The End of the Christian Life: How Embracing Our Mortality Frees Us to Truly Live

Billings (Rejoicing in Lament), professor at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Mich., explores his story of living “as a patient with terminal cancer, as a follower of Christ, and as a theologian on pilgrimage” in this stirring rumination on mortality. Encouraging Christian readers to stop fearing and denying death, he explains that “recovering a sense of our mortality can become an exercise the Spirit uses to help us cultivate authentic resurrection hope.” Billings discusses his 2012 diagnosis with an incurable cancer, his ongoing treatment, and subsequent rediscovery of an active, joyous life. Examining biblical narratives, he compares the shadow of death to the depths of Sheol (hell) mentioned in the books of Psalms and Jonah and assures readers that God will not abandon them, asking them to take to heart “God’s promise that death is not the final word.” He also refers movingly to Psalm 39:4–5, which describes the fleeting nature of life, weighs the value of appreciating simple pleasures, and reminds readers to turn to God for deliverance. Christians contemplating the afterlife will appreciate Billings’s moving reflections. (Sept.)