Dying to See You!
Light Tetramorphic Essays on Life, Love, and Death
- Christian Living
- Publisher: Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
This book combines serious theology and humor, in the spirit of G. K. Chesterton. Its short and engaging essays are based around the tetramorph, the four living creatures before God's throne (Ezekiel 1:10; Revelations 4:7): the winged human, the ox, the lion, and the eagle, linked with Matthew, Luke, Mark, and John. Taliaferro draws on the Gospels, literature, art, and comic personal experience as a professor to address widespread Christian spiritual themes, including the meaning of life and death, friendship, prayer, and love being stronger than death.
Endorsements (4)
“Christian authors have given a great deal of attention to intellectual examination and explanation of doctrines and ideas. In Dying to See You, Charles Taliaferro describes the relationships, experiences, and feelings that have accompanied and illuminated his understanding of religious language. He demonstrates that religious feeling can be playful, woven through the beauty and richness of everyday life, an immensely valuable invitation to a life that is ‘fully alive’ (Serapion of Thmuis).”
“Despite what the title might make you think, this is a book about life: joyful, wonder-filled, abundant life. In a time when so many essays are urgent jeremiads, this book is full of short essays that offer hope: deep hope, profoundly rooted and written with gladness. These essays don’t simply tell the gospel, rather, they show it with Taliaferro’s usual humble and jovial spirit. Taliaferro says this is a book in a Chestertonian spirit, and in a way he is right. It is every bit as delightful and insightful as Chesterton’s best essays. But Taliaferro is a joyful bridge-builder in a way that outshines Chesterton. What a beautiful book! It is full of personal reflections that invite the reader to reflect as well. C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, Socrates, and Kierkegaard all make appearances, and always in a way that is both scholarly and easy to read.”
“In this luminous collection, Charles Taliaferro blends wit, wisdom, and wonder into a series of essays that feel like conversations with an old friend who just happens to be a world-class philosopher. With his Chestertonian charm, Taliaferro draws on personal encounters, Christian spirituality, and ‘parabolic performances’ to create essays that are playful yet profound, inviting us to love life more deeply and live it more generously. A rare gem of warmth and intellectual grace.”
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