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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (June 6, 2019) — Dr. Gary Selby, professor of ministerial formation at Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan, released a new book, “Pursuing an Earthy Spirituality: C. S. Lewis and Incarnational Faith,” with IVP Academic in May 2019.
In his latest book, Selby reveals how the writings of C. S. Lewis encourage an earthy spirituality. Selby describes how Lewis encouraged readers to engage with the physical world, rather than retreat from it, in their pursuit of spiritual formation.
“When I think about my own understanding of God and of faith, perhaps no other writer has influenced me more than C. S. Lewis,” recounted Selby. “Lewis raised the tantalizing possibility that our richest experiences of beauty and pleasure might actually be pointers to the nature of God and the purpose for which we were made. My dream is to share that perspective with as many people as I possibly can.”
Malcolm Guite, a poet, Anglican priest and academic, acknowledged that Selby’s book serves as a reminder of the source of Christian spirituality.
“In a full and thorough survey of Lewis’s work Selby draws out the consistent strand of particularity, earthiness and praise for God’s good creation, rooted and redeemed in the incarnation of Christ which is at the heart of Lewis’s gospel, and of his wide appeal,” said Guite. “But more importantly Selby shows how much our contemporary modes of spirituality, so often intellectualized and rootless . . . need to be grounded again and earthed in the story of the God who came down.”
Selby holds a doctorate in public communication from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in theology from Harding University Graduate School of Religion.