A Review of James K. A. Smith, The Nicene Option James K. A. Smith has been in the business of “translation” for many years. He translated Jean-Luc Marion’s important book The Crossing of the Visible from the French (1991), helping English readers gain access to Marion’s profound phenomenology as he applied it to painting, icons, and…

Since the first edition of Peter Brown’s magisterial Augustine of Hippo: A Biography in 1967, interest in the life, work, and thought of Saint Augustine has exploded across Catholic and Protestant circles, and across large swaths of the university disciplines. This is a welcome revival, in my view, for at least three reasons. First, in…

Smith, James K.A. You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2016. 210 pp. An Impulse to Pray Several years ago I had the opportunity to take a mission trip to rural Haiti. It was a challenging experience, not least because several of our team members began to experience what…

“Where is your body taking your heart?” This is a question that I have been asking more and more in my work with emerging adults. I find that it is a startling, and sometimes disconcerting, question for many. We typically assume that the spiritual life works in one direction—a change of heart leads to a…