Grounded by Diana Butler Bass

Grounded by Diana Butler Bass

Winner of the Religious Newswriters Association Book Award and the Wilbur Award

The headlines are clear: religion is on the decline in America as many people leave behind traditional religious practices. Diana Butler Bass, leading commentator on religion, politics, and culture, follows up her acclaimed book Christianity After Religion by arguing that what appears to be a decline actually signals a major transformation in how people understand and experience God. The distant God of conventional religion has given way to a more intimate sense of the sacred that is with us in the world. This shift, from a vertical understanding of God to a God found on the horizons of nature and human community, is at the heart of a spiritual revolution that surrounds us - and that is challenging not only religious institutions but political and social ones as well.

Grounded explores this cultural turn as Bass unpacks how people are finding new spiritual ground by discovering and embracing God everywhere in the world around us--in the soil, the water, the sky, in our homes and neighborhoods, and in the global commons. Faith is no longer a matter of mountaintop experience or institutional practice; instead, people are connecting with God through the environment in which we live. Grounded guides readers through our contemporary spiritual habitat as it points out and pays attention to the ways in which people experience a God who animates creation and community.

Bass brings her understanding of the latest research and studies and her deep knowledge of history and theology to Grounded. She cites news, trends, data, and pop culture, weaves in spiritual texts and ancient traditions, and pulls it all together through stories of her own and others' spiritual journeys. Grounded observes and reports a radical change in the way many people understand God and how they practice faith. In doing so, Bass invites readers to join this emerging spiritual revolution, find a revitalized expression of faith, and change the world.

Christian After Religion, Christianity for the Rest of Us, and A People's History of Christianity are among Diana Butler Bass's eight books on American religion. She is a Ph.D. holder. He holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Duke University, has taught at the college and graduate levels, and is now a freelance scholar. She was a columnist for the New York Times Syndicate and blogs about religion, spirituality, and culture for the Huffington Post and the Washington Post. Bass is a well-known speaker who has been at conferences, schools and institutions, and churches all over North America.

Her husband, daughter, and dog live with her in Alexandria, Virginia. Her website is dianabutlerbass.com, and her Twitter handle is @dianabutlerbass.