Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology

"Christ Plays" is the opening salvo in Eugene Peterson's multivolume series on "spiritual theology." Peterson aims to recover the word "spiritual" for Christians out of the popular but vague fog it frequently refers to in contemporary culture. He wants to rejoin "spiritual" with "theology." When Peterson unites the two, he envisions a Christian faith that is robustly practical and unapologetically biblical. Spiritual theology is not solely for monks or academics; it's for everyday disciples of Jesus. Peterson allows each section of the book to grow out of specific "grounding texts," biblical stories that shape the arenas of creation, history, and community. But these grounding texts are not a mere verse here or parable there. They are entire biblical books - Deuteronomy or Acts, for instance. Peterson masterfully navigates us through the details of their respective landscapes while never losing sight of the broader horizon. In fact, I was regularly amazed throughout "Christ Plays" by how Peterson managed to focus the reader not only on the story at hand (Acts, for example) but also on the sweep of the entire biblical story. "Chris Plays" demands multiple return visits.

Eugene Peterson is a fabulous Teacher and writter. This book came into my life at exactly the right time. i needed to be reminded that the Physical Church that i attend is filled with people just like me, broken from not knowing. I grewn up in an era where it's not been a good thing to be Christian and all of what that means. This has been deeply influencing the church for a long time now, as pastors and teachers fear telling The Truth of Father Son and Holy Spirit will not be looked on favorably. Now we have a population of people starving for The Truth, unable to love or be loved because we haven't a clue as to what it looks like. Mr Peterson brings it all back home, settles it down, puts it in words we can understand and do. i've given this book to a few and they are strengthened to go love the unlovable and Tell The Truth and set others free.

This is the best nonfiction book I've read in 10 years. Though I have friends who tsk-tsk, I like to mark up my books. And I have underlined a phrase or sentence on nearly every page of this hefty volume. "A conversation in spiritual theology." I didn't know what to expect from this subtitle. Here's what I got: an engaging overview of basic Christian theology presented in conversational tone and with practical application that isn't just "tacked on" but is integral to the theology itself. In his introduction, Peterson explains, " `Spiritual' keeps `theology' from degenerating into merely thinking and talking and writing about God at a distance. `Theology' keeps `spiritual' from becoming merely thinking and talking and writing about the feelings and thoughts one has about God." What Peterson has done is quite difficult to pull off. This material seems fresh to me --- steeped in Christianity since childhood; at the same time I would heartily recommend it to any serious seeker (serious enough not to be intimidated by 350 pages) looking for a foundational book on Christianity. There's nothing complicated here; the material is straightforward and clear. In the first 35 pages, called "Clearing the Playing Field," Peterson tells some critically basic biblical stories and defines terms (spirituality, Jesus, soul, and fear-of-the-Lord) that set the stage for his three-part drama of how we live out our faith (1) in creation, (2) in history, and (3) in community. The outline is very well executed, with each of the three parts showing how Jesus lived out the dynamic. Then Peterson discusses a converse "threat" (Gnosticism, moralism, sectarianism) before delving into a "grounding" Old and New Testament text, and finally showing two ways Christians can and should live out their faith in this particular realm --- in creation, by keeping Sabbath rest and appreciating "wonder"; in history, by participating in the Eucharist and practicing hospitality; in community, by baptism and love. The book is full of information: derivations and definitions of words --- "The Hebrew word shabba...simply means, `Quit...Stop...Take a break' " --- and analyses of passages: "The story of Jesus' death as told by St. Mark is a sharply etched dramatic sequence of twelve scenes" that he explicates. But the information serves a larger purpose, walking us toward inspiration and kindly exhortation. One of Peterson's more interesting discussions regards hospitality --- not, as you might think, in the context of "community" but in the context of "history." "Given the prominence of the Supper in our worshiping lives, the prominence of meals in the Jesus work of salvation, it is surprising how little notice is given among us to the relationship between the Meal and our meals." He discusses how and why our lives and our mealtimes have been depersonalized. But historically, "a meal engages personal participation at the most base level of our lives." And hospitality draws us out of o

There are way too many books on Christian spirituality that do lip service (or no service) to an informed biblical theology. I gratefully report that Peterson's work is a wonderfully composed addition to the conversation on spirituality from a soundly biblical perspective. Peterson lays the groundwork for this first of a proposed five volume set on spiritual theology, by defining the terms he uses, setting the stage from the grounding texts from which he will work out his theology of the spiritual life, etc... The book's sections are long (only three chapters for a 338 page text), but he takes his primary ideas of Christ in creation, history and community and formats each section against the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. In each chapter, Peterson then deals with the main threat against each of these facets of spirituality, includes two grounding texts per chapter to elaborate on the spiritual aspect- one from the OT and one from the NT and then develops the implications of life in these realms. Most of the books on spirituality that I have read are merely footnotes on the classics (John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Bernard of Clairveuax, Blaise Pascal, Francois Fenelon, etc...). Peterson's work is original, brilliantly developed, creative, readable, practical and (for you preachers) quotable!! This WILL BE a modern classic!!

I have been searching for 50 years for a cogent explanation of the spiritual life. I have found that in Eugene Peterson's magisterial book, "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places." I hope if you make the time to read this book, you also will be edified by his remarkable insights into the proper way to live the Christian life. His observations into North American abuses of spirituality are right on target. His explanation of Deuteronomy is breathtaking. Most excitingly, this is merely the first of a planned five-book series. I particularly appreciate his refusal to adopt the American Calvinist mentality that says all effort and all failure is our responsibility. That false understanding has infected the Roman Catholic church since the 17th century. His appreciation of creation and our celebration of creation in wotrship, his deep understanding of history's failures and our acceptance of those failures in sacrifice are two of the most powerful sections of a book I have been rereading all winter and spring and summer.