The Big Relief
The Urgency of Grace for a Worn-Out World
by David Zahl
You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 29 Apr 2025 | Archive Date 16 May 2025
Baker Academic & Brazos Press | Brazos Press
Talking about this book? Use #TheBigRelief #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
Think of grace as one-way love. A gift with no strings attached. Favor when you least expect or deserve it. Knowing that you don't have to do anything to earn God's approval.
In The Big Relief, popular author David Zahl spotlights grace as the most important, urgent, and radical contribution Christianity has to offer the world. Zahl helps readers understand the beauty and depth of grace, outlining how it provides relief from the guilt, status anxiety, and accelerating demand that characterize so much of modern life. Drawing on the witness of Scripture and a panoply of contemporary examples, he unpacks the theology of grace in fresh and exciting terms, exploring its many fruits--such as freedom, play, surrender, humility, rest, surprise, and joy--in the process.
Zahl invites us to embrace Christianity as a refuge rather than as a project, a beacon of hope instead of a vehicle of shame, and a harbor of refreshment in a worn-out world. Ultimately, he welcomes everyone to receive the gift of relief we so desperately need.
Advance Praise
“In this book you will learn of the transforming kindness at the heart of Christianity, wisely and humanely communicated—and adorned with funkier music and more baseball analogies than the good news usually gets.”—Francis Spufford, author of Unapologetic and Light Perpetual
“The Big Relief is more than a good read; it’s a breath of fresh air and a burden lifted all at the same time. With eyes to see the theological in the everyday and a deep pastoral sensibility, Zahl calls us to lay down the heavy loads of performance and anxiety and reminds us—once again—that all is grace.”—Hannah Anderson, author of Turning of Days: Lessons from Nature, Season, and Spirit
“I genuinely love Zahl’s new book. I’ve never had so much fun reading footnotes! The Big Relief reminds us that grace is a party, a piñata exploding with God’s best candy, a free and never-ending gift. This book just might help you fall back in love with the weirdest, wildest theological concept in all creation.”—Harrison Scott Key, author of How to Stay Married and The World’s Largest Man
“The Big Relief is a wonderfully companionable, expansive work of contemporary philosophy. David Zahl invites us to consider how we get in our own way—through guilt, anxious comparison, accelerated expectations, the need to feel in control—in our frustrated fumbling toward some kind of relief. With warmth and generosity, this book suggests that relief is possible but never underestimates the effort required to feel it. Nothing simplistic or easy-peasy here, and lots to take heart in, regardless of your religious faith or lack thereof.”—Kathryn Jezer-Morton, writer and sociologist
“Grace is a miracle—particularly in a world soaked in so many forms of resentment. Ours is an age at war, one that’s fueled by blame, punishment, and revenge. We love it all. We find it delicious to watch our enemies suffer. This mindset has made for a generation of young people who are terrified to live. In such an environment, we need a miracle. We need to be reminded of the miracle of grace itself. Grace is how God reaches out to us. Against the backdrop of a culture war, this reality of grace is staggeringly beautiful. David Zahl brings this reality of the otherworldly and divine grace to readers with beauty, depth, and clarity. The Big Relief’s articulation of grace frees us from seeing this too-common Christian word (but profoundest of realities) as an idea, or a therapeutic medication, or a self-help concept. Zahl reveals that grace is the nature of a God who comes to us in mercy and gives us freedom. This is a book that speaks good news to everyone in our time. It’s a treasure I recommend to all.”—Andrew Root, Luther Seminary; author of A Pilgrimage into Letting Go
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781587435577 |
| PRICE | US$26.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 176 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Richard P, Reviewer
It's easy to get wrapped up in the pressures of life. It's easy to become performance-oriented. It's easy to become constantly busy. It's easy to become consumed by guilt. It's easy to become preoccupied by status and success and fame and money.
For David Zahl, we could all use a lot of relief from all of these pressures. Also for Zahl, there's no bigger relief than the grace of God. Zahl takes a deep dive into these gift without an agenda and throws a spotlight on grace as one of the most vital contributions Christianity has to offer a worn-out world.
Zahl gently yet very intentionally guides readers toward a deeper understanding of the wonder and depth of grace and how it can so directly impact our daily lives. He explores the theology of grace in specific ways - freedom, play, surrender, humility, rest, surprise, and joy - and invites us, in essence, into a Christianity that is more refuge than race, peaceful journey than project.
What I most appreciate about "The Big Relief" is that Zahl writes it in such a way that its narrative rhythms feel just like the lessons he's trying to teach. "The Big Relief" feels more like pastoral care than some race toward understanding or some effort by Zahl to be impressive. It's Zahl sharing his knowledge, wisdom, and insight in a way that feels like a good friend leaning on your shoulder and reminding you that it's okay to rest.
"The Big Relief" is the kind of theological book that becomes a companion. It's the kind of book you look back at again and again when life gets you down or you just plain get worn out to remind yourself that relief is possible and that grace is how God reaches us over and over and over again.
I can't say I was necessarily blown away by "The Big Relief," but by the end of the book I found myself grateful for Zahl's literary journey that feels both incredibly relevant and timely.
