An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith
Barbara Brown Taylor
(Author)
Description
In the New York Times bestseller An Altar in the World, acclaimed author Barbara Brown Taylor continues her spiritual journey by building upon where she left off in Leaving Church. With the honesty of Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) and the spiritual depth of Anne Lamott (Grace, Eventually), Taylor shares how she learned to find God beyond the church walls by embracing the sacred as a natural part of everyday life. In An Altar in the World, Taylor shows us how to discover altars everywhere we go and in nearly everything we do as we learn to live with purpose, pay attention, slow down, and revere the world we live in.
Product Details
Price
$16.99
$15.80
Publisher
HarperOne
Publish Date
February 09, 2010
Pages
240
Dimensions
5.41 X 7.99 X 0.61 inches | 0.43 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9780061370472
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
About the Author
Barbara Brown Taylor is Harry R. Butman Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College in Piedmont, Georgia and Adjunct Professor of Christian Spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. She is the author of many books, including An Altar in the World. She is an at-large editor for The Christian Century and a sometime commentator on Georgia Public Radio.
Reviews
"Taylor writes fluently, with an eye and ear for the striking image and memorable phrase. Many readers, especially the vast numbers of the "unchurched" but "spiritual," will find support and useful counsel."--Library Journal
"Leaving Church settled it for me that Taylor, as thinker and stylist, ranks with the best. The new book confirms that. . . . This book is not a page-turner. It's a page-lingerer. I wore out a highlighter marking passages I want to read again."--Dallas Morning News
"Taylor serves up beefy soul food.. . . Though she did not write the book to speak to the economic crash, those suffering from lost jobs, homes and status will find plenty to feed thought and faith."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Barbara Brown Taylor is a favorite among church members who struggle to connect the sacred and secular, the heavenly and the earthly. These readers appreciate the candor with which she writes about it."--Raleigh News and Observer
"The author seems simply incapable of writing a bad book. . . . Taylor is a great gift to the Christian church. And this volume, which focuses on spiritual practices, simply adds to her growing reputation."--Kansas City Star
"Taylor's spiritual reflections are original, bringing fresh air to her topics because her spirituality is steeped in everyday life while illuminated by the ancient Christian spiritual tradition."--National Catholic Reporter
"Without denigrating altars in churches, Brown helps us discover and honor all the 'altars in the world'--the red Xs that mark the spot, but that we cannot see because we are standing on them. She does so with a depth that readers will appreciate and savor."----U.S. Catholic
"She's deliberately exploring the turf where our feet hit the floorboards each morning - and where the day takes us into the world. Even if you're not a Christian, you'll find a wise friend in Barbara's book."--Read the Spirit
"[A] lovely book. One of the best-known preachers in the country offers equal amounts of wisdom and erudition spent longing for more meaning, more feeling, more connection."--Booklist
"An Altar in the World is a delight to the eyes, mind and heart, a book I will certainly return to again at a later time, if only to remind myself of the spirituality of everyday living."--America Magazine
"Elegant, wise, and insightful, this book is also sacramental: it mediates the life it describes."--Marcus Borg, author of Jesus
"This is the most completely beautiful book in religion that I have read in a very long time. Gentle, humbly crafted, lyrical, and deeply wise, Altar is Barbara Brown Taylor as she was meant to be, a pastor who understands that knowing God occurs in a place beyond theology."--Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence
"Barbara Brown Taylor penetrates the religious clutter. She comforts. She revives our spirits. With lovely words she finds 'alters in our world.'"--The Congregationalist
"This book is the most practical but everyday mystical book I have read on spiritual practices."--Kate Campbell, singer-songwriter
"Overall... if one can read Taylor's insights reflectively, with an eye toward Scripture, Altar will serve as a refreshing reminder that the physical world is designed to help us experience the spiritual one."--ChristianityToday.com
"While I don't like long books, this one could have been 500 pages longer with no complaints from me."--Christian Science Monitor
"A marvelous book. Barbara Brown Taylor's honesty is so fantastic, and she writes with such wit, that this book is a delight to read and a profound experience ."--ExploreFaith
