BOOKS by Val Webb

"Few theologians can weave together history, theology and biblical studies with such playful clarity and worldly wisdom as Val Webb."

Rev. Dr. Nancy Victorin-Vangerud

"Val Webb is one of the most exciting Christian voices in the 21st Century."

Bishop John Shelby Spong

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Testing Tradition and Liberating Theology: finding your own voice

ISBN-9-781925-208795

There has never been one truth, despite what people claim. Theological ideas have waxed & waned through history, taking conflicting turns with changing leaders, worldviews & political forces. This fast-paced, lay-friendly book, backed by serious, inquisitive scholarship, follows this maze, shining a spotlight into dark corners & dusty shelves to spot silenced ideas & others declared eternal.

"This book is a call to the lay people of the church to accept responsibility for their own theological explorations & to no longer be sprinking violets in the important matters of informed faith". Rev. Dr Jennifer Burns

Special Australian price: AUD$ 41 incl. postage in Aust.

In Defence of Doubt: an invitation to Adventure

ISBN-9-781743-240557

While doubt is encouraged in most disciplines, somehow in religion we have been expected to abandon all creative thinking and "just believe", blaming ourselves for our doubts. This, however, has not been the experience of the 'great cloud of witnesses' before us, courageously lurching from one doubt to the next, believing they were nudged by God through their doubts.

Doubts are not preying forces of evil but tantalising carrots, enticing us to new territory and allowing us to throw out outgrown dogmas for richer experiences. This book invites you to drag your doubts out from under the rug and celebrate them for the gifts they are, just as a scientist anticipate fresh resolution with each experiment

Special Australian price: AUD$ 31 incl. postage in Aust

Winner Best Book Awards USA 2007

Like Catching Water in a Net: human attempts to describe the Divine

ISBN-978-0-8264-2891-2

Val Webb is not out to prove the existence of a God, but to set out intuitions or intimations of the Divine nature & attributes from the literature of the world's religions. Why have so many societies throughout history suspected there is Something Bigger than themselves? What is the difference between knowing Something exists & knowing what that Something might be (or not be)? And what about arguments against the existence of God at all? Val poses a critical challenge to the way traditional Christianity has straightjacketed Western notions of God; & traces the lines of intersection & divergence of various religions in order to offer fresh ways to consider Something More in today's mutifaith world.

Frank Oveis, Continuum editor (2007)

"Val Webb's book has freed the Divine from the religious. A striking achievement." Bishop John Shelby Spong

Special Australian price: AUD$ 31 incl. postage in Aust

Stepping out with the Sacred: human attempts to engage the Divine

ISBN-978-1-4411-9642-2

Today, our doctor may be Muslim, our lawyer Jewish & our best friend Buddhist. This book describes how humans have engaged the Divine across religions & centuries, through rituals, art, sacred places, language & song. Val includes her own experiences, both personal & experienced through much travel & reading across theology, literature & travel writings. Val meanders along winding trails, talks over the fence & drinks wine with strangers, conscious that, to engage the beyond-description Sacred, we need all the stories we can find. A teacher of world religions & art, & an artist herself, Val creates a woven-together, reader-friendly, vividly-painted, theologically reflective whole.

" ...an exploration that is exciting, brilliant & accessible " Professor Norman Habel

Special Australian price: AUD$ 38 incl. postage in Aust

Florence Nightingale: the making of a radical theologian

ISBN-0-8272-1032-9

"Val Webb's carefully crafted study of Florence Nightingale's religious works, letters & diaries reveals some surprising & little known aspects of this great nineteenth-century woman pioneer reformer. Her posthumously published writings are evidence of a strong religious vocation & of unexpectedly radical theological thought, resonating more with contemporary feminist theology & process thought than with Victorian ideas of her own day. This book shows the complex personality, brilliant mind, & deeply religious motivation of this God-intoxicated woman. Much of this comes as a great surprise & challenge to the reader. It is a vivid account & a truly engrossing read."

Emerita Professor Ursula King, University of Bristol, England

Special Australian price: AUD$ 55 incl. postage in Aust

John's Message: good news for the new millennium

ISBN-0-687-02193-6

John's Message takes a refreshing look at the Gospel of John. This small book of six studies for groups is thematic & centres around the questions:

What was John's world like
What was John's Gospel about
What does John teach us about the human condition
What does John teach us about Jesus
How does John teach us to understand our times
What does John teach us about living in the third millennium
This was one of four studies for the World Methodist Council for use in 2000

Special Australian price: AUD$ 14 incl. postage in Aust