Theology and the Avett Brothers

Alex Sosler is assistant professor of bible and ministry at Montreat College and assisting priest at Redeemer Anglican Church in Asheville, NC.

• ForewordJames K.A. SmithIntroductionAlex Sosler1. May It Flourish: The Good Life According to the Avett Brothers Jeffrey Tabone2. The Avett Brothers and the Interior LifeGayle Doornbos3. Vanity or Virtue: What do You See in the Fire? The Explicit and Implicit Ethics of the Avett BrothersBrandon K. Watson4. The Empathetic Imagination of the Avett Brothers: A Theological Investigation of Music, Emotion, and Christian PracticeJennifer Allen Craft5. From Boatloads of Shame to Closer than Together: Scott and Seth Avett as Models of Confession and ReunificationAustin Rehbein6. Homesickness and a Hunger for the Higher in the Avett Brothers’ JourneyCasey S. Lute7. Reimaging God’s Agency in the Neighborhood: What the Church Might Learn from the Avett Brothers’ Love of Place and StoryAustin Ashenbrenner8. Me and God Don’t Need a Middleman: A Richer Understanding of the NonesJeffery Porter9. Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise: The Avett Brothers and the Experience of Those

Not a lot of music makes me want to be a better human being. The Avett Brothers do, without moralistic nattering, but rather by being outrageously fun. These essays will help you savor the songs you stomp along to.