Sacred Places is a book that looks at the biblical theology of place, exploring its central importance in God's creation and mission. It takes its readers on an expository journey through place, from the Garden of Eden to the New Jerusalem, discovering the pattern of placement, displacement, and replacement in life and faith.
If you are a Christian seeking to understand the Bible's teaching on place and how that affects both our faith and lives in the world, then this book is for you. It will open your eyes to the central importance of place and give you direction on how you can apply a healthy understanding of place to your life as a disciple of Jesus Christ, making you a better place maker and dweller.
The thesis of this book is that place is far more important than we ever could have imagined. C. J. Scott is specifically proposing that (1) places are sacred because of God's decree and personal presence, (2) place plays a major role in God's creative and redemptive purposes, and (3) God's people are called to be both place makers and dwellers.
The book is divided into seven major sections. Each will look at place from a slightly different perspective, but all will be informed by the overarching Christian worldview and metanarrative of God's creation, the fall of man, and the redemption of God's creation as revealed in the Bible.
The sections are as follows:
- Philosophy: exploring the concept of place itself and its philosophical implications within the human experience.
- Theology: exploring place as a subject of theology with a particular focus on the definition of a sacred place.
- Scripture:*exploring the Biblical Theology of Place as a major theme throughout Scripture.
- Narrative: this section will seek to harmonize the Theology of Place alongside the other overarching themes of the Bible like God as King.
- History: two routes of exploration are embarked on here. The first is the history of the land of Israel and the Jewish people. The second is the history of the Church. Both are reviewed through the lens of place.
- Application: exploring the various ways that the biblical theme and understanding of place can impact our lives and help us to be good place makers and dwellers in God's creation.
- Study: this is a supplementary section containing appendixes, suggested resources for further study, and a bibliography.
"An expository journey through place, from the Garden of Eden to the New Jerusalem. Discovering the pattern of placement, displacement, and re-placement in life and faith"
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