Sacramental Identity

“Few issues are as germane to our cultural moment as that of personal identity. T. Ryan Dillon, having learned from personal struggle, rightly suggests that one’s identity both requires stability and must speak to the particularities of one’s own situation. Where the ‘authenticity model’ fails to properly account for the former, the ‘in Christ model’ often does not deal adequately with the latter. Many who are personally struggling with their identity will take great courage from Dillon’s sacramental approach of the Great Tradition.”


—Hans Boersma, professor of ascetical theology, Nashotah House Theological Seminary





“If the church is going to faithfully respond to challenges associated with spiritually forming women and men in contemporary society, we will need to link that response to sound theological reflection. In Sacramental Identity, T. Ryan Dillon has done just that by showing us how the sacraments can serve as a unifying and stabilizing foundation for human identity in a fluid world. As someone who trains Christian leaders in spiritual formation, this will be required reading.”


—Kurtley E. Knight, assistant professor of spiritual formation, Portland Seminary