A Nazareth Manifesto: Being with God

This eloquent and ground–breaking book is nothing less than a call to rethink Christian witness and mission, based on a profound re–telling of our relationship with each other and God.

One of the most essential goals of contemporary Christianity is social engagement. In this thought–provoking manifesto, Samuel Wells a respected priest and renowned Christian ethicist takes as a starting point an eloquent and impassioned ecumenical proposal for re–envisioning Christianity s approach to social engagement away from working for the people to working with them. Wells argues that we are so focused on doing things for people and often find ourselves wondering why they appear resistant to or ungrateful for our intervention that we have lost sight of the importance of being with people and allowing that coexistence to inform how we learn from each other and grow together. Jesus spent 90% of his life simply being among the people of Nazareth, sharing their hopes and struggles and so similar emphasis must be placed on being alongside people in distress and disadvantage rather than hastening to impose solutions. What flows from this is a different way of understanding our relationships with each other and with God.

Supported by a range of historical, contemporary, exegetical and anecdotal illustrations, A Nazareth Manifesto will prove to be a provocative and valuable contribution to the conversation surrounding Christianity s role in confronting the social challenges of today s world.

Samuel Wells is the vicar of St Martin–in–the–Fields and a visiting professor of Christian ethics at King s College London. He is the former dean of Duke University Chapel in North Carolina and has published over 20 books, including Living Without Enemies: Being Present in the Midst of Violence (2012), Be Not Afraid: Facing Fear with Faith (2011), and Introducing Christian Ethics (Wiley, 2010 with Ben Quash).