The Gabriel Letters

About the Book

I stumbled on the idea of writing letters from an archangel advising a young guardian, in an introduction to C. S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters. I wanted to find a way of looking at our human problems from a divine perspective. It has been a marvelous experience of standing back and imagining that I can see the world through angel eyes. It is an impossible task, of course, but the amazing result for me has been a sense of objectivity and good will.

The intended purpose of the letters is to take seriously the idea of God's complete love. This idea is the center of Christianity. It is Jesus' message, and it is St. Paul's "good news."

We live in an age when institutions of religion are taking a beating – from the media, from popular fiction in books and cinema, from those who proclaim cheap or distorted theology, and from our obsessive desire for wealth, power, and material things. The idea of an ideal church is still our hope: a community of people gathered out of a love of God and a concern for each other, to serve their community and their world. These letters offer advice in creating such an ideal church.

About the Author

Richard Shriver was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the second of three sons of Thomas A. and Attie Gene Shriver. His father was a highly honored judge of the Tennessee Court of Appeals. His education was in the public schools through the twelfth grade. His bachelor’s degree is in Philosophy from Vanderbilt University, and his Master of Divinity degree also is from Vanderbilt. He is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, having served churches in Tennessee, Wisconsin, and England for thirty-two years. Dr. Shriver continued his education in History, Music, and Christian Education in the graduate schools of Vanderbilt University, Peabody College, Scarritt College, Wisconsin State University, and Middle Tennessee State University, and earned his doctorate in Education and Theology at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School. He has been active in radio and television as a regular guest on Nashville’s Channel 5, Lebanon, Tennessee’s Channel 66, and WLAC Radio. He shares the hosting of Nashville’s CATV’s “We Believe,” and is a regular guest on WNQM Radio’s “We Believe,” a Roman Catholic sponsored show. Dr. Shriver’s first book, The Gabriel Letters, was published in 1990. He presently is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at Volunteer State College in Gallatin, Tennessee where he lives with his wife, Joy. They have two grown children…son, Colin and daughter, Kendal.