Faith in the public square
This book contains critical commentary on contemporary issues by Rowan Williams, in his final book as Archbishop of Canterbury. Archbishop Rowan Williams is the most gifted Anglican priest of his generation. His views are consistent and orthodox and yet he has been consistently misunderstood - especially in relation to his views on contemporary society, public morality and the common good. In this, the final published work of his Archepiscopate, Dr. Williams has assembled a series of chapters on matters of immediate public concern and the relationship of Christianity to these issues.
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Short Review: This is more a 3.5 book, but I always like to round up. The problem is that it is a book of essays. Some are fascinating. Some are merely okay. There are not any that are horrible. It is Rowan Williams, even when he is writing well over my head, he writes well.
Part of the problem is that I listened to this. And some of the essays do not translate well into audiobook format. There are many others that were originally given as talks that do work well in audio, but not all.
I think Williams is at his best when talking about diversity, pluralism and issues of human rights and the philosophy of personhood. These are areas where he is well grounded in his academic and theological background. And he has a voice that I think more in the US should hear because of his own background in the more secular culture of the UK.
There are a few sections that I think he gets too specific in recommendations, but generally those are few. For the most part the strength of the book is how Williams keeps his eye on how the church as the church with its understanding of theology and ethics can inform the secular world around it. Williams never apologizes for his faith or tries to hide his faith. But he does understand that as a person of faith, his ability to impact secular culture is limited to persuasion. And he is well aware of the importance of being a person of faith, among many faiths, even if historically the Church of England is the state church. He does not want to use that historical dominance to marginalize other faiths, or those without faith, because he knows the impact of how similar discrimination has marginalized Christians both in Britain and around the world.
I would probably have enjoyed the book a bit more if it were more focused. Some of the areas were just not engaging. But I do think this book is an example of how the church does have a role within a pluralistic society.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/faith-and-the-public-square/
