The Transforming Fire of Divine Love: My Long, Slow Journey into the Love of God
Ebook
Most Bible readers know "God is love" (1 John 4:8,16). And most have heard the words of John 3:16 ("God so loved the world"), perhaps the best-known verse in the entire Bible. But few readers realize that these are perhaps the most daring verses in all the Scripture. Why? They tell us who God is and why we can trust him. Yet very few Christians realize how much of what they believe about the nature of God is rooted in ideas foreign to divine love. How did this happen? What can be done to change how we can relate to the God who is perfect and inexhaustible love?
John Armstrong shares a deeply personal story of his long, slow journey to know and experience God as a compassionate and loving Father. As a pastor trained in evangelical theology he came to know and experience the teaching of the whole church about God, thus the story he tells will inform how you can know the God who is amazing love. This readable primer will help you develop a doctrine that can free you from guilt, fear, and many misconceptions we have about God. You will see that what you believe about God will truly affect everything else you believe.
“John Armstrong’s pastorally sensitive theological reflection and his vulnerable personal narrative will help to empower and inspire readers as they seek to understand and embody Christian convictions.”
—Gary Chartier, La Sierra University
“In this book, John Armstrong invites the reader on a journey to discover the wonder of embracing in humble faith that ‘God is love.’ He helps his audience discern unwarranted limitations of that bold but comforting truth as they have developed in Christian history, opening up about his own development of a greater appreciation for the wisdom of the broader Christian tradition—Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. There is much to learn and appreciate here.”
—James R. Payton Jr., professor of patristics and historical theology, McMaster Divinity College
“In The Transforming Fire of Divine Love, John Armstrong presents us with a morally serious vision of the Christian God, whose love is cleansing and restorative. This book is recommended for all who want to reflect on and be changed by the God who is love.”
—Jordan Wessling, assistant professor of religion, Lindsey Wilson College
“The Transforming Fire of Divine Love lifts us above a world blind to the Father’s love, to the love that is theological, ecclesiastical, and personal. John Armstrong lives deeply in the truth that ‘God is love.’ All our ‘love words and actions’ are measured by this eternal Trinitarian reality. This divine love has been received and passed on by the Spirit-born body of Christ, the church. He has searched far and wide in this holy tradition to journey into the beauty of this love. He has witnessed to his own pilgrimage, through time and struggle, to journey into the personal reality of this wondrous love. His own story is a humble testimony that the divine love is the overflow of eternal love by participating in the suffering of the cross. I am grateful for this book!”
—Wilbur David Ellsworth, archpriest, Holy Transfiguration Antiochian Orthodox Church, Warrenville, Illinois
“John’s central thesis is that the truth that God is love lies at the heart of all divine revelation. Cliche? Hardly! It lies at the very heart of Scripture and the Orthodox Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. Readers will learn of God’s love in Scripture, but even more, they will experience God’s love in spiritually practical ways. Highly recommended!”
—Bradley Nassif, pastor, Holy Transfiguration Antiochian Orthodox Church, Warrenville, Illinois
“Explorers travel to new places. Some travel in their thought life. If some of John’s references don’t alarm you then, you haven’t read him closely. John’s intellect requires challenge, depth, and difference. I’m really not worthy to endorse this book, but I can endorse John’s life of God-love. It’s real”
—Jim Henderson, co-author of Jim and Casper Go to Church
John H. Armstrong is the founder of The Initiative, a community of Christians from many backgrounds who walk together in a covenant with Jesus and his followers so that the love of Christ might exceed all divisions. He is the author/editor of sixteen books and a minister of Word and sacrament in the Reformed Church in America. For further information and interaction with other readers of The Transforming Fire of Divine Love, see www.thetransformingfire.com.