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Living with the Mind of Christ

Nov 22, 2020 | 2017 - Spring, Book Reviews, Free Spring 2017

Living with the Mind
of Christ

Author Stefan Gillow Reynolds
Publisher DLT £12.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780232532500

Mindfulness seems to have struck the public consciousness recently but how does it fit with Christian thinking? Reynolds answers this question very thoroughly by showing that mindfulness practice as taught today links closely with Christian thinking. He considers Christian saints and mystics throughout the centuries and the insights they bring to that mindful awareness of learning to be alive in the present moment. This can then deepen into meditative prayer or contemplation ‘enabling us to open our whole being to God’s love’. It is a very helpful, comprehensive and accessible work and certainly opened my mind to the whole area of Christian and secular thinking about the subject; the text is packed with detail about the Christian thinkers of the past – but, while the chapter notes are thorough, an index would have increased its usability greatly.

MARGARET TINSLEY

Mindfulness, Meditation

 

The Bible in the Contemporary World – exploring texts and contexts – then and now

Nov 22, 2020 | 2016 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2016

The Bible in the Contemporary World – exploring texts and contexts – then and now

Author Richard Bauckham
Publisher SPCK £15.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780281074846

Bauckham is a well-respected biblical scholar who has also written extensively about ethics and modern life. He is an outspoken critic of the failings of contemporary society and this book brings together a collection of his papers on the theme of the relevance of the Bible today in that context. Only three of the chapters are newly written for this book, and a number of the chapters appear in other books which many people will probably already have; nevertheless it is very helpful to have a handy collection of papers all on the same subject within one binding. As is sometimes the case with a collection of essays and papers written over a number of years, there is some repetition, and a recurring theme is the idolatry which Bauckham sees as the chief evil of contemporary life. The earliest chapters were first published in 2003, but none seems dated, and all are worth reading and plundering for sermon quotes. There is much in this book to challenge lazy thinking and to stimulate discussion. It is thoroughly recommended.

HELEN FONTAINE

Biblical Analysis

 

Befriending Silence

Nov 22, 2020 | 2016 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2016

Befriending Silence

Author Carl McColman
Publisher Ave Maria Press £10.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781594716157 (2015)

There is, among Christians and seekers of no particular faith, a hunger to live lives that are more spiritually rooted. What is hard is finding the how in answer to this hunger. Befriending Silence is an inspiring series of reflections on how the Cistercian monastic tradition can help women and men who are not necessarily part of a religious order draw closer to God in ways which are simple and radical.
One of the benefits of McColman’s book is its down to earth practicality in matters spiritual. Each chapter, covering a range of subjects from hospitality to contemplation, ends with some good suggestions about how to deepen the practice of hospitality, or Bible reading, or humility. The spiritual life is about how God is embodied in our lives. The centre, for McColman, of spiritual living is contemplation: the cultivating of a silent and loving awareness of God. The chapters on prayer and contemplation are particularly fresh. But the book as a whole is a thoughtful, conversational and often moving guide in how to grow in awareness of God’s presence with us and within us.

BEN BROWN

Spirituality, Prayer

 

This Is My Body

Nov 22, 2020 | 2016 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2016

This Is My Body

Author Eds Christina Beardsley and Michelle O’Brien
Publisher DLT £14.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780232532067

Many Readers may know someone who is transgender, or at least be aware of the concept from recent news reports. This collection of essays, mainly written by transgender Christians, provides background knowledge and insight into the trans world. The initial chapters cover (trans)gender issues from scientific, social, medical, theological and Anglican church perspectives. The later chapters recount personal stories by transgender Christians, most of whom have transitioned to living in an alternative gender role but some who stay fully or partly in their birth gender role. Inevitably it focuses on trans experience and theology, with only a passing reference to families and children. One or two academic chapters assume a more knowledgeable reader than me, but these can be skimmed if necessary in favour of the readable chapters about the Bishops’ discussions on the topic or personal stories. The book lacks specific pastoral advice but gives trans Christians a voice that they have often lacked within the Anglican church.

S J HAYTON

Autobiography, Vocation

 

Our last awakening

Nov 22, 2020 | 2016 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2016

Our last awakening

Author Janet Morley
Publisher SPCK £9.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780281073542

Yet again Morley has edited a superb anthology to inform and sustain, this time ‘for living in the face of death’. These fifty poems can be read in any order, at any time, by dipping in, or focusing on one poem. Her commentary enlarges our perception of each. They enhance my awareness of dying and its stages and are feeding into my funeral ministry, preaching, and pastoral care. Each poem is an adventure, an experience lived through or imagined. One that inspired me is U.A.Fanthorpe’s ‘The Unprofessionals’, an absorbing unassuming paean to those who ‘come, unorganised, inarticulate’ to ‘sit with you’, ‘answering the phone’ and ‘talking sometimes’ and doing other things ‘until the blunting of time’ – when the bereaved are beginning to cope. Pastoral care and wisdom at their unobtrusive best.

JEREMY HARVEY

  Poetry, Pastoral

 

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