Trains, Jesus, and Murder by Richard Beck

Trains, Jesus, and Murder by Richard Beck

Saints and sinners, all jumbled up together. That's the genius of Johnny Cash, and that's what the gospel is ultimately all about.

Johnny Cash sang about and for people on the margins. He famously played concerts in prisons, where he sang both murder ballads and gospel tunes in the same set. It's this juxtaposition between light and dark, writes Richard Beck, that makes Cash one of the most authentic theologians in memory.

In Trains, Jesus, and Murder, Beck explores the theology of Johnny Cash by investigating a dozen of Cash's songs. In reflecting on Cash's lyrics, and the passion with which he sang them, we gain a deeper understanding of the enduring faith of the Man in Black.

Richard Beck is professor of psychology at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, and a popular blogger and speaker. He is the author of several books, most recently Trains, Jesus, and Murder: The Gospel According to Johnny Cash and Stranger God: Meeting Jesus in Disguise. His published research also covers topics as diverse as the psychology of profanity and why Christian bookstore art is so bad. Beck leads a Bible study each week for inmates at a maximum-security prison. Richard lives in Abilene, Texas.