Grace and Common Life - Paperback

by David Baily Harned (Author), James McCullough (Foreword by)

This book consists of lectures originally written for a seminar on secularization and later revised and presented at a center for the study of world religions in North India. The central theme which Professor Harned explores is one shared by different traditions, namely, grace and the view of man as a player, i.e. engaging in the activity of play. The book aims to show how the Christian faith among others relies upon ordinary experience, especially family life and playing. Grace, which is available to all and is defined as the presence and activity of the divine among men, is bound up with imagination and creativity.

Author Biography

David Baily Harned (PhD, Yale Graduate School) is a retired professor of religious studies who remains active as a classroom teacher and scholarly writer. He taught at Williams, Smith, and Allegheny Colleges, and served as President at Allegheny College, as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Louisiana State University, and as the founding chairman of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia.