Later today I shall travel down to London for a small event to mark th epublication of this book. Thanks to my old boss Richard Harries ( now Lord Harries ) the party is to be held in the House of Lords. Here is a little taste of what I want to share with guests: […]
Sissinghurst
Posted on by James Woodward
Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History by Adam Nicolson, Harper, 2008 There are some places that have an extraordinary ability to get inside one’s mind and heart. Sissinghurst is one such place. I have only visited once, nearly 30 years ago – a day trip out of London. I still remember its charm, the […]
Art and Death
Posted on by James Woodward
This highly sensitive and beautifully written book looks closely at the way contemporary Western artists negotiate death, both as personal experience and in the wider community. Townsend discusses but moves beyond the ‘spectacle of death’ in work by artists such as Damien Hirst to see how mortality – in particular the experience of other […]
Valuing Age:Pastoral Ministry with older people
Posted on by James Woodward
A new publication by James Woodward Pastoral care and practical theology in the light of age and ageing are the focus of this book. It is written to help those involved in care, in a range of settings, to understand some of the pastoral questions and the issues that older people face. […]
Seamus Heaney
Posted on by James Woodward
Dennis O’Driscoll Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney (Faber, 2008) Seamus Heaney is regarded as possibly the finest poet of his generation. Although I find some of his writing rather dense and impenetrable, many people have been enriched by the sheer depth and creativity of his clever verse. While his poetry has […]
Understanding the Reformation?
Posted on by James Woodward
The Last Office: 1539 and the Dissolution of a Monastery by Geoffrey Moorhouse 283pp, Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2008, £25 St Cuthbert had a lucky start in life; lame at the age of eight, he was cured by an angel who came by on horseback, and who recommended a poultice made of flour and milk. A […]
Tolerance?
Posted on by James Woodward
Benjamin Kaplan, a professor of Dutch history at University College London and the University of Amsterdam, offers a history focused on the popular culture and every day believers in Divided by Faith, just published by Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. With this perspective, the radical nature of religious tolerance becomes much clearer: Every […]
A Secular Age?
Posted on by James Woodward
Charles Taylor, Board of Trustees Professor of Law and Philosophy at Northwestern University, is causing quite a stir with his new book A Secular Age. Among his more interesting arguments is that Christianity itself is responsible for the rise of secularism. Robert Bellah has written a glowing review: I have long admired Charles Taylor and […]
If not Now, When?
Posted on by James Woodward
Oh No ! Not another book on OldAge? Yes and a good one….. Self-appointed ambassador for the baby-boomer generation, Esther is a professionally incautious 68, shouldering her way into what she calls the Third Age with the energy, self-belief and studio gloss of the That’s Life! BBC television presenter she once was. “Don’t put a […]
These our actors
Posted on by James Woodward
these our actors Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits, and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve […]
What hope for Religion?
Posted on by James Woodward
The New Spirituality: An Introduction to Progressive Belief in the Twenty-first Century Gordon Lynch “Religion is over – there’s simply no future in believing that traditional Christianity is in any way persuasive in England today”, was the comment from a Priest friend of mine working in a suburban town in the West Midlands of […]
Whats in a sermon then?
Posted on by James Woodward
In Other Words, Incarnational Translation for Preaching Charles H. Cosgrove and W. Dow Edgerton In our theological libraries it may be that, depending upon our organization, the sub-sections contain books in the following areas: biblical studies; history; spirituality and prayer; religious studies; philosophy; ethics; and general theology. The area which reviews in religion and […]
Is there anybody there – Responding to Dementia?
Posted on by James Woodward
Is there anybody there? Can we remember those who forget? We human beings deal with our fears in a variety of ways. Often our response to certain types of illness is shaped by ignorance and prejudice. A historical overview of religion reflects our ambivalent relationship with illness. Consider how we treated the insane in […]
Valuing Age:Pastoral Ministry with Older People just published!
Posted on by James Woodward
This book is desperately needed. James Woodward’s study is masterful,informed, compassionate, theologically articulate and pastorally compelling. We will all grow older; we should allread this book. It is a compelling visionof a Church in which older people really are valued and served.’ The Very Revd Ian Markham PhD, Dean and President of VirginiaTheological Seminary […]
Rowan’s Rule and the impossible job!
Posted on by James Woodward
This is a dense book of over 400 carefully chosen pages of words. The writer demonstrates his intelligence and insight with balanced judgements. Imagine having your life poured over in this way. Family, failed relationships, marriage, political views, children, job applications that failed and almost every word uttered and written. The task has been intrusted to […]
Changing Times – Changing Britain?
Posted on by James Woodward
Andrew Wilson is an extraordinarily skilled, energetic and enterprising historian. This book charts the life of Britain since Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953 and leads right up to the hand over of 10 Downing Street from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown in 2008. This is the third volume in Wilson’s trilogy building […]
Collecting Books
Posted on by James Woodward
I am a very minor collector of books! I am blessed with the ability to read and absorb material reasonably quickly. Relaxation is a good book with my feet up and some music playing in the background. My own collection of books particularly concentrates on the post Second World War political memoir and biography. […]
Sheila Hancock
Posted on by James Woodward
This is a really moving read about a woman coping with the death of her partner John Thaw. I challenge anyone not to be moved and enthralled by her lovely honesty. ‘Well now, prove it, Sheila. As John would say, “Put your money where your mouth is.” Be a depressed widow boring the […]
The art of life
Posted on by James Woodward
Zygmunt Bauman is one of the most important and stimulating social thinkers writing today. In this wonderful new book – Bauman argues that In our individualized society we are all artists of life – whether we know it or not, will it or not and like it or not, by decree of society if […]
Only in America?
Posted on by James Woodward
My fascination with the USA continues and I was glad to come across this excellent book by Matt Frei Matt Frei, the BBC’s Washington correspondent, goes under the skin of the nation’s capital to discover the paradox of the world’s last remaining superpower. Imagine a city so powerful that the weapons commanded from its […]