The Search for Shalom

by Will Dickerson

Overview

Many analysts have noted that this is an age of high anxiety. Nowadays, most bookstores have shelves of books documenting people's anxious condition and offering a variety of self-help cures. The Search for Shalom is not a self-help book. Rather, it argues that self-guided efforts to treat this anxious condition will only make it worse. The search for peace must lead elsewhere. Many people have been scammed by Satan, the prince of scammers. As a result, they don't give much attention to the one who actually offers them shalom—true peace. Instead, they continue to be controlled by their fears and anxieties. People spend their lives serving various idols, the most popular of which is Mammon. They nurture their grudges, refuse to forgive, and live in the rubble of broken relationships. Some of those who consider themselves Christians, instead of serving as ministers of reconciliation, enlist as soldiers in the culture wars and end up fighting the wrong battles with the wrong weapons. Many people, therefore, live in a state of war. No one should be surprised, therefore, at the sharp rise in the use of antidepressants and antianxiety medications. So where can people find peace?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798385249381
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	09/01/2025
Pages:	126
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.28(d)

About the Author

Will Dickerson did his undergraduate studies at Cornell University in history and classical civilization. Later, he earned a MDiv from Princeton, a PhD in medieval history from Cornell, and a MEd from Károli Gáspár University in Budapest, Hungary. From August 1993 to July 2024, he served with One Mission Society in Budapest, where he taught at Szent László Gimnázium, as well as at EuNC. He has spoken in churches from Budapest to Alaska.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The problem of stress and anxiety is everywhere today—in all corners and age groups. To resist anxiety’s power, Will Dickerson shows us the need to understand and live out a biblical shalom. Shalom shows us a way of seeing the world and its meaning as a foundation from which to face the difficult and unexpected with purpose and hope. He does this by giving us fresh ways to understand biblical texts while also connecting them to the depth of the larger Christian story.”

—Dick Keyes, Former Director, L’Abri Fellowship, Massachusetts



“Will Dickerson has provided a keen and much needed insight into the ‘full and meaningful life’ which comes to us through the Hebrew and Christian faiths. His own personal journey is inspired and inspiring. His thirty years as a Christian teacher to students reared under atheistic Communism provides him a keen insight lacking to most ‘westerners.’ His theological depth on subjects like ‘heaven and hell’ give us a much-needed textbook. His clarity of writing makes his book appealing to a diverse audience.”

—Donald W. Haynes, Retired Professor of Wesleyan Theology, Hood Theological Seminary



“In our often jangled and frenzied quest for peace and rest, Will Dickerson is a humble shepherd shining the light of scripture and the lessons of history into the dark places where the monsters that frighten us reside. With the skill of a seasoned teacher, he guides us with honesty and hope. The Search for Shalom is not a fix-it manual. Instead imagine stepping into a gallery, a museum of grace in which our author points at times to a story, there to a poem, and here to a song. Gradually as our racing heart subsides and our eyes adjust to the softer light, we begin to discover that we are inhabiting that place for which our souls long so deeply and desperately. We find ourselves in the Savior’s embrace. Shalom.”

—Steve Froehlich, Grace Unscripted website



“Simple truths, profound challenge. This book explores many simple and clear teachings of the Bible such as patience, forgiveness, generosity, reconciliation—and why living them is harder than understanding them. With honesty and hope, it invites readers to consider how love for God shapes not just what we believe, but who we become. A call to authentic faith formed by character, not convenience.”

—Jeffry Max Edwards, President, One Mission Society



"This is a rare work that would appeal to academic, ministerial, and lay Christian audiences alike, featuring both a solid research bibliography and references to pop culture. With a Ph.D. in medieval history from Cornell and an MDiv degree from Princeton, Dickerson has a solid understanding of Christian history and theology that emphasizes nuance and introspection, often calling out Christians themselves for failing to live up to Christ’s message of peace . . . Dickerson offers Christian readers a thoughtful work that both affirms their faith while challenging them to live up to their religious ideals.

A well-researched, distinctly Christian guidebook for finding peace in an era of violence and anxiety."

