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Time to Act

Nov 23, 2020 | 2020 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2020

Time to Act

Author Jeremy Williams
Publisher SPCK £9.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780281084463

This ‘Resource Book by the Christians in Extinction Rebellion’ (mostly members of Christian Climate Action) is an edited collection of 39 short chapters containing essays, manifestos, reflections, sermons, prayers, poems and resources intended to encourage action in response to the global climate emergency. Its three sections focus respectively on ‘Head’ issues, among which the theology of non-violent direct action is a major preoccupation; ‘Heart’ experiences, including the testimonies of activists (Samantha Lindo’s account of her first court appearance is powerfully moving); and ‘Hands’ resources for those persuaded to take action, such as a climate emergency declaration template. The book is enriched by its inclusiveness, with contributions from lay and ordained Christians, and representatives of different faiths, genders, ages and cultures. For example, a pastor of Cherokee descent explores ‘how indigenous perspectives offer hope to a besieged planet’. A stimulus for worship, teaching, discussion or action suitable for any individual or group will be found somewhere in its varied chapters. While it contains limited evaluation of the impact of the actions proposed and taken, read as a whole, this book is an inspiringly provocative account of the struggles that follow from facing the climate emergency with unblinking honesty.

JOHN MOSS

Climate Change

 

Building Bridges Not Walls

Nov 23, 2020 | 2020 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2020

Building Bridges
Not Walls

Author Peter Bold
Publisher Sacristy £12.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781789590944

As a former industrial chemist I was intrigued by the sub-title, ‘An Engineer’s Guide to Theology’. This is partly a memoir of the author’s progress from being an engineer and a conservative Evangelical to being a rather broader-minded ordained incumbent; and then a deliberately simple setting out of how that has shaped his understanding of theology: ‘My complete or systematic theology in 60,000 words.’ It covers many of the difficult questions that trying to live out the gospel throws up. From my experience at Reader meetings, there is a higher proportion of engineers and scientists in lay ministry than in ordained ministry, and this should appeal to them, of whatever churchmanship; and also to young but mature enquirers they meet. The author has a chapter on ‘Truth, Global Warming, Post-modernism and Politics’ which may date but is currently powerful. The closing chapter ‘My Journey and Hope for the Church’ is a great summary.

IAN WELLS

Vocation, Ministry

 

Growing Leaders

Nov 23, 2020 | 2020 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2020

Growing Leaders

Author James Lawrence
Publisher BRF  £10.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780857468888

The subtitle of this new edition could be ‘How to understand your vicar’, but it is so much more than that. ‘Growing Leaders’ is for every Christian who leads in any way – whether you are a teacher, a parent or an ordained minister, whether you are a leader
or helper in a playgroup, a youth group, or a chorister. We live in a changing world and are part of a changing church. Our primary responsibilities are to be followers of Jesus and to keep growing. This book is a detailed exposition of how we can all become better leaders. It is very readable, but not a book to hurry through. Lawrence gives advice from his own experience, and bravely exposes his own shortcomings in order to help us address ours. We are encouraged as flawed human beings to be the best we can be, knowing that we live with God’s perpetual forgiveness. Whatever kind of leader you are now, I urge you to take time to read this book.

VERONICA BRIGHT

Leadership

 

God and the Pandemic

Nov 23, 2020 | 2020 - Winter, Book Reviews, Free Winter 2020

God and the Pandemic

Author Tom Wright
Publisher SPCK £7.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780281085118

This is a thoughtful response to the pandemic, necessarily written with speed, but also great care. Wright does not immediately take the line that it is a sign of the end times. He makes us realise that suffering is part of the human condition and that we need as Christians to lament, but above all to act, as encouraged and challenged by the parable of the sheep and the goats. By focusing on Romans 8 in particular, Wright encourages us to see how, even in the midst of this disaster, we can still find God – perhaps it is easier to find him there than we think. He analyses deeply the concept of creation groaning at its incompleteness and the need to find our purpose in God. Wright does not suggest a trite answer to Romans 8.28 that ‘all things work together for good for those who love God.’ This is a verse to struggle with. For Wright, the psalmists’ tradition of lamenting, of wrestling with God in a time of confusion, is part of faith that we should also embrace.

CAVAN WOOD

Biblical Analysis, Theodicy

 

The Eucharistic Faith

Nov 23, 2020 | 2020 - Autumn, Book Reviews, Free Autumn 2020

The Eucharistic Faith

Author Ralph McMichael
Publisher SCM £25
Format pbk
ISBN 9780334056591

This is the first of a projected series of volumes seeking to recast the whole of Christian theology from the perspective of the Eucharist. The author’s logic is hard to fault, and if his project has any success, I suspect it will generate lively and influential debate. Although the book is densely written and academic, the basic idea is straightforward. If you take seriously the core Christian belief that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, and believe that the Eucharist was instituted by Jesus as a pattern for us to follow, then its centrality cannot be denied, and must affect every aspect of theology. There is something here to challenge the assumptions of all Christians, whether Catholics who perhaps cling to outmoded models of what is meant by ‘real presence’ or Protestants who regard a communion service as not much more significant than a service of morning prayer. The tone of the book is very much ‘theology from above’, so the Eucharist is not so much seen as a humanly-devised act of worship as something given by God to which we must faithfully respond. In fact, at times the book reads rather like something Karl Barth might have written had he been a high-church Anglican rather than a Swiss Calvinist.

ADRIAN ROBERTS

Eucharist

 

Place of Repose

Nov 23, 2020 | 2020 - Autumn, Book Reviews, Free Autumn 2020

Place of Repose

Author Katherine Tiernan
Publisher Sacristy £12.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781789590784  2020

This interesting, well-crafted historical novel imagines the detail behind an epic series of journeys by the monks of Lindisfarne: a mission to preserve the relics of St Cuthbert from the depredations of the heathen Danes who were destroying churches and monasteries across Northumbria in the late 9th century. From Lindisfarne, the saint was transported west to Carlisle, lodged temporarily near Derwentwater, was shipwrecked during an abortive journey to Ireland, and eventually travelled back to northeast England to a shrine at Chester-le-Street.

Two characters dominate the narrative – Stiltheard the restless, stuttering novice and Eadred, Abbot of Carlisle, a sybaritic but faithful priest who acts with astute diplomacy to bring peace to the region. Both are influenced in contrasting ways by visions of the coffined saint, who is present as a mysterious guiding presence throughout the journeyings. The novel describes violent, turbulent times, but is ultimately about reconciliation and restoration, brokered through divine spiritual interventions. It will delight all who are interested in Saxon history and Northumbrian Celtic Christianity.

ELIZABETH STEPHENSON

Historical Novel

 

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