On the Road With Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts
If you have ever been haunted by your failures to follow Jesus well, this book is for you.
saint augustine meets us on a road fraught with difficult and tempting terrain. He has sojourned the way before us and now offers, via the compelling style of James Smith, an answer to the question, “What if I went home?”
James Smith is a Canadian-born philosopher and theologian known for his contributions to liturgical formation in a secular society. He currently holds the Gary and Henrietta Chair of Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview at Calvin University in Michigan, and is chief editor of Image journal.
Smith’s book is not really about the 4th century African bishop named Augustine, he says in his introduction. Instead Smith uses this “ancient ethnographer” to invite
readers to consider our journey between right now and resurrection. Smith shares Augustine’s wisdom on “journey detours” such as freedom, ambition and sex. Augustine’s story becomes a sort of compass that orients us toward resurrection life.
Readers are invited to consider the struggles Augustine confessed to on the way toward his ultimate destination – to rest and be satisfied in God. And ultimately this book is an invitation to rest. It doesn’t promise success or a positive attitude change. Instead it anticipates the reader’s manifold failures in our own journeys toward God.
If you have ever been haunted by your failures to follow Jesus well, this book is for you – for Christians who feel their endurance has waned, their strength has broken and their hope is fleeting. At its core it offers nourishment for weary travellers.
As we pursue the likeness of Christ, it is easy to conclude that “The road is life.” Smith offers a compelling summary of Augustine’s faith that welcomes us home, even if that home isn’t here.