Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
The New, Improved Edition of “Spirituality of the Cross”

The New, Improved Edition of “Spirituality of the Cross”

Last updated on: April 21, 2021 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

The New, Improved Edition of “Spirituality of the Cross” 2021-04-19T16:13:11-04:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I have written, co-written, or edited, at last count, 27 books. My favorite, though, and the one closest to my heart is Spirituality of the Cross. That’s the one that tells what I have learned and how I have been helped by Lutheran theology and the Lutheran church.

This is the book that seems to have had the greatest impact. It isn’t just that the book has sold more than the others. I keep hearing from people that “your book changed my life.” I have heard that everywhere I go, including, since the book has been widely translated, in my trips overseas. Yes, it has brought lots of people into Lutheranism. But, by explaining the Gospel in a way that is not always heard today, it has brought some readers into Christianity, into the Kingdom of God.

This includes Nones, people who are “spiritual but not religious,” and followers of Eastern Religions. My daughter frequented a coffee shop in St. Louis and got to chatting with the barista, who, recognizing her last name (this was before she was married), said that she had read by a book by someone named “Veith.” She had been following the Bahai religion, but after reading that book, she is now a Christian.

I have heard from ministers from various denominations who have read the book and then colloquized to become Lutheran pastors. I have heard from parents who have given this book to their straying children, thanking me for drawing them back to the church.

All of this is very gratifying, of course, but when I hear things like this I find it overwhelmingly humbling. God is actually using this little work of my hands.

Last year, the publisher at Concordia Publishing House, Paul McCain (who has a chequered history at this blog) asked me if I would be interested in putting out a new edition of Spirituality of the Cross, one that addressed the new issues and the new religious climate that we have now, which is rather different from that of the first edition in 1999, and the second revised and slightly expanded edition in 2008.

We discussed it back and forth, and I told him of other things I’d like to do with the book. I have kept living and studying over those decades, and I know much more, for example, about vocation than I did back then. I had other ideas I wanted to incorporate, including answering questions people have asked, particularly about my own life, things that I had only hinted at in the previous versions.

Anyway, I worked on the new version through the COVID lockdown–which gave me plenty of time–and I finished it just a few months before Paul died. Now, as of yesterday, it has been released as The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals–Third Edition.

This version is 42% longer than the previous edition. I know that one of the virtues of the previous editions is their brevity, and this one is still pretty brief in the way it elucidates spiritual issues. There is just more in this one. There is a substantial new preface addressing the state of contemporary Christianity, every chapter includes significant new material, and I have added a brand new chapter on what I have come to realize is a key Lutheran distinctive: Christology.

Among the new material is an expanded discussion of worship, including an explanation of what is going on in the Divine Service, the central Lutheran liturgy. I also overcame my reluctance to talk about myself to include personal details about my own spiritual journey, from growing up in Mainline Liberal Protestantism, to discovering the content of Christianity by reading C. S. Lewis, to a flirtation with Eastern religions while I was in college, to reading the Bible and becoming an evangelical Christian, to my eventually happening upon the Reformation and Lutheranism.

So if you liked the older versions, I am pretty sure that you will like this one too. I kept the good parts of the earlier edition, and my additions are in the same personal, down-to-earth, non-polemical style. If you liked the older versions, I think that you will also want this expanded version, since much of it will be new to you.

Back in 1999, when the first edition came out, evangelicalism was booming and megachurches were sprouting up everywhere. Today, evangelicalism is said to be in the doldrums, church membership in America has fallen below 50%, and we are in the era of the “Nones.” That is the context and that is the audience that I write to in this third edition.

According to Luther, “The CROSS alone is our theology.” I didn’t even know that great Luther quote when I was writing the earlier editions, but it is now the epigraph to this one. I unpack what that means–in all of its senses and applications–in the Spirituality of the Cross. And it has never been more relevant.

To download a sample–the Preface (brand new), the Introduction (mostly the same), and the chapter on Justification (same, plus lots of new)–go here. You can buy it from Amazon or directly from Concordia Publishing House.

Photo: From Concordia Publishing House

contemporary Christianity

Gene Veith's books

Lutheran spirituality

Lutheranism

Spirituality of the Cross

Spirituality of the Cross-3rd edition

Previous Post

April 20, 2021

Evangelical Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus

Next Post

April 22, 2021 Why the New Edition of "Spirituality of the Cross" Is Needed Today

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"VCRs, tape decks, and cassette players are all having a revival among a segment of ..."

Tom Hering

Luther on Tools

"As a (retired) lawyer I see potential liability from sharing things like power or sharp ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"I am not sure the items you mentioned, though disused, discontinued, discarded, could be considered ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"“Friend, use me in your relations with your neighbor just as you would want your ..."

DakotaLutheran

Luther on Tools

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was Abraham's wife?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Rebekah Rachel Leah Sarah

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »