How Then Shall We Live?: Christian Engagement With Contemporary Issues

by Samuel Wells

The world constantly throws up new challenges about what it means to be Christian and to live a distinctively Christian lifestyle. The priest, broadcaster, writer and ethicist Samuel Wells considers some of the biggest contemporary political, social and moral challenges and grapples with them in the light of Christian hope and wisdom.

Under three headings – Engaging the World, Being Human, and Facing Mortality – he probes a wide range of issues including the rise of religious extremism, migration, ecology, social media, sexual identities, inequality, obesity, life stages from childhood to old age, dementia, facing death and much more.

This striking and profoundly wise book sets out to shape a theological imagination and fluency that is grounded in the reality of being human in a suffering world and yet open to transformation by the life and wisdom of God.

185 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Samuel Wells (PhD, University of Durham) is vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Anglican Church at Trafalgar Square in London. He previously served as dean of the chapel and research professor of Christian ethics at Duke University. Wells is the author of several books, including Be Not Afraid, Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics, and Transforming Fate into Destiny: The Theological Ethics of Stanley Hauerwas. He also coedited, with Stanley Hauerwas, The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics.

Reviews

[Drew]

Quite an important read. We Christians say the Lord’s Prayer frequently, usually by rote. It contains the phrase “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. When we are faced by the need to make a decision regarding anything (politics, money, activities), do we take into account the will of God shown to us by Jesus? This book, by Samuel Wells, is a series of essays on 28 current issues, ranging from politics, migration, family, marriage, obesity to dementia and death, setting forth Well’s views as an Anglican priest of how to discern God’s will with respect to each of those issues. Walter Brueggemann, one of my heroes, says of Wells “the liveliest, most agile, best informed, critically disciplined mind in the entire Christian community.”

[Michael King]

This book manages to be approachable, compassionate and engaging without giving up on theological rigor or depth. I would definitely recommend for christians who don't like more technical theology but are looking for a deeper understanding of how to think about contemporary issues.

[Andrea K.]

Current Cultural Issues

This is a scoping document on about 20 issues people should know about, with emphasis on Christianity and God. Quite open minded, inviting further dialogue in a group.