Belden C. Lane Boeken

A comprehensive survey of key Christian doctrines relating to salvation

In the face of climate change, species loss, and vast environmental destruction, Belden C. Lane's spiritually centered environmentalism suggests that we must look to teachers in nature to understand how to save ourselves. Pairing anecdotes of personal encounters with nature with the teachings of spiritual leaders from a range of religious traditions, this book invites us to participate once more in the great conversation among all creatures and the earth itself.

The book combines a poignant memoir of the author's mother's battles with Alzheimer's and cancer, alongside reflections on his own experiences in nature. It delves into the Christian "via negativa," a mystical path that finds God in silence beyond words. Rejecting superficial spiritual affirmations, the author explores the deeper, often harsher truths that wilderness reveals about life and faith. Accompanied by photographs, it offers a thoughtful meditation on suffering, spirituality, and the transformative power of nature.

This reliable and highly readable textbook provides comprehensive coverage of core Christian beliefs from an evangelical perspective. Developed from the author's popular introductory course on Christian doctrine, the book rests firmly on biblical foundations while also providing a balanced discussion where evangelicals disagree.

Exploring the intersection of spirituality and geography, this expanded edition introduces fresh interpretive models for understanding American sacred spaces. Belden C. Lane combines personal reflections with in-depth essays, examining how various traditions—Native American, early French and Spanish, Puritan New England, and Catholic Worker—articulate their relationship with the land. This blend of personal narrative and scholarly analysis enriches the discussion of how different cultures perceive and honor sacred places.

Backpacking with the Saints is a captivating account of solo wilderness backpacking as spiritual practice. On his solitary hikes, Belden Lane has as companions the great spiritual texts of the world's religions. The wilderness, he argues, offers an enlightening approach to the texts, presenting the opportunity to explore the interior landscape and the spiritual realm of nature.

Michel Foucault's The Archaeology of Knowledge was published in March 1969; Discipline and Punish in February 1975. Although only six years apart, the difference in tone is stark: the former is a methodological treatise, the latter a call to arms.