Seeing the Good in Unfamiliar Spiritualities
It's about engaging with the spiritually unfamiliar without feeling threatened by it.
Gethin Abraham-WilliamsToday's believers are more likely to be switched on by a hotchpotch of the weird and the paranormal than they are by anything the church might be doing or saying. Since this is now the prevailing culture, certainly in the West, where does that leave the traditional churches? Should they see themselves alongside a range of competing spiritualities or in conflict with them? Is partnership betrayal?
I wrote this book, because I was convinced it’s as important for those who lead churches as well as for those on the edge, or outside church altogether, to realise that what is happening is not the large scale religious disaster it’s sometimes made out to be.
Rather it’s a sign of something quite profound taking place across the world and affecting Christianity in particular, but also, to a different degree, Judaism and Islam. We are living through a period of seismic change on a scale unseen since the Axial period when concepts of God, from India to Greece, from China to the Fertile Crescent, were undergoing huge and radical changes.
Gethin Abtraham-Williams writes poetically, perceptively and simply about complicated and difficult matters. It is a book that could help many who want an intelligent and creative faith.
~ Most Rev Dr Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales- Rich in insight, wisdom and hope. A treasured resource as we journey through today's changing spiritual landscape. ~ Diarmuid O'Murchu MSC, Social Psychologist and author of Ancestral Grace, etc
- This important little book dares to address some of the most pressing issues of our time ... It does so without tired dogmas but with powerful images that release one’s imagination. I hope it receives a wide hearing; humanity will be better for it. ~ Gregory A. Barker, Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, The University of Wales: Trinity Saint David and editor of Jesus in the World’s Faiths and, with Stephen E. Gregg, Jesus Beyond Christianity
- This book touches a raw nerve. Like the authors of Godless Morality and God: A Guide for the Perplexed, it takes seriously the religious and moral sentiments of an age which has largely given up on organised religion but which is eager to know and feel the Divine purpose and destiny of all humanity. It is a morally serious book critically engaging with a wide range of spiritual quests, treasuring what is authentic and eschewing what is trivial and even dangerous. The author’s creative mind and poetic style provides the reader with a unique moral compass by which to explore the contemporary spiritual landscape. Inspired by the writings of the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel, this book promises to become a spiritual classic in our time and deserves to be widely read. ~ Myra Blyth, Tutor, Oxford University
An intriguing account, rooted in the author's biblical knowledge and drawing on his rich experience as a practitioner. This book has much to recommend it, offering a spirituality that 'spans our religious past and makes sense of our uncertain future.'
~ Lavinia ByrneIn an increasingly plural world, it is vital for Christians, people of other faith and people of no religion but 'good faith' to get beyond the stereotypes that often characterise debates about religion and secularity. Gethin Abraham-Williams encourages us to to just that, and offers a stimulating and necessarily provocative interpretation of what is happening in a mixed-belief society and how we might respond." - Simon Barrow, co-director of Ekklesia, the religion and society think-tank.
~ Simon Barrow, Co-director of Ekklesia, the religion and society think-tank.Now Gethin has written a welcome second book, in which his experience and reflection deepen and his argument becomes at once more persuasive and more challenging.
~ Eley McAinch, Living Spirituality NewsletterI can thoroughly commend it in every way. Gethin writes throughout in beautiful prose that spills over into poetry at times, making his work an aesthetic experience as well as an enlightening one. In this new book he shows us how Christians can and should take on board features from the other great world faiths and also how both Christians and those of the other faiths can take on board features from the new Spirituality movement, and learn from secular atheism. Gethin grounds his discourse inventively in his visits to that almost unknown Hebrew prophet Ezekiel who faced a similar crisis of faith to the one we all face today, whether we admit it or not.
~ John Henson, Website
