Dr. Miriam Therese Winter Releases New Book on Jesus

Miriam Therese Winter, Director of Hartford Seminary’s Master of Arts in Transformative Leadership and Spirituality and of the Women’s Leadership Institute, has a new book about a “living, loving, inclusive Jesus.”

In the Spirit of Jesus is available for purchase at this link.

Dr. Winter describes the book as a “new way to understand Jesus” that is “right for this moment.”

“We need a new narrative, one that acknowledges there is more to the story of Jesus of Nazareth, his life and his mission, than what we profess and proclaim. Without a more inclusive and compassionate understanding of the one we know as Jesus, not only churches, but our beloved planet, with all of its inhabitants and nature’s graced diversity, cannot – will not – survive. Jesus is an example of how we humans can continue to be a beneficial link in the evolutionary chain. His living spirit – a holy Spirit – is calling to us all.”

The book, Dr. Winter’s 18th, was written while she was in quarantine. It includes prompts for personal reflection, group discussion, and prayers, as well as song lyrics and poetry.

The book directly addresses the prevailing issues of 2020, including racial injustice, climate change, and the coronavirus pandemic, among others. Dr. Winter writes: “We are living in unprecedented times. We need to discover unprecedented ways to live faith fully in a world that is radically different from whatever has been before. How can we change water into wine, metaphorically? When will we finally hear the cries of those who hunger for food … for justice … for a place at the table where crucial decisions are made?”

About the author

Dr. Winter is a Medical Mission Sister with a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary and a passion for breaking new ground. She  is best known for the award-winning “Joy Is Like the Rain,” sung all around the world, and “Mass of a Pilgrim People,” recorded live at Carnegie Hall. Publications include a trilogy on all the women of the Bible; pioneering feminist resources for ritual; the story of Ludmila Javarova, a legitimately ordained Roman Catholic priest in the Czech underground church; and Paradoxology: Spirituality in a Quantum Universe.

Congratulations, MT!