The Book Depository Being Christian by Rowan Williams
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Price: £9.34
Brand: The Book Depository
Description: Being Christian : Paperback : William B Eerdmans Publishing Co : 9780802871978 : 0802871976 : 23 Jul 2014 : In this simple, beautifully written book Rowan Williams explores four essential components of the Christian life: baptism, Bible, Eucharist, and prayer. Despite huge differences in Christian thinking and practice both today and in past centuries, he says, these four basic elements have remained constant and indispensable for the majority of those who call themselves Christians. In accessible, pastoral terms Williams discusses the meaning and practice of baptism, the Bible, the Eucharist, and prayer. The Book Depository Being Christian by Rowan Williams - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: The Book Depository
Product ID: 9780802871978
MPN: 0802871976
GTIN: 9780802871978
Author: Mark Hart
Rating: 5
Review: 'Being Christian' deserves to take over from 'Tokens of Trust' as Rowan Williams’ most popular and accessible book. It has a similar origin, as edited transcripts of Holy Week talks at Canterbury Cathedral (the year is not given). It is more focused, concentrating on the most obvious things that ‘make you realise that you are part of a Christian community’: baptism, Bible, Eucharist and prayer. In each case a pithy but deeply insightful core understanding is identified and developed. Baptism is ‘being led to where Jesus is’, which, in apparent contradiction, places you both ‘in the middle of human suffering and muddle’ (not marked out as a member of a superior group) and in the heart of God. The Bible is like ‘God telling us a parable or a whole sequence of parables’. It is the word of God because it is what God wants us to hear, not because everything it contains, including a call to genocide, is his direct word. God is saying, ‘This is how people heard me, saw me, responded to me; this is the gift I gave them; this is the response they made… Where are you in this?’ The heart of the Eucharist is illustrated in the story of Zacchaeus, when Jesus says to him, ‘Aren’t you going to ask me to your home?’ In the Eucharist, Jesus not only exercises hospitality, he draws hospitality out from others, makes people open to God, open to each other, and able to see all things as ‘demanding reverent attention, even contemplation’. Prayer is something to grow into, which is always about growing in Christian humanity. Essentially, to pray is to let Jesus pray in you. It’s not so much about chatting to Jesus, still less about trying to persuade God to listen. We make room, we say ‘Our Father’, and Jesus prays in us. All this is considered with help from Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and John Cassian. New readers of Rowan Williams will be introduced to his thinking more gently than in most of his other works, though even here, because it is so distilled, it will need to be taken slowly, or re-read. Being so short, that is made easy - don’t measure value for money by the number of pages. Those familiar with Rowan Williams will find the most novelty in chapter 2 on the Bible, especially the helpful analogy of parable. It is here where I also have a minor quibble. I fear it is possible to come away with the impression that only in the Old Testament do we sometimes find internal tension, historical inaccuracy, God portrayed as acting in a morally questionable way, or a risk of the text being used to justify ‘violence, enslavement, abuse and suppression of women, murderous prejudice against gay people’. Or, to put it crudely, we can be fundamentalist about the New Testament but not the Old. This is absolutely not what Rowan Williams believes or intends, but it would have helped to say so. Bishop Richard Harries wrote in 'Art and the Beauty of God' (p.11): ‘People sometimes ask for simple gospel truths. Too often, however, what they have in mind are the pious platitudes of a previous generation. True simplicity is indeed a highly prized virtue. But it does not come by opening a packet. After a lifetime of thinking, struggling, loving and praying we might, through the grace of God, have achieved true simplicity.' 'Being Christian' is a model of such profound simplicity.
Author: Honrus Publicus
Rating: 2
Review: I only purchased this book because it was £1.49 at the time - about all it's worth (and even then it's overpriced!). At the current price (as an e-book of £4.79) and at just under £6 as a paperback this book is a complete waste of money. It's only real value is to see how Christianity (at least in its organised form - COE, RC and Orthodox) is now just used by the authorities to suppress the populace. Some of Williams' advice is actually quite dangerous. In one section of the book he encourages people to act like Jesus, to unite people together. "Jesus sought out company, and the effect of his presence was to create celebration, to bind people together." This is nonsense - and dangerous. Jesus received more criticism than acceptance. Some people didn't like what he said (Luke 4:28-29) And of course, in the end, he was crucified! Paul also received similar treatment in Acts 23:10. The late, great Honrus Publicus regularly received criticism because he taught the truth of the Bible. I suspect this book is designed to be used in courses like Alpha. It has discussions at the end of each chapter and probably has already been purchased by thousands of churches in the UK and in the "Commonwealth". After all, it's by a former AoC. Who can argue with it! I wonder how much money Rowan Williams made out of the book! A.M.
