation of every human in harmony of joy and the Holy Spirit bringing all humans to the truth of how all of us are in the communion of the dance of the Trinity.
The writer brings the whole truth of how we all are joined as named persons in the reconciliation of every human in harmony of joy and the Holy Spirit bringing all humans to the truth of how all of us are in the communion of the dance of the Trinity.
December 30, 2024
The first few chapters of this book blew my little mind and really helped me conceptualize better the significance of the incarnation and the God-with-us. The last chapter started comparing our soul states to a roux and I just *could not handle it*
May 26, 2019
Life changing!
August 1, 2019
Beautiful work by Baxter
Baxter explains the gospel of Jesus through the lense of seeing the heart of the Trinity and their desire to share their circle of relationship with us.
Baxter explains the gospel of Jesus through the lense of seeing the heart of the Trinity and their desire to share their circle of relationship with us.
July 9, 2021
Powerful Read
c Baxter Krueger did a great job reflecting the heart and passion of the ground God will definitely be reading all of his writings!
c Baxter Krueger did a great job reflecting the heart and passion of the ground God will definitely be reading all of his writings!
July 25, 2023
a must read for every christian
August 2, 2023
Grandiose claims. Errant. Save your money
January 19, 2024
Baxter Kruger has the ability to connect me to the depths of my vulnerability in union with the beautiful Trinity. It's sublime, I love it.
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January 21, 2025For grad school
January 22, 2025
4.5
Reading this for a class, and I absolutely loved most of it.
Reading this for a class, and I absolutely loved most of it.
August 3, 2025
Goldddd
December 11, 2025
Started reading ... not sure this one is for me...
Read
December 31, 2025Such Beautiful Truth. Baxter Kruger's teachings are phenomenal!
January 29, 2026
An enthusiastic, brief read. It expanded my thinking of the exuberance and vibrancy of the Trinity and how Christians can enter into that.
August 24, 2019
In this book, Baxter discusses the overarching foundation and purpose for creation and why we are here. Essentially, life is about participation in the life and family of the Trinity, which we were born into and don't have to figure out how to achieve or earn.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who's wondered about their purpose or why God created all this stuff, or anyone interested in Trinitarian theology.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who's wondered about their purpose or why God created all this stuff, or anyone interested in Trinitarian theology.
April 4, 2013
LOVE this book.
Five Main Points:
~Logic of the Universe
~Why Jesus Came and What He Accomplished
~The Darkness and How the Dance is Distorted
~Faith and the Release of the Dance
~How We See Ourselves and Who We Really Are
The Book’s Message: There is something grand and wonderful running through the scenes of our lives. We are part of something magnificent like an invisible flowing river. We are part of a great dance. “The central passion of the human heart is to be filled with the great dance, and the chief and maddening riddle of human life is to understand what the dance is and how to live in it.”
Do we find it in religion? We frequently observe that many devoted “religious types” know a lot about the Bible. They talk a lot about God, but they are as joyful and interesting as fence posts.
Their life witness seems to imply that we must make a choice between God and life, between God and joy, between God and the great dance. Tragically
they have missed the point.
The truth is: God is not abstract. The Trinity is not three “religious types” sitting around in some room in heaven. The Trinity is life shared~ life that is full, rich, and beautiful. The invisible flowing river begins in the fellowship of the Trinity. The great dance is the life shared by the Father, Son, and Spirit~a great dance in
which we can choose to participate.
Excerpt Pages 87-88:
Before the universe came to be, before the heavens were called forth with stars and moons, there was the great dance of life shared by the Father, Son and Spirit.
Before the earth was carved in infinite beauty and human life was fashioned with style and grace and glory, before there was anything, there was the great dance of life shared by the Father, Son and Spirit. In staggering and lavish love, this God determined to open the circle and share the Trinitarian life with others.
As an act of mind-boggling and astounding philanthropy, the Father, Son and Spirit chose to create human beings and share the great dance with them. It was never intended that the fulfillment of this plan would be left in Adam’s hands or ours.
From the beginning, from before the beginning, the gift was given in and through Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 1:8-9). He was always destined to come and work out our adoption (Ephesians 1:3-5). And that is what happened. The Son of God stepped out of eternity into history and carried out the eternal purpose of God for us (Ephesians 3: 11). Jesus has done it.
