Being Promised : Theology, Gift, and Practice (Sacra Doctrina: Christian Theology for a Postmodern Age)

Promise, along with gift, is among the predominant metaphors for the Western Christian tradition to describe God's gracious actions. Being Promised argues that promise is itself a kind of gift exchange and analyzes the power, time, and place of God's promise. Gregory Walter offers a theological analysis of promise, anthropological and phenomenological reflection on gift exchange, and a critical appreciation of other theological appropriations of gift to support his argument. Walter clarifies the phenomenon of promise as gift and shows its theological, hermeneutical, and ethical significance. No other book theologically examines promise and gift exchange like this one does.