W. David O. Taylor

Psalms

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“This book is a classic, plain and simple. As a classic it has stood the test of time, not simply because it has functioned as an expert guide to the prayer book of the Bible but because it has served for decades to nurture Christians in the way of prayer--wholehearted, gutsy, honest-to-God prayer--and will surely continue to do so for generations to come.”

Sermons That Sing

Preaching & Worship

“This positively original book by Noel Snyder is guaranteed to inspire preachers with a vision of sonorously potent sermons that ring true with the good news of the God who, as the poet John Dryden imagines it, sing-speaks creation into being and who mends the human creature with Spirit-ed words that retune the heart to the voice of the Chief Liturgist, Christ himself.”

The Artistic Sphere

Arts & Literature

“This book serves as an excellent example of how commitment to a theological tradition can represent not the narrowing down of a vision for the arts, in this case the visual arts, but an expansive vision for such arts; how rootedness within a particular tradition results not in limited possibilities for the arts but in richly varied possibilities for both content and form; and how the faithful immersion in an artistic tradition, here a Neo-Calvinist one, leads not to the stifling of honest debate but instead to generative discourse. This book is a tremendous gift to the heirs of the Kuyperian tradition—and to those of us also who stand outside it.”

The Artistic Vision

Arts & Literature

“Both theologically astute and grounded in the bloody, toiling, tear-inducing, sweaty work of practicing artists, this book presents readers with an integrated vision of art and faith that is sorely needed in a world that prefers to keep such matters separated and separable. Rooted in a sacramental vision and keenly attuned to the God who meets us in the very flesh of Christ, The Artistic Vision represents a beautiful gift not just to artists and creatives, but also to teachers, pastors, and ministers of the faith.”

The Penitential Psalms

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Without discounting the scholarly challenges to treating the Penitential Psalms as a single literary unit, the authors of this book make a persuasive case for the coherence of this ‘Seven Psalm’ collection and, even more so, for their fitting use within the liturgical and devotional life of the church. The Penitential Psalms represents an important contribution to psalms scholarship as well as an inspiring resource for preachers, worship leaders, and lay persons who take seriously the holy call to confess one’s sins and, after such confession, to receive the equally holy gift of forgiveness.”

The Saint John’s Bible and Its Tradition

Arts & Literature

“The authors of Holy Scripture understand how important it is for human beings not only to think rightly about God but to taste and to see that the Lord is indeed good. . . . The way to the true knowledge and love of God therefore lies through the senses, not despite or beyond them. The creators of The Saint John’s Bible understand this fact—and exemplify it in a work of extraordinary beauty. And the authors of this volume do us a tremendous favor by showing us how The Saint John’s Bible might form us through its form. What an invaluable aid to teachers, pastors, worship leaders, and artists!”

Theatrical Theology

Theology

“It is one thing to say that ethics is 'performative' or that the incarnation is 'theatrical.' It is another thing to presume that these sorts of statements are self-evidential, when they are far from it. This collection of essays offers us a clear-headed and stimulating treatment of the various ways in which 'theatre' orients the work of Christian theology. This is a very welcome volume for both academy and church.”

Traveling Light

Christian Living

“Eugene Peterson accomplishes here what he has accomplished all throughout his writing: leading readers not only into the depths of Holy Scripture but also into the depths of the life of the Holy Trinity, a life that is prayable, livable, lovable; a life that is truly free. This very engaging series of meditations on Saint Paul's letter to the Galatians deserves to be read and relished by Christians across all denominations and at every stage in their spiritual lives.”

Visual Arts in the Worshiping Church

Preaching & Worship

“All too often scholars and laypeople indulge in careless generalizations about art in the church. When I read them, I think Which church? What art? For what context? And to what end exactly? When the terms are muddled, conversations about the liturgical arts often devolve, regrettably, to a confused, frustrating, and fruitless exchange. Thankfully, DeBoer is a careful scholar; her study of the visual arts in worship is both concrete and illuminating, and it points to a fruitful way forward.”

Worship and the World to Come

Preaching & Worship

“If it is fundamentally impossible to be a Christian without hope, then all Christians at worship are in the business of singing themselves into a new story that beckons from the future—the good future of God in Christ that the Spirit makes palpable here and now in our public worship. That's the basic point that Glenn Packiam makes in this theologically learned, liturgically intelligent, and pastorally sensitive book—a book that deserves careful reading by scholars and pastors, along with every worship leader charged with the holy task of leading the people of God in song. Our calling as church leaders, as Packiam rightly sees it, is not only to announce our new future in Christ; our task is to enact and embody that new future in our songs of praise and proclamation. How and what we sing, then, become a singularly formative means by which the Spirit transforms our lives to be a sign and foretaste of God's new creation. That's the charge! That's the hope!”