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On Christian Dying - Classic & Contemporary Texts

Reviewed by Stephen Henwood.

This book does exactly ‘what it says on the tin’. Matthew Levering is assistant professor of theology at Ave Maria College. He has gathered together original texts from sixteen Christian teachers, including (among others) Ignatius of Antioch, Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas and John Henry Newman. The aim is to encourage us to learn from others about the art of Christian dying.

My disappointments with this book are threefold. First, why does the author’s modern era stop with St Therese of Lisieux who died in 1897? What about the 20th century? Surely Henri Nouwen and others have written significantly on the subject and their contributions are worth including? Second, while it is useful to bring texts together from available publications, this book is expensive. Finally, and most seriously, this book needs a conclusion. What do we make of centuries of contemplation on dying? What common threads and disagreements do we find, and cumulatively what do they say to ordinary Christian believers today? Without these insights this book will surely have a very limited market.