The Struggle to Believe
Poems That Wrestle with Christian Truth
Foreword by William B. Lawrence
Imprint: Resource Publications
S T Kimbrough, Jr., holds a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary and is currently a research fellow of the Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition at Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. He is author of the following books by Wipf and Stock: The Lyrical Theology of Charles Wesley; Radical Grace: Justice for the Poor and Marginalized; Partakers of the Life Divine: Participation in the Divine Nature in the Writings of Charles Wesley; Charles Wesley in America, and six books of poetry, including: Why Should a Child Be Born? Poems for Peace and Justice in the Middle East; Of Death and Grief: Poems for Healing and Renewal; Rethinking Christmas; Snowbound; A Seagull Lunch and Other Nature Poems, and We Need Mountains: Poems for Creation Care and World Powers.
“S T Kimbrough’s poems create a vision of our world that is captivating. Some poems help all of us to develop ‘the poetic imagination’ that is the goal of all erudition.”
—James H. Charlesworth, President, Foundation on Judaism and Christian Origins
“For decades, S T Kimbrough has been teaching us that much of the Christian faith is better sung than said, relished rather than reasoned. In this fine collection of his poems, S T shows us the beauty in believing as well as the faith that admits to doubts and tensions within our faith. Wise, cheerful, hopeful, and full of delight, S T’s poems are a gift to any of us who believe but need help to persist in our believing.”
—Will Willimon, Duke Divinity School
“S T Kimbrough brings his truly diverse talents and interests into poems which probe our daily concerns, worries, and doubts and provide us with psalm-like redemptive verse. His and William Lawrence’s introductions guide readers onto pathways through and out of our personal and social traumas.”
—Russell E. Richey, Candler School of Theology, emeritus
“S T Kimbrough’s poetry amply illustrates his long engagement with Methodist hymnody, the rhythms of which infuse these poems. They are rooted as well in Wesleyan theology, but with a clear eye to the struggles and doubts of contemporary Christians. It is a fusion that draws the reader into a sense of worship, which is at one with Kimbrough’s lifelong work.”
—Robert Hunt, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University
“Is there any book more pertinent in terrifyingly tumultuous times than one that helps us honestly wrestle with God? That relevance is the gift of S T Kimbrough’s new collection of poems, The Struggle to Believe. In them we find the words to wade into a Jacob-like refusal to let go of the divine, even in the midst of great difficulties and doubt.”
—Lester Ruth, Duke Divinity School
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