"An Altar in the World is about how faith can be both practical and sensuous. In Barbara Brown Taylor's hands, the old division between heaven and earth is healed and both come alive. Your mind, your body and your soul will be well fed by this wonderful book."--Nora Gallagher, author of Things Seen and Unseen and Changing Light
"Taylor is one of those rare people who truly can see the holy in everything. . . . Savor this book."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"...[H]er honest elegance... express[es] truths that throw open windows in our everyday lives-allowing fresh perspectives on life. You'll finish her book with dozens of pages folded over or marked in some other fashion so you can find and re-read favorite lines again."--Read the Spirit
"Leaving Church settled it for me that Taylor, as thinker and stylist, ranks with the best. The new book confirms that. . . . This book is not a page-turner. It's a page-lingerer. I wore out a highlighter marking passages I want to read again."--Dallas Morning News
"Taylor serves up beefy soul food.. . . Though she did not write the book to speak to the economic crash, those suffering from lost jobs, homes and status will find plenty to feed thought and faith."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Barbara Brown Taylor is a favorite among church members who struggle to connect the sacred and secular, the heavenly and the earthly. These readers appreciate the candor with which she writes about it."--Raleigh News and Observer
"The author seems simply incapable of writing a bad book. . . . Taylor is a great gift to the Christian church. And this volume, which focuses on spiritual practices, simply adds to her growing reputation."--Kansas City Star
"Taylor's spiritual reflections are original, bringing fresh air to her topics because her spirituality is steeped in everyday life while illuminated by the ancient Christian spiritual tradition."--National Catholic Reporter
"Without denigrating altars in churches, Brown helps us discover and honor all the 'altars in the world'--the red Xs that mark the spot, but that we cannot see because we are standing on them. She does so with a depth that readers will appreciate and savor."----U.S. Catholic
"She's deliberately exploring the turf where our feet hit the floorboards each morning - and where the day takes us into the world. Even if you're not a Christian, you'll find a wise friend in Barbara's book."--Read the Spirit
"[A] lovely book. One of the best-known preachers in the country offers equal amounts of wisdom and erudition spent longing for more meaning, more feeling, more connection."--Booklist
"An Altar in the World is a delight to the eyes, mind and heart, a book I will certainly return to again at a later time, if only to remind myself of the spirituality of everyday living."--America Magazine
"Elegant, wise, and insightful, this book is also sacramental: it mediates the life it describes."--Marcus Borg, author of Jesus
"This is the most completely beautiful book in religion that I have read in a very long time. Gentle, humbly crafted, lyrical, and deeply wise, Altar is Barbara Brown Taylor as she was meant to be, a pastor who understands that knowing God occurs in a place beyond theology."--Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence
"Barbara Brown Taylor penetrates the religious clutter. She comforts. She revives our spirits. With lovely words she finds 'alters in our world.'"--The Congregationalist
"This book is the most practical but everyday mystical book I have read on spiritual practices."--Kate Campbell, singer-songwriter
"Overall... if one can read Taylor's insights reflectively, with an eye toward Scripture, Altar will serve as a refreshing reminder that the physical world is designed to help us experience the spiritual one."--ChristianityToday.com
"While I don't like long books, this one could have been 500 pages longer with no complaints from me."--Christian Science Monitor
"A marvelous book. Barbara Brown Taylor's honesty is so fantastic, and she writes with such wit, that this book is a delight to read and a profound experience ."--ExploreFaith
"An Altar in the World is about how faith can be both practical and sensuous. In Barbara Brown Taylor's hands, the old division between heaven and earth is healed and both come alive. Your mind, your body and your soul will be well fed by this wonderful book."--Nora Gallagher, author of Things Seen and Unseen and Changing Light
"Taylor is one of those rare people who truly can see the holy in everything. . . . Savor this book."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"...[H]er honest elegance... express[es] truths that throw open windows in our everyday lives-allowing fresh perspectives on life. You'll finish her book with dozens of pages folded over or marked in some other fashion so you can find and re-read favorite lines again."--Read the Spirit