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Why Does Friendship Matter?:

Chris Firestone,

Alexander H. Pierce

Lexham Press

How you can make the best of your friendships.

In a world where making friends—and unfriending—can be done with a click, is friendship the most disposable relationship? Or is it an underappreciated treasure? How should you think about your friends?

In Why Does Friendship Matter?, Chris L. Firestone and Alex H. Pierce consider the profits and perils of friendship. Everyone needs friends. Friends help us navigate and enjoy life: “The sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel” (Prov 27:9). Firestone and Pierce define friendship, draw from perspectives of the past, and consider different types of friendship, its limits, and possible red flags. Learn what makes for a good friend and how you can be one.

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Chris Firestone

Chris L. Firestone (PhD University of Edinburgh) is Chair of the Philosophy Department and Professor of Philosophy at Trinity International University. Some of his recent books are Kant and the Question of Theology, co-edited with Nathan Jacobs and James Joiner (Cambridge University Press, 2017), Kant and Theology at the Boundaries of Reason (Routledge, 2016), and Persistence of the Sacred in Modern Thought, co-edited with Nathan Jacobs (University of Notre Dame Press, 2012).

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Alexander H. Pierce

Alexander H. Pierce (PhD University of Notre Dame) is Assistant Professor of Historical Theology at the North American Lutheran Seminary. He is the author of multiple academic articles on Augustine, as well as, with Chris Firestone, Why Does Friendship Matter? (Lexham, 2021).

Endorsements

Why Does Friendship Matter? is a perfect instruction manual for those of us for whom friendship is ‘a lost art’—and this includes most Americans at some point in their lives. Drawing upon scriptural exemplars of friendship as well as upon the teachings of Aristotle and Augustine, the authors provide tips for becoming a friend and for reaching out to others in ways that open the door to new and diverse friendships. At once profound and practical, this delightful little book meets a pressing need.

Matthew Levering, James N. and Mary D. Perry Jr. Chair of Theology, Mundelein Seminary

In a day when true, faithful friendships are increasingly difficult to find, we have a brief introductory resource to provide well-grounded perspective and practical guidance about friendship. As ‘all truth is God’s truth,’ this little book brings together insights derived from both within the biblical tradition and outside of it. If we take these insights seriously, we ourselves will become better, more solid friends and, as a result, inspire others to do the same.

Paul Copan, Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics, Palm Beach Atlantic University; author of A Little Book for New Philosophers

This remarkable booklet helps us understand and appreciate the unique gift which God has bestowed upon us in our friends. The authors challenge us to recognize that friendship involves something far more profound than frivolous diversion, or the transient bonds of shared interest. A friend in the truest sense is a fellow sojourner who walks with us on the journey which leads finally to communion with God. This text offers wise counsel to those seeking to become more faithful stewards of the relationships God has placed in their life.

David J. Luy, associate professor of biblical and systematic theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School