Practice
Gratitude to God The Heart of Christian Formation Kent Dunnington Foreword by Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung
Is gratitude the path to a good life filled with happiness? The pos - itive psychology movement promotes gratitude as one of the keys to a good life—a posture that resonates with Christians seeking to live faithfully. But does our modern view of gratitude align with the experience, practice, and goals of gratitude described in Scripture? Kent Dunnington argues that our understanding of gratitude must be reclaimed by Christian theology if we are to experience our lives as evidence of God’s generosity. Recognizing that gratitude to God often feels less natural than gratitude to others, he invites readers to walk with him on his journey to cultivate gratitude, even in sea - sons of suffering and lament. Along the way, Dunnington traces how cultural understandings of gratitude have shifted and examines the vices that block gratitude, including resentment, self-loathing, pride, apathy, and distraction. This book offers a robust theological and philosophical perspective on gratitude to God. It invites readers to see gratitude as the heart of spiritual formation, offering practices for growing in gratitude to God to experience life—trials and all—as gift and favor. “The genius of Gratitude to God is the claim that God’s gifts are ‘weird’ and ‘opaque,’ often not seeming like gifts at all. Gratitude requires seeking the good, resisting cynicism and entitlement, and opening to life’s mystery. Most moving is Dunnington’s candor about resenting God and the practical steps he took and we can all take to receive gratitude even amid suffering.” —Anna Lembke, MD, Stanford University; author of Dopamine Nation “This gratitude book goes theologically and spiritually deeper than anything else I’ve read on the subject. . . . If you are a Christian interested in spiritual formation who yearns to pray with greater trust during times of trial and live a more consistently grateful life, read this book. If you are a seminary student or pastor who seeks insight about gratitude in light of Scripture and the Christian tra- dition, read this book. It will enrich your faithful practice and your faithful reflection.” —Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung (from the foreword)
MAY 2026 • 232 pp. • $24.99p • 9781540970244
Kent Dunnington (PhD, Texas A&M University) is professor of philosophy at Biola University. He teaches and writes in the areas of philosophy of religion and theological ethics, with a focus on the virtues. Dunnington is the author of Addiction and Virtue and Humility, Pride, and Christian Virtue Theory .
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