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Love, Interrupted
Love, Interrupted
Author Simon Thomas
Publisher Trigger £12.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781789561043
This book is about the love that was interrupted by the sudden tragic death of Gemma, the author’s wife. Interwoven with the shattering impact on her TV presenter husband and their eight-year-old son are accounts of problems the couple had to deal with in the years leading up to this event: infertility, miscarriage, depression. The author is extremely honest not only about his and his family’s struggles coming to terms with Gemma’s death, but also his mental health issues, and the impact of it all on his Christian faith. I found this an amazing, warmly written book, full of insight. It pulled together thoughts, feelings, and reminiscences of not only the author but also of many of the people close to Gemma; and some strangers. So much grief could very easily overcome, and very nearly does. But overpowering waves of grief are tempered with tiny waves of things like random acts of kindness which make life bearable. We too are left with hope and a message not to neglect any opportunity, however small, to lighten someone’s load.
LIZ PACEY
Advent, Nativity
Edith Cavell
Edith Cavell
Author Catherine Butcher
Publisher Monarch £8.99
Format pbk
ISBN 978085721671 2015
The sub-title tells all: faith before the firing squad – and that is where the first chapter takes us: a graphic description of the last hours of a
nurse who had saved the lives of over 200 Allied troops but who had confessed to the crime of helping to conduct those soldiers to safety and, of course, to a chance to return to battle against the Germans. Catherine Butcher’s biography of Edith Cavell is detailed, with a strong emphasis on her faith. Child of the vicarage, she was brought up with daily services from the Book of Common Prayer, often quoted. Later, she trained as a nurse working in England, and then in Belgium where she became matron of a training school. Here the focus is more on her humanitarian and brave approach, especially towards soldiers whom she helped; their stories and the danger involved add a tension to the work. Readers will find the book of interest but may find the explanations, such as that about confirmation, frustratingly simple.
MARGARET TINSLEY
Biography
Luther’s Gospel
Luther’s Gospel
Author Graham Tomlin
Publisher Bloomsbury £16.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780567677396 2017
The fruit of thirty years’ study, this brief introduction to Luther’s world and theology will be of immense value to anyone beginning a serious course of study on the Reformation. Tomlin argues that Luther’s one great insight, that we are justified solely by faith in Christ, informed all his subsequent writing to build a new vision of Christian living. The book is divided into three parts. The first three chapters examine Luther’s understanding of the Gospel, rooted in his reading and translation of the Scriptures. There follow three chapters on how Luther’s thought transformed patterns of Christian life. The last three consider his practical and theological teaching on sex and marriage, the devil and freedom. Tomlin is concerned to show Luther in his original context, while emphasising that ‘Truth speaks in historical clothes’ into our own age as well. There is a useful bibliography and checklist of Tomlin’s other writing to aid further study.
KIRSTY ANDERSON
History, Biography
Hans Küng
Hans Küng
Author John J. Kiwiet
Publisher Hendrickson £14.95
Format pbk
ISBN 9781619709737
Continental theologians tend to write big books. The German Catholic Hans Küng exemplifies this, as in this re-issue of Kiwiet’s sympathetic, pithy and critical survey. Most of us will know of On Being a Christian. Not all that he was dismissed by the Pope from his official Catholic teaching role in 1979. Why? For being a scourge and articulate critic of out-of-date and untenable aspects of Catholic belief and practice. ‘Faith in the living Lord should coincide with concrete action’ within the Church and in secular society. He was an ecumenist who sought to bring Catholics and Protestants closer together, healing the centuries old rift of the Reformation. He opposed the Pope’s infallibility, writing that the Church was best placed to be without defect, but not the Pope. He was a brave searcher for the truth, critical of the Vatican hierarchy’s handing down the faith from above, and of those in power who protected the status quo and blocked change coming from below. His hopes rose during John XXIII’s papacy but then were dashed. He remains a champion of worshipping men and women, Protestant or Catholic, and those outside the Church.
JEREMY HARVEY
Biography
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