Review and Recommendation:
Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer, by Rowan Williams
In Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer (Eerdmanns, 2014) former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has done again one of the things he does best. In a slim volume of just over eighty pages that could be read through a Sunday afternoon, he has re-presented in fresh and accessible language the basic theology of four of the fundamental realities of, precisely, ‘being Christian.’ The content is rich while the language is such that it can be heard, understood, and appreciated by both the professor of theology and her aged grandmother. What Rowan Williams does is remind us in plain words that yet ring with authenticity of what we know, of what we need to know, and of what we perhaps more often than imagined need to be reminded.
These words were first strung together as part of a series of Holy Week lectures open to the public at Canterbury Cathedral. That lineage does them no harm at all. Williams’ seemingly native ability to speak of deep things in a simple tongue, respecting both the varied backgrounds/expectations of his hearers and readers and the importance of his topic is displayed here to the benefit of all.
Baptism.
The identity of the baptized person is revealed here, not surprisingly, as related directly to the identity of Jesus Christ. The baptized person lives in the ‘neighborhood’ of Christ, and this means immersed in the brokenness of the human world. There the baptized shares Christ’s roles as priest, prophet, and king. Filled with the Spirit, unafraid even of one’s own sin, the baptized are effectively called to vital solidarity with one another and with the world. Rowan Williams’ language opens up what might otherwise be taken for granted of this sacramental moment many experienced before they could speak: “Perhaps baptism really ought to have some health warnings attached to it: ‘If you take this step, if you go into these depths, it will be transfiguring, exhilarating, life-giving and very, very dangerous.’”
Bible.
Here God speaks and here we are constituted essentially as a listening people. What we hear is what we need to hear for our salvation. What we hear we understand in its fullness in the light of Jesus Christ. What we hear reveals to us who we ourselves are and who God calls us to be. The author deals masterfully with the question of the historicity of Scripture, of the place of tradition, and of what it means to hold these texts in common with others. “The whole thing is a gift, a challenge, an invitation into a new world, seeing yourself afresh and more truthfully” in the light of God’s Word.
Eucharist.
In the sacrament, revealing the sacramentality of everything, Jesus affirms his desire to be with us. In the Eucharist God’s hospitality to us is revealed, and we in turn are invited ourselves to live hospitably, repenting of our wrongdoing, admitting our hunger and opening to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Williams’ wonderful essay on the Eucharist here is worth the reading for a myriad of reasons, and his definition of thanksgiving, provided seemingly in passing, is alone worth the price of admission.
Prayer.
“Growing in prayer . . . is growing in Christian humanity.” Rowan Williams invites Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and John Cassian to offer us insight into this growth. Within their own proper emphases, all concur that praying is allowing Jesus to pray in us, to address the Father in the Spirit. Prayer calls us to justice, and to make it real, we must commit to stay with it, to go on praying.
Each chapter ends with questions suitable for discussion, and there are helpful resources for further reading provided at the conclusion of the book.
For parish adult education groups, for those seeking to understand Christianity, for those whose practice of the Christian life has weakened over time, for ministers of Gospel and Sacrament seeking refreshment for their own hearts and minds: all of these can benefit by spending an afternoon with Rowan Williams’ Being Christian.
Grade: 4.5 out of 5.
As always, can access an up-to-date listing of Mercer fall theological/spirituality events today at:
tinyurl.com/MercerFall14
Blessings,
John McGinty+
The Very Rev. Canon John P. McGinty
Dean
Canon for Formation
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