As culture has become at once more secular and more religiously pluralistic, a renaissance of interest in the spiritual disciplines has been sparked in evangelical Protestant circles. Mounting levels of stress, burnout and spiritual dryness amongthose in ministry has only stoked this desire for spiritual nourishment and renewal.John Jefferson Davis helps us recover the practice of meditation on Scripture as he explores the biblical and theological foundations rooted in the arrival of "the age to come" in Jesus Christ. Indeed by virtue of our union with Christ, the Triune God of the Bible draws near to his people so that they may also draw near to him.Meditation on God's revelation has always been central to enjoying communion with the Father through the Son and in the Spirit. Davis gives us fresh and practical guidance on removing the obstacles that block our fellowship with God and listening to Scripture in ways that can enrich our worship, faith, hope and love.



John Jefferson Davis is professor of systematic theology and Christian ethics at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he has taught since 1975. He has published for many years in both theological and scientific journals. Heis the author of Worship and the Reality of God.



1. Introduction: Reality in Mediation

2. Reading Scripture Today: Communion with God in an Age of Distraction

3. The Arrival of the Age to Come: New Intimacy with God

Excursus: How Personal Agents are Located in Space: Extended Selves and Union with Christ

4. Inaugurated Ontology: A Biblical Worldview for Meditation

5. A New Way of Knowing God and Reading the Bible: Seeing Into Heaven Now

6. The Hermeneutics of the Age to Come: Inaugurated Eschatology and Recovering the Ancient Fourfold Sense of Scripture

7. Experiencing Communion with God in Biblical Meditation: From Theology to Practice

Excursus:Centering Prayer, the Jesus Prayer, Focusing Prayer

Acknowledgments

Select Bibliography

Name and Subject Index

Scripture Index