When Everything's on Fire - by Brian Zahnd (Hardcover)

About the Book

Is it possible to hold on to faith in an age of unbelief? Written with personal and pastoral experience, Brian Zahnd extends an invitation to move beyond the crisis of faith toward the journey of reconstruction. As the world rapidly changes in ways that feel incompatible with Christianity, this book provides much-needed hope that a stronger, more confident faith is possible.

Book Synopsis

Is it possible to hold on to faith in an age of unbelief?

Intellectual certainty has long been a cornerstone of the Christian faith. But in an age of secularism, skepticism, and cynicism, our worldviews have been shaken. Various solutions exist--some double down on certainty, while others deconstruct their faith until there is nothing left at all. But Brian Zahnd offers a third way: what is needed is not a demolition but instead a renovation of faith.

Written with personal and pastoral experience, Zahnd extends an invitation to move beyond the crisis of faith toward the journey of reconstruction. As the world rapidly changes in ways that feel incompatible with Christianity, When Everything's on Fire provides much-needed hope. A stronger, more confident faith is possible when it is grounded in the beauty and truth of Christ. Zahnd permits us to risk the journey of deconstruction so that God can forge something more beautiful in its place.

Review Quotes

"'The theologian who writes about God but never utters Oh, God in prayer is not a theologian I'm interested in, ' says Brian Zahnd. And I find Brian to be a very interesting pastor-theologian indeed! His well-tuned heart resonates with thehope that comes from having lived a thoughtful, prayerful, and intellectually and emotionally engaged life of encounter and reencounter with God--oh, God--in the beauty of Jesus Christ. Brian invites the singed and weary, those who find it hard to believe, to get rid of the smell of a smoky world and church afire with fickle fundamentalisms, empty modernist promises, and faithlessness to come. Come and be renewed in God's consuming fire, fully aware of the risk and wonder, starts and restarts, passion and stillness, humility and 'house remodeling' that come with it. If your faith is thin, if you've placed trust in what has proven to be untrustworthy, if you're wondering if it's still possible to be a Christian in the current fiery melee of the world, the church, and your own head and heart, come stand with Brian. This wise and tender friend will speak to you, with you, and for you, having first listened to and asked your questions in the company of philosophers, artists, writers, scientists, Scripture writers, and the very subject of Scriptures himself--and found those questions honored, upended, and reordered to the bright mystery of Christ Jesus. If you stand there long enough, you will find yourself enfolded by Jesus' first and last word over you, which is not righteous certitude, paper-thin apologetic, or religious sentiment but blazing, resurrected love."

--Cherith Fee Nordling, sessional professor of theology, Regent College

"All truths are open secrets, and everything good and beautiful is accessible to everyone; so it is theoretically possible for any of us to stumble into any truth any time. But I believe the book you are holding now is one that truly only Brian Zahnd could write, and the precise book we needed him to write in this particular moment. His gift is clarity, and the way he focuses his prophetic vision here is so lucid, singular, and laser focused, it is almost blinding. Zahnd does not offer us certainty in uncertain times, which is always just a bad magic trick, anyway--he offers something much better: beauty. This is a flaming, scorchingly beautiful vision of faith in a world where faith has left many of us in the cold. Prepare to be burned.

--Jonathan Martin, author of The Road Away from God and How to Survive a Shipwreck

"As a pastor, teacher, and friend, I've known many people who feel that their faith--and therefore their life--is on fire. This isn't in the 'on-fire-for-the-Lord' sense, but flames that threaten to bring to ash their once passionate trust in Jesus.More and more people in the West are walking away from their faith, but it doesn't have to be this way! There is no better guide than Brian Zahnd for someone who is in a season of life when everything's on fire. Brian's ability to speak as both prophet and pastor illuminates a path forward for those who face a dark night of unknowing. Rather than offering pseudocertainty and pithy apologetical arguments--rooted as they often are in modernity's gods--Brian invites readers to embrace the greatest mystery of all: a God who actually looks like Jesus! From now on, when I have a friend and/or member of my congregation who is going through a faith crisis, When Everything's on Fire will be the first book I hand them. I can't recommend this book enough--it's deeply moving no matter where you are in your journey with Jesus!"

--Kurt Willems, pastor, author of Echoing Hope: How the Humanity of Jesus Redeems Our Pain

"Is it possible to hold on to Christian faith in an age of unbelief? This is one of the many questions Brian Zahnd wisely and prophetically engages in When Everything's on Fire. It's a massive question that requires a level of explorationmany are not adept to speak on. But Brian has time and time again demonstrated an uncanny ability to help us navigate this present age. Whether you are losing faith or want to help others hold on to it, we would do well to have Zahnd take our hand and be our guide."

--Rich Villodas, lead pastor of New Life Fellowship and author of The Deeply Formed Life

"It is always a gift to find the words that lend language to your own experience. I needed this book. My world needs this book. Brian's words are a pleasing aroma, pastoral and full of love, reminding me--in the midst of what has often been my own terrifying disillusionment--that Jesus Christ remains the participatory God who empathizes with my lostness but does not leave me there, alone. How I have longed for faith informed by the kind of love that casts out fear, but what a frightening thingit is--to lose the fear that has for so long equated itself with faith! When Everything's on Fire, indeed. But does not my heart burn within me? Yes, and--admittedly--with a hint of envy. This is the book I wish I had written."

--Levi Macallister, "Levi the Poet"

"Pastor Zahnd's fluid voice, both tempered and animated by a mystical streak, creates a deceptively accessible work, especially given its intellectual heft and range of sources (Nietzsche, Derrida, and Dostoyevsky, among others): faith and reason both find common ground in Zahnd's writings. His followers will be glad to hear from him again, and Christian seekers new to his thinking will appreciate his passion and intellect."

--Publishers Weekly Review, November 2021

"What we need is a wise, unflustered, generous, and disruptive friend. Brian Zahnd is this kind of friend. Engaging wounds inflicted by the church, questions haunting the mind, and those aches deep in the soul, Brian writes as one who has truly encountered Jesus, even while wrestling in the dark. Brian writes with the curiosity and daring of one who has learned to trust the long lyric of love."

--Winn Collier, director of the Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination at WesternTheological Seminary and author of Love Big, Be Well: Letters to a Small-Town Church

About the Author

Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. Known for his theologically informed preaching and his embrace of the deep and long history of the church, Zahnd is a frequent speaker at conferences, universities, and seminaries around the world. As a pastor-theologian, he is the author of numerous titles, including The Wood Between the Worlds, When Everything's on Fire, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, A Farewell to Mars, and Beauty Will Save the World.