Introduction: voices of the page -- First impromptu: The other side of language or 'listening to the voice of being' -- An auditory culture. Listening in cultural context -- Rhetoric and the art of listening -- Images and echoes -- Theme and variations. Catechesis: sounding the theme -- Second impromptu: Playing ball: the art of reception -- Preaching: variations on the theme -- Third impromptu: Singing the blues -- From listening to hearing. The polyphony of prayer -- From the bottom to the bottomless
Summary
The sense of hearing was particularly important in the ancient world when the majority of people were illiterate. Rhetoric has been given attention in this context, but listening has been virtually ignored. This book deals with the practical and theological issues which listening to an incorporeal, unknowable God raised for early Christians
