Frederick W Schmidt – författare

A Practical and Engaging Guide for Changing the Way We Seek God''s Will

How do we know God''s will for our lives? This question lies at the heart of Christian life. And yet, attempting to understand our greater purpose can become a source of frustration as we look for help when making important life decisions. Spiritual retreat leader and Episcopal priest Fred Schmidt reveals how we can better recognize the difference between God''s will and our own, deepen our ability to hear God''s voice, and sharpen our powers of discernment.

In 1999, five scholars presented lectures at Washington National Cathedral about our images of God and what difference they make. This book is ideal for parish study groups and individuals to consider and discuss the viewpoints of Marcus Borg, Karen Armstrong, Jack Miles, James Cone, and Andrew Sung Park."Does the face of God change? Years ago I would have said, ''No.'' Countless hymns, passage of Scripture and confessions of faith assert or imply the changelessness of God. To take issue with traditions that are centuries, if not millennia old, seemed to be daunting and misguided....But when the great professions of confidence in God harden into philosophical propositions, one is bound to ask: What difference would it make to say that God has only one face? Even if true in some sense, the fact of the matter is that features each of us would count as necessary and changeless would be a matter of considerable debate." - From the Introduction

Sometimes pain passes quickly and small losses are easily absorbed. But when suffering goes on and on, for people of faith, the resulting crisis can be deeper and more destructive than the loss itself. We look for ways to comfort those who are hurting. But sometimes, in spite of our good intentions, the cliches and simplistic theology we offer only add to the pain and misery. In When Suffering Persists, Frederick W. Schmidt presents a pastoral exploration of ways to understand suffering theologically, offering an approach that ministers to both mind and spirit. He questions the value of our usual comforting words and examines the pat explanations we give one another. He provides instead a theology that takes seriously the devastating character of suffering, allowing for real help to those who continue in pain.

Roadmap, myth, or history? An accessible review of The Book of Revelation for today’s audience.

Conversations with Scripture: Revelation is the first book in the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholar Study Series. Written in accessible language and sensitive to those who have little or no experience in reading the bible, each book in the series focuses on exploring the historical and critical background, as well as how the biblical texts written centuries ago can still speak to readers today.

Frederick W. Schmidt, also the series editor, explores the approaches that have dominated the interpretation of John''s Apocalypse and offers the reader an accessible means of understanding and evaluating them. With this grounding in hand, Schmidt explores how Revelation can shape our understanding of God, and nurture our spiritual lives in unexpected ways. Leaving behind left-behind theology, Schmidt offers instead an approach that allows this obscure, almost opaque text to speak to us anew about God, faith, hope, and justice.