We have been blessed, Paul tells us, with every conceivable blessing in Jesus Christ. The very life of the Triune God, the communion and fellowship, the eternal joy and fullness and glory of the Father, Son and Spirit have been given to us. The great dance is now ours, as much as it is God’s. It is the invisible river running through our lives and through all things. The beauty of a given morning, the smile of a daughter saying everything that needs to be said, a cup of coffee with an old friend, the passion of love, the peace of fishing in the shadows of a dying day. It is all poetry in motion – the great dance being played out through the scenes of our lives.
Five Main Points:
~Logic of the Universe
~Why Jesus Came and What He Accomplished
~The Darkness and How the Dance is Distorted
~Faith and the Release of the Dance
~How We See Ourselves and Who We Really Are
The Book’s Message: There is something grand and wonderful running through the scenes of our lives. We are part of something magnificent like an invisible flowing river. We are part of a great dance. “The central passion of the human heart is to be filled with the great dance, and the chief and maddening riddle of human life is to understand what the dance is and how to live in it.”
Do we find it in religion? We frequently observe that many devoted “religious types” know a lot about the Bible. They talk a lot about God, but they are as joyful and interesting as fence posts.
Their life witness seems to imply that we must make a choice between God and life, between God and joy, between God and the great dance. Tragically
they have missed the point.
The truth is: God is not abstract. The Trinity is not three “religious types” sitting around in some room in heaven. The Trinity is life shared~ life that is full, rich, and beautiful. The invisible flowing river begins in the fellowship of the Trinity. The great dance is the life shared by the Father, Son, and Spirit~a great dance in
which we can choose to participate.
Excerpt Pages 87-88:
Before the universe came to be, before the heavens were called forth with stars and moons, there was the great dance of life shared by the Father, Son and Spirit.
Before the earth was carved in infinite beauty and human life was fashioned with style and grace and glory, before there was anything, there was the great dance of life shared by the Father, Son and Spirit. In staggering and lavish love, this God determined to open the circle and share the Trinitarian life with others.
As an act of mind-boggling and astounding philanthropy, the Father, Son and Spirit chose to create human beings and share the great dance with them. It was never intended that the fulfillment of this plan would be left in Adam’s hands or ours.
From the beginning, from before the beginning, the gift was given in and through Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 1:8-9). He was always destined to come and work out our adoption (Ephesians 1:3-5). And that is what happened. The Son of God stepped out of eternity into history and carried out the eternal purpose of God for us (Ephesians 3: 11). Jesus has done it.
We have been blessed, Paul tells us, with every conceivable blessing in Jesus Christ. The very life of the Triune God, the communion and fellowship, the eternal joy and fullness and glory of the Father, Son and Spirit have been given to us. The great dance is now ours, as much as it is God’s. It is the invisible river running through our lives and through all things. The beauty of a given morning, the smile of a daughter saying everything that needs to be said, a cup of coffee with an old friend, the passion of love, the peace of fishing in the shadows of a dying day. It is all poetry in motion – the great dance being played out through the scenes of our lives.
November 2, 2009
Deeply theological w/o being academic... I think that's exactly what many of the "churched" need. It was refreshing, stirring, inspirational, and poetic in parts. I'm still chewing on parts. I don't feel like I had to agree with everything to appreciate its value.
"Jesus has already united us with the Trinitarian life of God. And that means that our inclusion in the great dance of life shared by the Father, Son and Spirit is not now a goal to be achieved, a dream for us to attain some day later when we finally get our religion right. It means that there is far more going on in our lives right now than we ever dreamed. There is, in truth, nothing ordinary about us or our lives at all."
"Jesus has already united us with the Trinitarian life of God. And that means that our inclusion in the great dance of life shared by the Father, Son and Spirit is not now a goal to be achieved, a dream for us to attain some day later when we finally get our religion right. It means that there is far more going on in our lives right now than we ever dreamed. There is, in truth, nothing ordinary about us or our lives at all."
May 10, 2013
Loved the idea of living our lives in joy which comes as a result of living in union with the trinity. Our assurance needs to be tied into this union with the trinity. When we are assured of this union we are more inclined to live lives in deep relationship with the Father, Son and Spirit. Challenged me to seek joy, to see all of my relationships in light of this great dance and to be assured of my relationship in the trinity.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews