Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #110958 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
George Carey has asked fellow Archbishop, Rowan Williams of Wales, to provide his Lent book for 2001. Williams, a noted theologian and scholar, gives us profound insights into the trial of Jesus. He does so by reflecting on the four gospel accounts of the trial: Mark shows a mysterious figure revealed as the Son of God; Matthew describes the Wisdom of God tried by the foolishness of men; Luke gives us a divine stranger; John reveals the paradox of the divine by submitting himself to judgement. The book is rounded off with a meditation on Christian martyrdom and a reflection on tyranny, freedom, truth and falsehood.

A good Lent book is a resource for individual Christians as well as parish groups. To boost its practical value, Williams has tacked on a few questions and a prayer to the end of each chapter. The book articulates the climax of Jesus' life through the drama of the Holy Week. It is difficult to deal with the subject in a popular manner, and Williams' intellectual approach makes the book a challenging read.. His theological ponderings can be tedious and his literary illustrations are often obscure. On the other hand, for the well-educated Christian, at home in the complexities and paradoxes of the faith, Christ on Trial will provide an inspiring Lenten challenge. --Dwight Longenecker

Synopsis
A POWERFUL AND MOVING MESSAGE 31687 The trial, conviction and death of an innocent man 2000 years ago has particular resonance today. Atrocities from around the world shake us every week. And we ourselves also experience trials and challenges in our own lives. Bringing the gospel accounts vividly to life, Rowan Williams looks at how the trial of Christ profoundly challenges both what we believe and how we live. Drawing not only from the Bible, but also from contemporary fiction, film and theatre, he explores the ways society continues to put Christ on trial today. In fact, all Christians stand with him before a watching world. How we respond to this challenge is the focus of Christ on Trial. It increases our confidence in the faith we have received, and invites us to discover 'what we are and what we might be in God's sight'.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant book - better than five star!
...For me, one of Rowan Williams' enormous strengths is that he makes theology directly relevant to everyday life and, if you follow (and more or less agree with) the thread of his argument, you have no choice but to reassess your own life. Far from being distracted by the `political correctness' I found myself quite humbled by it - much though the less marginalized of us would like to be able to dismiss sexist or disablist language as boring and trivial, I think I am beginning to see that it's really not good enough to do that. Far from finding reference to atrocity too far from my everyday life to have significance or real meaning, this book put me on the spot and made me understand better why I cannot pretend that it has nothing to do with me... for most of us the business of Lent has to do with the world, not with abstractions.

Actually I loved this book. I have grown used to Rowan Williams' disarming way of drawing you in simply and logically - and interestingly - until you suddenly find you have to read more and more slowly and carefully, so I was not unduly surprised to find myself struggling towards the end. But it's worth every ounce of effort and, like Lost Icons, if you then look back to the beginning, it turns out that's not quite so simple after all. The thing is, both these books are incredibly rich, and one can draw a wide range of things from them. As someone not used to the language of theology, it was great to find that there wasn't anything there I couldn't understand if I put my mind to it, while realizing that there is a huge body of knowledge available if one wants to dig deeper. I really like the way that Rowan Williams uses illustrations from fiction and theatre - it much enriches my understanding of what he is saying, and incidentally provides a fantastic reading list of books I am pretty sure I am going to enjoy.

For me when I first read it, the central message of Lost Icons was `you can only do your best'. Christ on Trial finishes the sentence `and the more you do that, the more difficult it gets' - both a daunting and rather a comforting message, implying a certain fellowship with people who are doing their best better than I have learnt how to, but are not finding it a doddle. I can live with that (I think!). Whatever you take from it, this is a really stimulating book - it deserves a lot more stars than the Amazon maximum!

Could have been far better
Having familiarity with other works by this author, I found this book quite disappointing. Bishop Rowan is an outstanding theologian, yet the excellence of his points can easily be lost in his attempt to (poorly) integrate political and social references which he seems to assume are important to all readers.

His references to violence, usually on the larger scale (such as Auschwitz or lynch mobs), are distressingly accurate, but the points more relevant to most people's own lives can be lost in the shuffle. Strong points, such as those regarding language and worship, are blunted when he assumes that inclusive language is the most important example. The impact of the beginning of the section regarding the Passion narrative in the Gospel of John was lost when he started with the presumption that readers would consider it the "anti-Semitic" gospel.

Our church used this book for a Lenten series, and group discussion of the theological points was invariably ruined because it was diverted into consideration of our political views and those of His Grace.

His Grace is far too brilliant and insightful a theologian to have the meat drowned in a sauce of political correctness. Rather than making the points more accessible or understandable, such references lead to the inward sigh of, "oh, here we go again..."