Tokens of trust: an introduction to Christian Belief.
Mattes, Mark C.
Tokens of trust: an Introduction to Christian Belief. By Rowan
Williams. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007. 159 pages.
Cloth. $16.95.
This book is composed of six Lenten meditations given by Rowan
Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the spring of 2005 at
Canterbury Cathedral. Following the ecumenical creeds, they are written
for thoughtful laity for whom Williams makes no assumptions about
religious literacy. They are geared to help postmodern Europeans and
North Americans grow deeper in their faith. The book is also graced with
images, many of which are reproductions of the artist David Jones, in
order to enhance a meditative dimension while reading.
Williams wants to make a clear distinction between faith as trust
versus a statement of conjecture. To affirm one's belief in God the
Father is not akin to affirming or denying the existence of UFOs.
Instead, unlike our distrust of so many institutions, including the
institutional church, we are acknowledging that the living Jesus Christ
is not working for his own ends, but for our well-being. The outreach of
the church should result in a world reconciled to God, and as such, free
from fear and guilt. As self-sufficient, God is available to be there
for The human. God is happy to be God and as such can be crusted
absolutely. The fact: that God owes us nothing, and is not dependent on
us, means that God can give us everything quite freely. To affirm
God's omnipotence is to recognize that God remains faithful despite
our sin. This confidence is affirmed in various mentors in faith that
God provides.
Creation should not be thought in terms of efficient causality,
with a before and after, but instead as God's generous moment by
moment giving of God's self to the world and the world to itself.
Hence, the doctrine of creation is not specifically a theory of origins.
Likewise, miracles can be seen not as magic but as our making room for
God's redemptive activity in the world. God's work is to help
humans achieve an "integrated life," in which all that one is
is the working out of what God has made.
Jesus came for ail outcasts, those unable to fulfill the legal
expectations of society. Genuine encounter with Jesus makes God credible
and trustworthy. Indeed, Jesus confirms that God at the core is
Christlike. Christ's redemptive work is such that he has left
nothing undone until we are brought to heaven. And, in that light,
Easter can be seen as a "second big bang," recreating and
renewing life. In the congregation, I need to acknowledge that the
person next to me, perhaps unknown, is God's guest, just like
myself.
Williams has established himself not only as a prolific and
thoughtful theologian, but also as a gifted spiritual guide. The book is
decisively Anglican in tone, mediating Catholic tradition with
Protestant sensibilities. Williams is sensitive to the worldview of
postmoderns, and gently guides them into a deeper walk in their faith.
This book would be a welcome study for a congregations Lenten journey.
Mark C. Mattes
Grand View College
Des Moines, Iowa
