Friendship: Interpreting Christian Love

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The love of friendship has, at the least, established its place as a necessary model of love in Christian tradition. This study shows the deep roots it has in Christian thought, among both ancient and modern writers, and is intended to facilitate further reflection on and exploration of its creative potential now and for the future.

Reviews

Reviewed in International Review of Biblical Studies, 2007.
"The sources include an impressive array of writings, both ancient and contemporary. This book is a valuable resource for scholars, students, and others for deeper reflection on the place of friendship-love in Christian theology and spirituality." - Dongsheng John Wu, Anglican Theological Review, Summer 2008 -- Dongsheng John Wu
'Carmichael's comprehensive and careful survey has given those who follow in her wake the wherewithal to domore, and her book is certain to remind every reader of the pleasures of friendship.' ~Lesley Smith, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol 57, No. 1 -- Lesley Smith
'This is an important contribution to an aspect of theology that has been both studied intently and neglected and which can provide a paradigm in our troubled world for building relationships and brining peace,' ~ Celia Thomson, The Brown Book, 2006 -- Celia Thomson
"Liz Carmichael recognizes that much of our religious talk about fellowship or even love somehow misses the mark and threatens to become abstract. In this wonderful study, she argues, with a wealth of scholarship and of experience alike, that friendship is the really radical and transforming category we need to make our hopes concrete and to flesh out love in action, mindful of how Christ himself uses the language of friendship and how theologians have thought about faith and love as friendship with God. This is a treasury of insight and resource." Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury -- Rowan Williams * Canterbury Press Norwich *
"this book is a timely contribution to the study of Christian love from the perspective of friendship... I highly recommend this book to anyone who teaches undergraduate and graduate students subjectsthat are related to the themes of this book. This book will, I am sure, stand the test of time and be a valuable reference for many years to come." -Catholicbooksreview.org * Catholic Books Review *
Article by John Pridmore with quote from Liz Carmichael's book Friendship: A Way of Interpretating Christian Love -- John Pridmore * Church Times *
Article by Liz Carmichael about the book (possibly an extract). * Church Times *
'Carmichael's book is a beautiful one, gathering the wisdom and insights of the ages in a learned and detailed but very accessible way....Friendship: Interpreting Christian Love is a masterpiece...a book to read and read again - to savour for a lifetime.' ~ Canon Ivan Mann, Church Times -- Canon Ivan Mann * Church Times *
"...a robust and objective book, yet one which takes us deep into the pastoral realities encountered in human life and church ministry. Few could fail to profit from this well written, accessible and yet deep study." -- Timothy Bradshaw * Regent's Reviews *
'Dr Carmichael has produced a most valuable and scholarly book. ... Not only is hers the first book to pull together a wealth of material from the past ... but she has spotted that the discussion of friendship is a genuinely new phenomenon in twentieth-century theology.' -- Ann Loades * Scottish Journal of Theology *
'[a] marvellous, rich and stimulating book.' ~ Bernard Green, The Tablet -- Bernard Green * Tablet, The *
'...The book demonstrates well how human limitations mean that, in practice, people have to choose whom to love...The book makes its case well, arguing persuaisvely that friendship has a least as much to say as sexual love does about the goal of Christian living...at a time when many close-knit communities have broken down, and television shows like Friends respond to a nostalgic yearning for this kind of relationship, it is good to be reminded that Christianityhas a lot to offer her.' -- Paul Nicholson SJ * The Way *
'...timely, stimulating and paradoxical book.' -- Teresa Morgan * Theology *
The book makes its case well, arguing persuasively that friendship has at least as much to say as sexual love does about the goal of Christian living, or as the experience of parental love which led Jesus to use Abba as his preferred name for God. -- Paul Nicholson SJ * Way: A Review of Christian Spirituality, The *

Author Bio

Revd. Dr. E.D.H. (Liz) Carmichael, MBE is Chaplain and Tutor in Theology at St. John's College, Oxford.