Divine Abundance: Leisure, the Basis of Academic Culture

It's time to say a good word for the ten o'clock scholar. The recovery of a flourishing academic culture–which is not the same as being a major research center–lies in the recovery of leisure. The heart of this practice is contemplation and Divine worship. It names, furthermore, our lives as being in communion with others, the cosmos, and, ultimately with God. True leisure reconfigures our compartmentalized space and distorted time, allowing us to experience Divine abundance that opens a path to the true restoration of the life of the mind. ""In Divine Abundance, Elizabeth Newman establishes anew her place among today's outstanding theologians. Here, one finds patient exposition of the plenitude of divine abundance, probing critique of impoverished academic culture, and joyful reimagination of universities as communities of wonder and gratitude rooted in God's invitation to share in the divine life. Through genuine leisure–a profoundly Christian response to God's inexhaustible generosity–the modern university might be saved from itself. Beth's book shows the way."" –Douglas Henry, Associate Dean, Honors College, Baylor University Elizabeth Newman is the Eula Mae and John Baugh Professor of Theology and Ethics at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. She is the author of Untamed Hospitality: Welcoming God and Other Strangers, and Attending the Wounds on Christ's Body: Teresa's Scriptural Vision.