Book of the Month

Each month we feature a newly-published book.

September 2010

This month, the chosen title is Virtue Reborn by Tom Wright.

What am I here for? How should I behave? Tom Wright tackles this fundamental challenge for Christians with characteristic clarity and verve. Following on from his popular best-selling books Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope he sees the goal in terms of the whole new creation, with humans renewed to look after it. He explores the way to become fully human, and to discover an authenticity and conformity with God’s purposes, which is available no other way.

‘Here is deep Christian wisdom for a bewildered age.’ (John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford).

Tom Wright is currently Bishop of Durham and a distinguished New Testament scholar, but will become Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at St Andrew’s Fife, next month.

August 2010

This month, the chosen title is ‘Mere Theology’ by Alister McGrath. In the book Alister McGrath sets out to explore how the great tradition of Christian theological reflection enriches our faith and deepens our engagement with the concerns and debates of the world around us. The theme of the first half of the book is the intellectual capaciousness of the Christian faith, and its ability to bring about a new and deeply satisfying vision of reality. Christian theology is here presented as a ‘discipleship of the mind’. Later chapters explore the gospel mandate for vibrant engagement with our culture, with topics including the need for the church to articulate and defend its ideas in the public domain, especially in the light of the challenge of the ‘New Atheism’.

Alister McGrath is Professor of Theology, Ministry and Education, Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture at King’s College, London and a prolific author. His two most recent books for SPCK are ‘Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution’ and, with Joanna Collicutt McGrath, the international bestseller, ‘The Dawkins Delusion?’, which has sold over 65,000 copies in the UK alone.

July 2010

‘New Challenges for Christians: from test-tube babies to euthanasia’ by Robin Gill (SPCK £12.99 978-0-281-06280-5).

This book is an accessible introduction to the public issues on which Christians need to take a view. Theologians are involved in a wide variety of public committees concerned with ethical issues arising from modern science, and are still holding their own against critics such as Richard Dawkins. It is important that a wide range of people are aware of how to be responsibly involved in these discussions, and to avoid the knee-jerk reactions of fundamentalists.

Robin Gill is Michael Ramsey Professor of Modern Theology at the University of Kent, and an honorary Canon of Canterbury Cathedral. He is a member of the BMA Ethics Committee and has been a member of the Medical Research Council's Stem Cell Steering Committee. He is a regular contributor to the Church Times.

June 2010

‘For All That Has Been, Thanks: Growing a Sense of Gratitude’ by Rowan Williams and Joan Chittister (Canterbury Press £14.99).

What if life itself was meant to be one long alleluia moment? How can we say ‘alleluia’, not just in areas such as faith and wealth, but also in doubt, poverty and conflict?

These are the challenging questions behind this book, a publication for those looking for deeper devotional comment.