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Fearful Times; Living Faith

Dec 22, 2022 | 2023 - Spring - Free, Book Reviews

Fearful Times;
Living Faith

Author Robert Boak Slocum & Martyn Percy (eds.)
Publisher Wipf & Stock £21.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781666731552

We acknowledge that we are ‘free to worship him without fear’ (Benedictus). Would it were always true. In these essays 21 church leaders record how they and others coped in fearful times and found a living faith. Our times are still fearful especially for the poor, the deprived and the racially despised; sadly this may remain so. The reflections, written between Summer 2020 and Spring 2021, offer hope and comfort. The topics covered include Covid and health, racism and white supremacy; climate change and the environment; being human, community and the common good; love, grief and hope. I found taking two or three essays at a time was digestible. The most rewarding had a simple story line, often personal, as with Guli Francis-Dehqani’s contribution. Percy’s essay on ‘Good Grief’ is particularly helpful: ‘grief can be good. It prunes and pares us back to our core.’ And ‘death is just nature’s way of slowing us down.’ Good food. If necessary, persuade a library to buy this.

Reviewed by JEREMY HARVEY

Theological essays

 

The Meanings of Discipleship

Apr 21, 2022 | 2022 - Summer - Free, Book Reviews

The Meanings of Discipleship

Author Andrew Hayes & Stephen Cherry (eds.)
Publisher SCMP £35
Format pbk
ISBN 9780334060260

Discipleship is an ecclesial work: it is not a purely solitary exercise in becoming more Christlike. Of course one of the outcomes of being a disciple is to become more like Christ; however that should not be an end in itself. If, as Rachel Mann argues, discipleship is about becoming your true self, then that true self should be better equipped to live a fuller and more creative life in Christ, which must surely benefit others as well as yourself. Each chapter conveys a different picture of discipleship, which might leave an individual reader somewhat confused as to which route they should be following. Could it be discipleship as gardening, as the chapter by Sam Ewell proposes, or might a social action approach as argued by Anthony Reddie be your way forward? Perhaps this book would be best used as a group resource, for example by a parish ministry team, for whom a clearer idea about the breadth and depth of discipleship might give them a new understanding of God’s calling in their particular context.

Reviewed by MARION GRAY

Theological essays

 

Revolutionary

Aug 29, 2021 | 2021 - Autumn - Free, Book Reviews

Revolutionary

Author Tom Holland (ed.)
Publisher SPCK £15.99
Format hbk
ISBN 9780281083336

This searching examination of ‘Who Jesus was?’ and ‘Why does he still matter?’ has ten contributors, including Holland. Some were new to me: Joan Taylor, Amy-Jill Levine, Tarif Khalidi who gives an Islamic perspective on Jesus, and Nick Spencer. More familiar were Robin Gill, Terry Eagleton, Julian Baggini and Rowan Williams. There are marvellous things to ponder in these essays, sustaining food for everyone. Passionately argued, they unsettled and at times disrupted my preconceptions. Holland’s challenge was enthusiastically accepted, in a book inviting debate. Big claims are made. ‘Jesus is the single most important figure in Western, arguably world, history’ (Spencer). From a nobody from Nazareth, Jesus becomes ‘the biggest somebody in the world’ (Taylor). The conclusion overwhelmingly is: yes, Jesus was revolutionary – for Gill in an ethical way; for Levine through the power of his stories, which illustrate the kingdom of God. The exception is Baggini who doubts Jesus’ very existence and yet finds him a genius of ambiguity in word and deed. Thanks to SPCK and to Holland for this visionary book.

Reviewed by JEREMY HARVEY

Theological essays

 

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