Erik Kolbell is a freelance writer, psychotherapist, and former Minister of Social Justice at Riverside Church in New York City. He has written four books. (For his books I've read, click on his name.)

Jesus’ eight “Blessed are ...” Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-10 have challenged readers for centuries. What did Jesus mean then? How can they be understood today? In his introductory chapter, Kolbell says, “These blessings, these eight little verses, are an extravagance of wisdom in an economy of words, for nowhere in all of Scripture are we offered a more compelling image of a life of faith in a world of doubt than in the Beatitudes.” He offers a chapter on each verse, giving deeply insightful interpretations of the Beatitudes’ eight verses and the related pillars: surrender, empathy, patience, self-denial, contrition, sanctification, wholeness, courage.

These profound, poetic, and paradoxical verses still offer us inspiration and direction today. As Erik Kolbell says ”To believe in the Beatitudes is to believe in the strength of communal love.” I give this little gem of a book a strong recommendation and encourage the formation of book discussion groups about it, for I feel that Kolbell's interpretations of the Matthew's Beatitudes provide excellent starting points for discussions among Christians who wisely consider their spiritual journeys to never end. At my church we discussed this book in an Adult Sunday School class for which I was the facillator.