Publisher Description

Christians have always turned to the Sermon on the Mount for inspiration. In Life Can Begin Again, Helmut Thielicke, himself one of the great preachers of the twentieth century, comes to grips with what is often seen as a collection of lovely but impossible ideals. Thielicke makes it clear that the Sermon on the Mount can never be understood if, even for a moment, we forget the person of the Preacher of the Sermon. For without the person and work of Jesus Christ the marvellous words of the Beatitudes and the injunctions that follow them are the most radical and devastating distillation of God's claims that can be conceived - they leave us in utter hopeless dismay. Only through Christ can these words of the law become the glorious Gospel that promises a new life. Once again, as in his other best-selling works How the World Began and The Prayer that Spans the World, Thielicke brings profoundly biblical religion alive for modern readers.

Author Biography

Helmut Thielicke first came to prominence as a German Lutheran minister during the last days of the Second World War in Stuttgart. In the face of bombing raids and Nazi opposition, Thielicke carried on preaching to a congregation of thousands. After the war was over, he joined the faculty of the University of Tübingen as Rector and Professor of Systematic Theology, later becoming the Rector of the University of Hamburg. During this time, he also became a world traveller, lecturing and preaching in the United States, South Africa, Australia and Latin America. He died in Hamburg in 1986.

Table of Contents

Translator's Note1. Journey Without Luggage2. The First Installment of Happiness3. The Salt, Not the Honey of the World4. The Costs of Grace5. Every Word an Oath6. No Retaliation!7. Does Faith Pay Dividends?8. Talking About God or With God?9. Homecoming10. Overcoming Anxiety11. The Judge Accused12. An Elementary Course in Faith13. Venturing the Harder Road14. Time's Up!15. The Foundation of Life

Details