Faith as Remembering

Memories seldom happen in straight lines with chronological precision but occur most often in spirals. Paul Ingrams essays collected in Faith as Remembering were created from memories. These memories often in unpredictable ways pushed him to new insights about the nature of Christian faith--insights often not desired always unexpected and always toward new directions of theological reflection. Theologians all too often write with an unintentional and sometimes intentional universalism. Ingram does not intend to write this way. These essays reflect his memories and are the sources of the theological conclusions he draws as a historian of religions who now finds himself a practicing process theologian. As a process theologian Ingram does not even argue that the conclusions drawn here will be ones he will affirm in the future. All human knowledge is incomplete and there are always new surprises for anyone practicing the art of theological reflection. But Ingrams hope is that the essays gathered together in Faith as Remembering will inspire readers to engage their memories as the foundation for drawing their own unique conclusions. Thinking is part of living. But we often abstract the conclusions of thinking from the context in which it occurred and present them as a systematic set of ideas. Ingram relocates his ideas in the context of his life. Reading this book brings his experience and thinking into the readers life and encourages fresh thinking there too. --John B. Cobb Jr. Professor Emeritus Claremont School of Theology Following Augustine of Hippo who famously wrote about how we can encounter the living God in our human memory the author shares his most intimate recollections of significant events in his life that reveal this loving presence throughout. Faith as remembering is a delightful read an insightful book for faithful seekers and thinkers as well. --Ruben L.F. Habito Author of Be Still and Know: Zen and the Bible Paul O. Ingram is Professor Emeritus at Pacific Lutheran University. His books include Wrestling with the Ox (Wipf & Stock 2006) Buddhist-Christian Dialogue in an Age of Science (2008) Theological Reflections at the Boundaries (Cascade Books 2011) Passing Over and Returning (Cascade Books 2013) and You Have Been Told What Is Good (Cascade Books 2016).