Untamed Hospitality

Christian hospitality is more than a well-set table, pleasant conversation, or even inviting people into your home. Christian hospitality, according to Elizabeth Newman, is an extension of how we interact with God. It trains us to be capable of welcoming strangers who will challenge us and enhance our lives in unexpected ways, readying us to embrace the ultimate stranger: God. In Untamed Hospitality, Newman dispels the modern myths of hospitality as a superficial commodity that can be bought and sold at The Pottery Barn and restores it to its proper place within God's story, as displayed most fully in Jesus Christ. Worship, she says, is the believer's participation in divine hospitality, a hospitality that cannot be sequestered from our economic, political, or public lives. This in-depth study of true hospitality will be of interest to professors, students, and scholars looking for a fresh take on a timeless subject.

Elizabeth Newman (PhD, Duke University) is professor of theology and ethics at Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. She is the coeditor for Studies in Baptist History and Thought and has published numerous articles in theology and ethics, including essays on theology and science, Christian identity and higher education, the priesthood of all believers, baptism, and the Lord's Supper.