Our traditional understanding of Sabbath observance is resting from our otherwise harried lives one day a week. But in Living the Sabbath, Norman Wirzba leads us deeper into the heart of Sabbath with a holistic and rewarding interpretation of what true Sabbath-keeping can mean in our lives today. Wirzba teaches that Sabbath is ultimately about delight in the goodness that God has made. He then shows how this understanding of Sabbath teaching has the potential to elevate all our activities so that they bring honor to God and delight to the world. With practical examples, Wirzba unpacks what that means for our work, our homes, our economy, our treatment of creation, and our churches.

In the end, you will be equipped with a deeper theological understanding of Sabbath, as well as down-to-earth ways to live it out in your daily life. This book will appeal to clergy and laypeople alike who are seeking ways to discover the transformative power of Sabbath.

‘Sabbath time’ is a concept popular among overworked clergy, but Wirzba penetrates to the core of Sabbath teaching as an indispensable element of biblical thought that must inform Christian practice altogether. Drawing widely on traditional and contemporary sources, he shows how Sabbath principles apply to subjects as apparently diverse as farming and eating, education, recreation, economics, and worship. At last the church has a beautifully written, deeply informed study of Sabbath living that is worthy of a place alongside Abraham Heschel’s great work.–Ellen F. Davis, Duke Divinity School

Norman Wirzba’s Living the Sabbath takes us beyond the usual depictions of Sabbath as individual retreat into the practices of Sabbath that engage the fullness of our lives. He explores what it means to live out of a sense of Sabbath in family and community relationships, work and social commitments, and in the theological expressions of ‘delight in the goodness of God.’ Here is a text for living simply and in the continuing transformation of our lives by God’s grace.–Malcolm Lyle Warford, Lexington Theological Seminary