Ordinary Saints: An Introduction to the Christian Life

"Theologian and ethicist Robert Benne addresses the Christian life in its religious and moral dimensions by writing about the vocation of the Christian in daily life. With clarity and authority, he discusses Christian identity, the call of God, moral development, and marriage and family life, among other topics. This fully revised edition includes a study guide for use in classrooms and church study groups."

Reviews from Journal for Lutheran Ethics

• "It is important to note that this is not an introduction to Lutheran theological ethics, even though, inevitably, much of the book deals with moral issues."
  [ read full review by Thomas Kennedy]
  
• "In a tightly written text, filled with personal stories, Benne introduces the reader, principally college students, to the basics of the Christian life nuanced by Lutheran theological understanding."
  [ read full review by Richard Perry]
  
• "I would certainly recommend the book to some members of my congregation seeking to live faithfully and thoughtfully in a complex and demanding time. The book is heavily flavored by the social location of the author in a disarming sort of way."
  [ read full review by Kaari Reierson]
  
• "In this second edition of Ordinary Saints, Benne does not shrink from openly declaring his commitments. Taking his stand with Luther, St. Augustine, and the Church's broad catholic tradition, Benne has crafted a primer on the Christian life that reflects the fundamental truths affirmed by the Church through the ages."
  [ read full review by Michael Shahan]

Endorsements
"Benne lays the groundwork for a stimulating and vision-casting conversation with readers. His lively prose assesses how liturgical exercise and the devotional life, Christian education and nature as well as the whole life of the community, personal friendships, and other factors blend with God's callings within daily life to create the Christian's habits of mind and action. . . . [This} thoroughly reworked and updated second edition provides students, laypeople, and pastors with an insightful orientation to living the Christian life at the beginning of the twenty-first century."
— Robert Kolb, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO

"The Second Vatican Council speaks of 'the universal call to holiness'—which means all of us. Holiness is the work of God in the everydayness of walking by faith. Ordinary Saints is an accessible guide for the journey, written with spiritual insight and ecumenical sensibility."
— Richard John Neuhaus, First Things

"Robert Benne's wonderful book, Ordinary Saints, has long been a treasure for Christians who struggle to relate worship on Sunday to the rest of their lives. The book provides a compelling vision of the mature Christian life of discipleship, steeped in a traditional Lutheran understanding of vocation as a call to all the saints. In this revised edition, Benne maintains the depth and richness of the original, yet manages to make the work even more accessible for college students and adult Sunday school classes."
— Robert Tuttle, George Washington University Law SchoolPreface

Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Our Fragmented World
-Symptoms of Fragmentation
-A Closer Look
-Two New Lifestyles
-Why This Tradition?
-The Plan of the This Book
-Questioning for Discussion
-For Further Reading

PART I: THE CALL OF GOD
2. The Divine Initiative
-The Unrecognized Presence
-The Biblical Story
-The Church's Story
-My Story
-Other Stories
-A Return at Depth
-Questions for Discussion
-For Further Reading

3. Christian Nurture: Filling the Cup of Being
-Participation in the Body of Christ
-Christian Personal Devotion
-Christian Friendship
-Re-creation
-Questions for Discussion
-For Further Reading

PART II: THE CALLING OF THE CHRISTIAN: SPILLING THE CUP
4. Places of Responsibility
-Sanctioned
-Dynamic
-Ambiguous
-Questions for Discussion
-For Further Reading

5. Moral Development
-Egoism
-Heteronomy
-Autonomy
-Questions for Discussion
-For Further Reading

6. The Christian's Calling: Toward Theonomy
-Faith
-Love
-Hope
-Questions for Discussion
-For Further Reading

PART III: THE CALLINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN
7. Marriage and Family Life
-Marriage and Family Life as a Place of Responsibility
-Marriage as a Christian Calling
-Related Issues
-Questions for Discussion
-For Further Reading

8. Work
-Work as a Place of Responsibility
-Work as a Christian Calling
-Questions for Discussion
-For Further Reading

9. Public Life
-Public Life as a Place of Responsibility
-Public Life as a Christian Calling
-Questions for Discussion
-For Further Reading

10. The Church
-The Church as a Place of Responsibility
-The Church as a Christian Calling
-Questions for Discussion
-For Further Reading