Eilers releases newest theology book

HUNTINGTON, Ind. Dr. Kent Eilers, associate professor of theology at Huntington University, has released his latest book, "Sanctified by Grace: A Theology of the Christian Life."

"There are many books on the Christian life," Eilers said. "Some focus on spirituality, others on practices, others on things Christians do and others on doctrines such as justification or forgiveness. Few offer an account of the Christian life that portrays redeemed Christian existence within the multifaceted and beautiful whole of Christian belief about God, humanity and the world."

In this book, Eilers and his co-editor Dr. Kyle Strobel, assistant professor of spiritual theology and formation at Talbot School of Theology, sought to fill that gap, connecting systematic, spiritual and practical theology by drawing together some of the most important theologians in the church today.

"God's grace should stand at the very center of how we understand Christian life and color everything we do," Eilers said. "But 'grace' is very often misunderstood and sometimes barely related to how Christians live and what they believe about God. With those problems in mind, we wanted this book to theologically show how the Christian life is anchored in God's grace, specifically his reconciling, justifying, redemptive, restorative, and otherwise transformative action. To understand the Christian life as a life of grace, you have to first glimpse the gracious One, the God of the gospel."

"Scores of recent books analyze Christian practices, teeming with proposals on the shape of the Christian life," said J. Todd Billings, Gordon H. Girod research professor of reformed theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Mich. "But most pay scant attention to the central character of the Christian drama: the gracious, disruptive, triune God made known in Jesus Christ. 'Sanctified by Grace' corrects this deficiency, bringing together a first-rate collection of essays that are united in their commitment to rediscover the Christian life in light of the God of the gospel. This book is a nourishing doctrinal feast for the church!"

Eilers' newest release follows his 2011 release of "Faithful to Save: Pannenberg on God's Reconciling Action," now in paperback. Wolfhart Pannenberg was one of the most significant and influential Protestant theologians of the 20th century, and in Eilers' "Faithful to Save," he unpacks Pannenberg's doctrine of reconciliation as it appears in his monumental three-volume Systematic Theology.

"Sanctified by Grace," published in August, is available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Eilers has served at Huntington University since 2009. After obtaining a bachelor's degree from Calvin College, he then earned a Master of Divinity degree from Denver Seminary and ultimately a Ph.D. in systematic theology from King's College, University of Aberdeen in Scotland.