Reading for the Love of God - Print

Reading for the Love of God: How to Read as a Spiritual Practice.

Jessica Hooten Wilson.

Hbk 193pp.
ISBN 9781587435256.
Brazos Press (2023).
[Allow 4 weeks].

What if we viewed reading as not just a personal hobby or a pleasurable indulgence but a spiritual practice that deepens our faith?

Award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson does just that – and then shows readers how to reap the spiritual benefits of reading. She argues that the simple act of reading can help us learn to pray well, love our neighbour, be contemplative, practice humility, and disentangle ourselves from contemporary idols.

Accessible and engaging, this guide outlines several ways Christian thinkers--including Augustine, Julian of Norwich, Frederick Douglass, and Dorothy L. Sayers – approached the act of reading. It also includes useful special features such as suggested reading lists, guided practices to approaching texts, and tips for meditating on specific texts or Bible passages. By learning to read for the love of God, readers will discover not only a renewed love of reading but also a new, vital spiritual practice to deepen their walk with God.

“We are what we read. Yet, it is not only what we read but also how we read and to what ends. Hooten Wilson wonderfully demonstrates that reading is not only an art but also, most importantly, a transcendent calling, mission, and vocation.” Gloria Purvis, host and executive producer of The Gloria Purvis Podcast