Alex Sosler

Education has become too narrowly focused on academic success and future earning potential. But creative schools and individual teachers are finding ways, new and old, to reverse this trend. From kindergarten to university, writers in this issue of Plough step back to look at education as the holistic task of forming healthy, responsible, passionate humans, and share success stories from the front lines. On this theme: Alex Sosler on innovative schools where students learn a trade and study the humanities. Brit Frazier on becoming a local volunteer firefighter. Peter Gray on why free play is essential. Anthony Garces-Foley on why he chose to teach in a public school. Stephanie Ebert on reading children scary fairy tales. Patrick Tomassi on Lernvergnugenstag, when teachers get to teach what inspires them. Tim Maendel on a public high school that raises deer and fish. Phil Christmas on why everyone still needs literature. Benjamin Crosby on how Christian teaching gets passed on. Frederick K. S. Leung on why math is not merely instrumental. Also in this issue: Rabbi Meir Soloveichik on hearing God in the subway. Grace Hamman on Sister Penelope, mentor to C. S. Lewis. Paul Coleman on religious persecution in Nicaragua and Finland. Reviews of Edwidge Danticat’s We’re Alone, John Inazu’s Learning to Disagree, and H. G. Parry’s The Magician’s Daughter. New poems by Claude Wilkinson. Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to apply their faith to the challenges we face. Each issue includes in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art.

When you look at the world, what do you see? As an artist, your creativity stems from your vision. The problem in the modern world is how often one's imagination is fragmented and reduced--between worship and work, the body and soul, the material and the spiritual. Written to practicing artists and those who pastor them, The Artistic Vision encourages artists who long for a greater sense of purpose and a greater sense of wholeness, proposing that seeing the material world as a shadow of spiritual realities will lead them toward an expression that joins faith and practice. Drawing from the Oxford Movement and artistic examples like Christina Rosetti and Flannery O'Connor, Ball and Sosler present a sacramental way of seeing the world: the invisible through the visible, the spiritual through the material, the divine through creation. Interspersed with practical vignettes from artists and pastoral reflection, The Artistic Vision helps artists regain an enchanted, mysterious, and reverent vision of life. Artists neither have to check their faith at the studio door, nor produce kitschy or easy art. By creating with a sacramental vision, they are seeing the world "charged with the grandeur of God" and inviting viewers into that participation.

Christianity Today 2025 Book Award (Christian Living / Spiritual Formation)Outreach 2025 Resource of the Year (Spiritual Growth)"With so many distractions in life, we must be deliberate in our search for God, and Sosler's book gives masterful guidance."--Christianity TodayIn a society always seeking the new and novel, Christians can become more grounded and mature through a retrieval of our common tradition. Alex Sosler sets forth the "transcendentals" of truth, goodness, and beauty--along with community--to help readers follow the way of Jesus. Weaving together church history, theology, and devotional practice, Sosler offers a holistic introduction to spiritual formation, encompassing biblical truth, the pursuit of the good life, the contemplation of God, and communal belonging. Each section includes a biblical and historical precedent for the tradition and highlights an exemplar from church history: Augustine on truth, Dorothy Day on goodness, Teresa of Ávila on beauty, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer on church commitment and community. This accessible book provides avenues for a broader and deeper spirituality that can shape the complexity of our souls. It is ideal for undergraduate students and as a formation primer for church adult education classes, classical schools, and homeschooling communities.

"What is the Christian college for?" Whether you're about to begin your journey at a Christian college or you've already embarked, this is a vital question. And you have probably been given an answer a hundred times." College is to get a good job or to learn a bunch of disconnected information or it's a social rite of passage-all within the nurturing confines of a Christian community." In Learning to Love, Alex Sosler deepens, widens, and magnifies a vision for higher education. Conceiving of the Christian college as more than job preparation or the acquisition of knowledge, Sosler inspires a greater hope for education-namely one oriented toward the love of God and neighbor. This expansive vision re-imagines an education worth pursuing. Learning to Love is perfect for students preparing for Christian higher education and those on the journey. While written with the student in mind, Sosler's consideration of the purpose of Christian higher education is also great for faculty, staff, and administrators.