Review: By Way of Grace: Moving from Faithfulness to Holiness

By Way of Grace: Moving from Faithfulness to Holiness by Paula Huston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think this is my third Paula Huston book inside of a year, which is a good thing mostly. I really do enjoy her writing and I enjoyed this book as well. It is written with that blend of personal reflection and theological connections which I enjoy.

The premise of the book is centred around the theological virtues and intersperses personal reflections on the virtue in question and theological discussion of the virtue. In this book, those two sections are really clearly marked, which is different from the other two books which interweave them more organically. The insights are still good and the theology is as well, but I found the more clear lines between the two experiences of virtue a little jarring at times. Both are valuable, but the transitions felt a little sharp at times.

This is only a minor criticism and I wonder how much of it is influenced by the rather rapid immersion I did with this author. I do that sometimes- discover a writer and then read everything quickly. That has its benefits, but it does mean by later in the process, I start going 'ah, that story', not dismissively, but as a little too much shorthand, which inhibits my ability to listen. So, I wonder if I was listening well to this book. A break and a re-read may be in order.

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