“Jason’s words are the antidote we need right now.”
Shauna Niequist
New York Times bestselling author of I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet
“Here is a writer who is doing the hard, holy, human work of naming the nearly unnameable and bringing us along.”
Emily P. Freeman
Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Next Right Thing
“Jason’s words are the antidote we need right now.”
Shauna Niequist
New York Times bestselling author of I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet
Whether it’s your marriage ending, your faith deconstructing, or social disruption on a national or global scale, what happens when the fundamental picture of reality we’ve relied on falls apart? This book reveals an unexpected way to look at the Beatitudes as transformative paradoxes, helping you become the kind of person who can put things back together.
When The World Breaks: The Surprising Hope and Subversive Promises in the Teachings of Jesus
Buy your copy of When The World Breaks
Some helpful resources
We created a study guide and short video for each chapter to help you go further with the book.
Buying for a group? Enter promo code WTWB20 to save 20% when you purchase 10 or more copies on HachetteBookGroup.com
What people are saying…
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"I deeply loved this book.”
Scott Erickson
Author, Honest Advent and Say Yes
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“Absolutely necessary for anyone who is tired of an overly complicated Jesus and ready for a little hope.”
Brit Baron
Author, Worth It
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“...vulnerable storytelling, robust Biblical wisdom, and a generous eye toward hope”
Shannan Martin
Author, Start with Hello and The Ministry of Ordinary Places
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"When your world cracks, fractures, breaks and you feel at the end of your rope searching for any semblance of hope; trusted voices like Jason Miller are a rare gift.”
Steve Carter
Author, The Thing Beneath the Thing
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"Jason’s words are the antidote we need right now, a meaningful offering beyond cynicism & apathy. I’m so delighted that through these pages, so many readers will get to encounter Jason's sharpness of mind & tenderness of spirit. This is an absolutely beautiful book.”
Shauna Niequist
New York Times Bestselling author of I Guess I Haven’t Learned that Yet
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"Jason Miller is not only a friend, but serves me as a helpful guide and needed voice in navigating America's often tense and temperamental church and culture landscape. His heart for the suffering, disillusioned and those who are rightly triggered by traumatic experiences and exposures to a toxic, unhelpful, and exclusive version of Christianity, runs through every sentence..."
Sean Palmer
Author, Speaking By the Numbers and Unarmed Empire
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"Jason combines a philosopher's mind with a pastor's heart, weaving personal narrative with unexpected distillations of wisdom from Jesus's beatitudes. When the World Breaks is a powerful book..."
Jonathan Merritt
Author, Learning to Speak God From Scratch and contributor for The Atlantic
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"I have stood many times on the Mount of Beatitudes and reflected on these words. I have never heard these ancient Blessings more resonantly unpacked than in this book."
Jonny Clark
Public theology at The Corrymeela Community and Podcaster at Guardians of the Flame
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"Jason has written a must-read for anyone who feels like their world is breaking—which is all of us at one point or another."
Manda Carpenter
Author, Soul Care to Save Your Life
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“With the heart of a poet and the mind of a scholar, Jason has given the world a much needed gift.”
Luke Norsworthy
Pastor and Author of Befriending Your Monsters
What happens when the fundamental picture of reality we’ve relied on falls apart?
If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that the world is broken. The world we thought we knew vanished, and so many of us are now struggling to make sense of a world that’s not what we thought it was.
This book is about what happens when the fundamental picture we had relied on – our sense of how everything holds together - falls apart. For some, this moment comes when a global pandemic upends our security. For others, it’s a partner leaving, or a terrible diagnosis, or the death of a loved one. Many of us have felt our worlds breaking when long-held beliefs about God or faith slipped through our hands. Whether the details are global or personal, the experience is the same: you discover that the framing reality you were living in has fractured.
But here’s the good news: The world has been breaking for as long as we can remember. We've been here before, which means we can turn to ancient, perennial wisdom to help us sort through these urgent problems. In When the World Breaks, Jason Adam Miller explores the possibilities for hope hidden in the paradoxes Jesus spoke when he taught the eight blessings – often called the Beatitudes - recorded in the beginning of Matthew chapter 5. These strange blessings name our experiences of suffering and are built on a particular kind of hope. This book is a meditation on those teachings as a transformative way forward when we suffer.
Lyrically written, theologically rich, and supremely accessible, When the World Breaks reveals an unexpected way to look at these familiar verses, giving readers hope that God is with them in their suffering, and helping them become the kind of people who can put things back together.
Buying for a group?
Enter promo code WTWB20 to save 20% when you purchase 10 or more copies on HachetteBookGroup.com
About Jason Adam Miller
Jason is the founder and lead pastor of South Bend City Church, an eclectic Christian community known for its thoughtful teaching, inclusive vision, and commitment to its city context.
An advocate for artists and peacemakers, his work beyond South Bend focuses on cultural headwaters and conflict zones, where he serves an international constituency of leaders. He holds a master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame.