In her landmark book “Caring For Words in a Culture of Lies” Marylin McEntyre writes… 

 

"If language is to retain its power to nourish and sustain our common life, we have to care for it in something like the way good farmers care for the life of the soil, knowing nothing worth eating can be grown in soil that has been used up, fertilized or exposed too many toxic chemicals."

 

— 

There may nor be a cultural sphere in greater need of that kind of word care than that of American Christianity. My guest, is author, journalist and cultural critic Jonathan Merritt. 

 

His most recent book is entitled “Learning to Speak God From Scratch” and is, in my reading of it, a courageous and wise effort to care for the words that shape contemporary religious life. 

 

In my conversation with him, we dig into that book, its history and a few other pieces of the soil beneath out feet. 

 

Check it out.