This short, four chapter book is a real gem, and for less than a fiver on Kindle it's a no brainer for a bit of theological summer reading by the former Archbishop of Canterbury. The four chapters cover some of the basics of the Christian life: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist and Prayer. The chapter on baptism is superb - Williams writes in such an accessible way yet with real depth and is very quotable. At one point it seemed as though I was going to highlight the entire chapter on my Kindle. Here are just two of the quotes I loved:
"Baptism is a ceremony in which we are washed, cleansed and re-created. It is also a ceremony in which we are pushed into the middle of a human situation that may hurt us, and that will not leave us untouched or unsullied".
" and the gathering of baptised people is therefore not a convocation of those who are privileged, elite and separate, but of those who have accepted what it means to be in the heart of a needy, contaminated, messy world".
On the Bible: "this is what God wants you to hear. He wants you to hear law and poetry and history. He wants you to hear the polemic and the visions".
On Eucharist: "in Holy Communion, Jesus Christ tells us that he wants our company". "The meals that Jesus shares in his ministry are the way in which he begins to re-create a community, to lay the foundations for rethinking what the words 'the people of God' mean". (I love that quote!)
In the Eucharist chapter there is line after line of beautiful prose about the richness of communion, its dependence on the resurrection to have any real meaning, and the sacramental nature of the world. "It is to see everything in some sense sacramentally. If Jesus gives thanks over bread and wine, if Jesus makes that connection between the furthest place away from God, which is suffering and death, and if in his person he fuses those things together, then wherever we are some connection between us and God is possible. All places, all people, all things have about them an unexpected sacramental depth".
If that quote doesn't make you buy the book I don't know what will! The link he makes between communion and our responsibility for the environment is stunning, as well as how he describes communion as an invitation into community and love for others. He makes clear that communion is for those who are wrong rather than right, hungry rather than full, human not divine, and it is "the way in which the whole of the Gospel story is played out in our midst".
I'll stop the review here before I quote the entire book, but I think you get the idea that I'm recommending it to you. Whether you're a new Christian looking for something to help you think deeper about the basics of the Christian life, or you're a mature Christian looking for a fresh take on these four topics, it's well worth a read.
No comments:
Post a Comment