—Kirkus Reviews



“But this is not the way God intended us to live our lives!” Dickerson declares in this consideration of Christian life in a dark, anxiety-ridden world. He calls on Christian readers to be “Keepers of the Light” rather than “imprisoned” by fear and “the spirit of darkness, with its air of hopelessness and despair.” The Search for Shalom shares Dickerson’s quest for and discovery of shalom—"a deep, all-encompassing peace.” The answer, he finds, is not self-help books, antidepressants, overwork, or accumulated wealth, here called “mammon.” Instead, it’s giving one’s life to Christ rather than idols, spreading love in the world, serving as “peacemakers.”



. . . Dickerson draws ample inspiration from scripture, quoting astutely and with passion, offering clarifying exegeses and making the case that the Bible has more answers than, say, the “handbooks on modern business and leadership theory or on church-growth strategy.” Jesus, he argues, would have ignored such tomes when building a ministry.



. . . With persuasive power, Dickerson returns continuously to his greatest concern: not culture-war conflict, but the greater “war” being waged upon humanity every day by Satan, the “prince of scammers.” The bottom line, here, is simple: Since Satan seeks “to deprive us of peace and bring us to misery,” peace, for Dickerson, is won by giving one’s life over to Christ.”

—Booklife Review

Editorial Reviews

The problem of stress and anxiety is everywhere today—in all corners and age groups. To resist anxiety’s power, Will Dickerson shows us the need to understand and live out a biblical shalom. Shalom shows us a way of seeing the world and its meaning as a foundation from which to face the difficult and unexpected with purpose and hope. He does this by giving us fresh ways to understand biblical texts while also connecting them to the depth of the larger Christian story.”

—Dick Keyes, Former Director, L’Abri Fellowship, Massachusetts



“Will Dickerson has provided a keen and much needed insight into the ‘full and meaningful life’ which comes to us through the Hebrew and Christian faiths. His own personal journey is inspired and inspiring. His thirty years as a Christian teacher to students reared under atheistic Communism provides him a keen insight lacking to most ‘westerners.’ His theological depth on subjects like ‘heaven and hell’ give us a much-needed textbook. His clarity of writing makes his book appealing to a diverse audience.”

—Donald W. Haynes, Retired Professor of Wesleyan Theology, Hood Theological Seminary



“In our often jangled and frenzied quest for peace and rest, Will Dickerson is a humble shepherd shining the light of scripture and the lessons of history into the dark places where the monsters that frighten us reside. With the skill of a seasoned teacher, he guides us with honesty and hope. The Search for Shalom is not a fix-it manual. Instead imagine stepping into a gallery, a museum of grace in which our author points at times to a story, there to a poem, and here to a song. Gradually as our racing heart subsides and our eyes adjust to the softer light, we begin to discover that we are inhabiting that place for which our souls long so deeply and desperately. We find ourselves in the Savior’s embrace. Shalom.”

—Steve Froehlich, Grace Unscripted website



“Simple truths, profound challenge. This book explores many simple and clear teachings of the Bible such as patience, forgiveness, generosity, reconciliation—and why living them is harder than understanding them. With honesty and hope, it invites readers to consider how love for God shapes not just what we believe, but who we become. A call to authentic faith formed by character, not convenience.”

—Jeffry Max Edwards, President, One Mission Society



"This is a rare work that would appeal to academic, ministerial, and lay Christian audiences alike, featuring both a solid research bibliography and references to pop culture. With a Ph.D. in medieval history from Cornell and an MDiv degree from Princeton, Dickerson has a solid understanding of Christian history and theology that emphasizes nuance and introspection, often calling out Christians themselves for failing to live up to Christ’s message of peace . . . Dickerson offers Christian readers a thoughtful work that both affirms their faith while challenging them to live up to their religious ideals.

A well-researched, distinctly Christian guidebook for finding peace in an era of violence and anxiety."

