Challenging our expectations and forcing us to look anew at our reality, Erik Kolbell demonstrates how the eight pillars of the Beatitudes—meekness, empathy, righteousness, peace, persecution, purity, poverty, and simplicity—are still valuable codes of conduct for individual and collective lives. In this engaging book, now available in paperback, he masterfully shows the timeless value in these poetic and paradoxical words from Jesus and how they offer relief and direction in our all-too-confusing world.
“Erik Kolbell reminds us of the truly radical message the Beatitudes still carry for all of us—eight simple statements with the power to turn the world upside down.”—Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children’s Defense Fund
“Beautifully and straightforwardly written, this book offers many gifts—a new understanding of Jesus, a revived sense of wonder in the Bible, a first-rate essay on the reconciliation of culture and religion, and an education on how to live.”—Roger Rosenblatt, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and author of Where We Stand: Thirty Reasons for Loving Our Country
