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Abiding Grace

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

Abiding Grace

Author Rupert Bristow
Publisher Kevin Mayhew £11.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781848678699

This collection of just over two hundred prayers, all of the author’s own composition, is intended for use, as the sub-title suggests, ‘later in life’. Many of the themes address issues of later life, such as retirement, funerals, loneliness, heart attacks and dementia, but there are also prayers of thanksgiving for the blessings which life has conferred. I certainly didn’t expect to encounter the word ‘stair-lift’ in a book of intercessions! The stance of the person praying varies from the subjective to the objective, and so the book could be used either in private prayers or in the context of a service. The book is printed in a large, clear font, to combat that other condition of later life: failing eyesight. Individual Christians will be able to use it in personal devotions and those who minister to older people will find it helpful in compiling intercessions. Just occasionally I found that the prayers lacked a final cadence and ended somewhat abruptly. Sadly this will be Rupert Bristow’s last book,
as he passed away in November after a
short illness.

GEOFF BRAMMALL

Prayer

 

Lamentations and Ezekiel for Everyone

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

Lamentations and Ezekiel for Everyone

Author John Goldingay
Publisher SPCK £9.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780281061396

This pilgrimage of translation and commentary through the Old Testament has now reached Lamentations and Ezekiel. Some readers may suspect the pilgrim’s progress has reached the Slough of Despond, but John Goldingay has done his best to make these hard books accessible. As earlier in this series, there are some curious features of translation. Thus we have Young Man where NRSV has Mortal and KJV has Son of Man and the backsliders’ idols are unceremoniously condemned as Lumps. The need to produce just one book to cover such a complex pair as these has meant that the sections of commentary are necessarily briefer than one might like, so if you want to know about Ezekiel’s life or how he relates to other prophets look elsewhere and students of Lamentations would be better with the recent IVP commentary by Christopher Wright (see Autumn 2016 review p.33). So this book gives us Goldingay as a companion on our pilgrimage rather than our guide. I think we could cast him as Hopeful.

PETER THORNTON

Old Testament Analysis

 

Disappointment, Doubt and other Spiritual Gifts

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

Disappointment, Doubt and other Spiritual Gifts

Author Mark Yaconelli
Publisher SPCK £9.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780281076505

Don’t buy this collection of stories unless you are prepared for challenge – it’s powerful! Written in a modern, accessible style, its ten chapters explore different areas of personal loss and darkness: the stuff we all experience from time to time but try to hide. Each chapter centres round a compelling, parable-like story and concludes with searching questions and helpful actions (spiritual exercises.) Perhaps if Jesus wrote a book he might have done it this way: letting the story speak for itself, creating a safe space to confront dark issues, move through pain, encounter God’s grace and reach towards love. I particularly appreciated Prayer Service Disaster (Gift of Disappointment) and The Dark Night, including Mother Teresa’s story. Much material here would be useful to Readers: emotive illustrations for talks; insights for pastoral ministry; instructions for spiritual exercises. Above all, it’s about grace, hope and life. Recommended.

APRIL McINTYRE

Spirituality narratives

 

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

 

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