—Kirkus Reviews



“But this is not the way God intended us to live our lives!” Dickerson declares in this consideration of Christian life in a dark, anxiety-ridden world. He calls on Christian readers to be “Keepers of the Light” rather than “imprisoned” by fear and “the spirit of darkness, with its air of hopelessness and despair.” The Search for Shalom shares Dickerson’s quest for and discovery of shalom—"a deep, all-encompassing peace.” The answer, he finds, is not self-help books, antidepressants, overwork, or accumulated wealth, here called “mammon.” Instead, it’s giving one’s life to Christ rather than idols, spreading love in the world, serving as “peacemakers.”



. . . Dickerson draws ample inspiration from scripture, quoting astutely and with passion, offering clarifying exegeses and making the case that the Bible has more answers than, say, the “handbooks on modern business and leadership theory or on church-growth strategy.” Jesus, he argues, would have ignored such tomes when building a ministry.



. . . With persuasive power, Dickerson returns continuously to his greatest concern: not culture-war conflict, but the greater “war” being waged upon humanity every day by Satan, the “prince of scammers.” The bottom line, here, is simple: Since Satan seeks “to deprive us of peace and bring us to misery,” peace, for Dickerson, is won by giving one’s life over to Christ.”

—Booklife Review

From the Publisher

2025-07-16
A Christian author offers advice for the faithful on how to obtain peace.

In the book’s opening lines, Dickerson writes that “we live in a state of war,” as international, political, interpersonal, and even internal conflict define life in the 21st century. A devout Christian, Dickerson traces the roots of contemporary fears and anxiety to Satan, “the prince of scammers,” who has deceived people into following false avenues of obtaining inner peace. The author contends that the idolatry of pursuing money, nurturing grudges, and refusing to offer forgiveness plague modern society at all levels, from the personal to the geopolitical. True and “deep inner peace” (or “shalom” in Hebrew), the book argues, comes only from Jesus. Thus, the author is adamant this it is “not a self-help book,” as he believes “self-guided efforts” without the help of Jesus are doomed to fail. It does, though, provide practical advice to the Christian faithful on how to find peace by following in the footsteps of Jesus and his followers. Using biblical anecdotes, such as examples of Matthew the Tax Collector, Simon the Zealot, Mary, and Martha, Dickerson makes the case for radical, life-changing love. If warfare is inherently spiritual (a result of the sinfulness of humanity), we can only find victory by using the strategy of Jesus. “His weapons were the cross and selfless love,” writes the author, adding, “he tells us that we must love—even our enemies.”

While profoundly Christian in its approach, the book defies some of the prominent ideas that drive mainstream American evangelicalism. For one, Dickerson is adamant against “the illusion that we are living in a Christian nation that needs to be defended from the ungodly.” Another is his rejection of the trope that after death, “our souls then rise to heaven or sink to hell,” as he connects those notions to Anglo-Saxon paganism. Though the underlying message may not resonate with non-Christian readers, it’s generally ecumenical in referencing Christian authors and perspectives across multiple denominational lines. Its engaging, but learned, prose is rife with references to a range of Christian thinkers from Augustine to modern scholars, and it’s peppered throughout with inspirational illustrations, photographs, poetry, and lyrics to hymns, like the classical Irish song “Be Thou My Vision.” This is a rare work that would appeal to academic, ministerial, and lay Christian audiences alike, featuring both a solid research bibliography and references to pop culture. With a Ph.D. in medieval history from Cornell and an MDiv degree from Princeton, Dickerson has a solid understanding of Christian history and theology that emphasizes nuance and introspection, often calling out Christians themselves for failing to live up to Christ’s message of peace. He frequently draws upon contemporary examples; in discussing Russia’s war against Ukraine, for instance, Dickerson notes how the Russian Orthodox bishop Kirill has used his Church to justify a “holy war” that uses “secular force to impose his version of Christian morality.” Despite its well-written narrative, the book could have used a closer editorial eye; it’s sometimes repetitive, with some sentences appearing word-for-word on different pages. This critique notwithstanding, Dickerson offers Christian readers a thoughtful work that both affirms their faith while challenging them to live up to their religious ideals.

A well-researched, distinctly Christian guidebook for finding peace in an era of violence and anxiety.

Kirkus Reviews