2021
First Published
3.58
Average Rating
148
Number of Pages
"Midway upon the journey of our life / I found myself within a forest dark." Dante's Inferno begins with imagery of the wilderness marked by darkness, fear, and the unknown. In folktales, legends, and children's stories, the wilderness is a place of conflict and exile. Yet there is another spiritual tradition that embraces the complexities of the wilderness as a place of rejuvenation and wonder—a place where Thomas Merton said "man purges himself of 'sediments of society' and becomes a new creature." A book for those of us who revel in the beauty and mystery of the natural world, Wild Belief brings together poets and prophets, saints and storytellers from across the ages who share a common search for the spirit. Their explorations of forests, wetlands, and deserts expose the wilderness as both a fearful and a sacred space—a tension that aptly captures the unknown and surprising elements of belief. As we join them on their search for the divine, our eyes open to the possibilities of transformation, to our most fundamental stories, and to a fertile spirituality we can only find in the wild.
Avg Rating
3.58
Number of Ratings
19
5 STARS
11%
4 STARS
58%
3 STARS
11%
2 STARS
21%
1 STARS
0%
goodreads
Author
Nick Ripatrazone
Author · 3 books
Nick Ripatrazone is the author of Longing for an Absent God: Faith and Doubt in Great American Fiction (Fortress Press 2020) and Wild Belief: Faith in the Wilderness (Fortress Press 2021). He is the Culture Editor for Image Journal, a Contributing Editor at The Millions, and a columnist for Literary Hub. He has written for Rolling Stone, GQ, The Atlantic, Esquire, America, Commonweal, Christianity Today, The Sewanee Review, The Christian Century, Kenyon Review, The Paris Review, and elsewhere.
