Read, taste, and grow in wisdom and grace
- Richard Rohr OFM,
Those who study [...] Rowan Williams’ theology and those who collect his many books will be delighted with this new work. It comprises a series of discrete but thematic essays or lecture texts originally written between 1977 and 2016, though most are recent … This book will deepen each reader’s spiritual awareness and promote Christian maturity. It is an ideal companion for a retreat or a quiet day.
The Reader
A collection of thought-provoking essays ... Drawing from the deep wells of Christian tradition (from early church writers to contemporary theologians, preachers to professors), each essay reflects upon Christian disciplines in contemporary Christianity.
Theology Forum
Rowan Williams writes accessibly and for the general reader on belief, Christianity and the place of religion today.
Apart from being a scholar and theologian, Rowan Williams has also demonstrated a rare gift for speaking and writing plainly and clearly about essentials of the Christian faith. In the chapters of this book he writes with profound perception about the life of holiness to which we are called.
The range of Williams’ frame of reference is astonishing – he brings poets and theologians to his aid, he writes about the Rule of St Benedict, the Bible, Icons, contemplation, St Teresa of Avila and even R. D. Laing. He concludes with two chapters on the injunction ‘Know Thyself’ in a Christian context.
Throughout, Williams points out that holiness is a state of being – it is he writes ‘completely undemonstrative and lacking any system of expertise. It can never be dissected and analysed.’
Introduction
PART ONE: THE WAY IN
1 To Give and Not to Count the Cost
2 Health and Healing
3 The Bible Today: Reading and Hearing
PART TWO: SHAPING HOLY LIVES
4 God's Workshop
5 Urban Spirituality
6 Forbidden Fruit: Sexuality and Spirituality in Perspective
PART THREE: PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION
7 Contemplation and Mission
8 Icons and the Practice of Prayer
PART FOUR: THE GENIUS OF TERESA OF AVILA
9 What St Teresa Means to Me
10 Teresa and the Scriptures
11 Teresa and the Eucharist
PART FIVE: WAYS OF KNOWING
12 Julian of Norwich's Way
13 'Know Thyself': What Kind of Injunction?
Notes
Acknowledgements