Fragments of the Spirit: Nature, Violence, and the Renewal of Creation

In Fragments of the Spirit, Mark Wallace proposes that the Spirit goes well beyond the conventional Christian understanding of the force that unites the Father and the Son in the Trinity. Wallace presents a new model of the Spirit, one that is based on the earth and centered on life.The Spirit, writes Wallace, is the power that transforms and renews all forms of life. It is a natural force that heals the violence humans have done to nature and to one another.In the Bible—whether it the Spirit depicted as the divine wind in Genesis or the dove in the Gospels—the Spirit reveals herself as a life-form who creates, sustains, and renews humans and nature as they work together. The Spirit, Wallace demonstrates, is able to forge unity among enemies and to bring opposites together, overcoming the differences that define personal and community life.