Arise, O Lord: A Christian Guide to Cursing with God
The imprecatory psalms are, for many, among the most uncomfortable, perplexing, even morally suspect portions of the Bible. There are many ostensibly violent texts in the Old and New Testaments, to be sure, but the Psalter’s violent prayers against violent injustice do something peculiar: They put words in our mouths. As the prayerbook of the canon—prayersongs that the Lord offers to us so that we may in turn offer them back to Him, speech from God for God—the Psalter issues an invitation to imitation....
We modern readers need to experience a reorientation of imagination in order to hear and evaluate rightly the Psalter’s justice petitions. Only then will we be able to discern how we, too, fit into their world—the Bible’s world, the true story of the world—and how we might take up their prayers as characters in a different act of the same unfolding drama of God.
That is the big task of this little book. Each chapter addresses a specific question about the imprecatory psalms, building toward a cumulative and coherent vision of the place of the judgment psalms in Christian worship and prayer.
From the "Introduction"
What Others are Saying:
"Like the best writers on imprecatory Psalms (James Adams, John Day, Steffen Jenkins), Trevor Laurence expounds the deep biblical wellsprings of these Psalms, which reach back to Eden and ahead to the final judgment. He explains why we should curse with God, and why we should want to do it. Also like the best writers on imprecations, Trevor doesn’t want to tame them but to display them in all their wild glory."
~ From the Foreword by Peter J. Leithart, Author and President of Theopolis Institute
About the Author
Trevor Laurence (PhD, University of Exeter) serves as Theologian-in-Residence at Trinity Church (PCA) in Winston-Salem, NC. He is the Executive Director of the Cateclesia Institute, a Research Associate with the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence, and the author of Cursing with God: The Imprecatory Psalms and the Ethics of Christian Prayer.
About Theopolis Explorations
The Theopolis Explorations Series builds on the four volumes of the Theopolis Fundamentals Series. Each Explorations volume brings the Theopolitan vision to bear on a particular biblical, liturgical, cultural, or missional topic. Theopolis Explorations are well-researched but not academic, elegantly but not popularly written, thorough but not exhaustive. The authors do not claim to speak the final word on the issues they examine, but aspire to offer a helpful word to strengthen and embolden the church as she carries on the mission of King Jesus in today’s world. For more information about Theopolis, visit our website, TheopolisInstitute.com.