Culture Articles
Ways to Kiss the Earth by Linda Murgatroyd
Last summer, an art exhibition called Seeking Routes was held at Swarthmoor Hall. It showed work in which Friends explored Quaker experience and action in building a more sustainable Earth. This book presents a selection from the exhibition and its five themes: ‘Reverence for Nature’; ‘Spiritual and Creative Process’; ‘Climate...
The Myth of Religious Neutrality by Roy Clouser
I have been a Christian for more than forty years. Until about three years ago I attended an Anglican church but I now believe that I simply did not understand my own faith. I am indebted to Roy Clouser and his book, which explains, in a way that I could...
The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
Eddie Jaku was born Abraham Jakubowicz, in Germany in 1920. He is a holocaust survivor, recently turned 100, and a large part of his book describes his experiences in Buchenwald and Auschwitz concentration camps. In 1950 he migrated to Sydney, where he has lived ever since with his wife, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Telling the Truth About God by Rhiannon Grant
If you think theology is now irrelevant to Quakers, think again. Rhiannon Grant shows us that to ‘theologize’ remains an exciting and, indeed, daring venture, once we acknowledge how it might be misused. Her own efforts to be honest about God fall within a radical tradition. She writes: ‘Any form...
A Black Theology of Liberation by James Cone
Every now and again I encounter a book that gives me such a jolt it demands to be talked about. This book was first published in 1970 but I read it recently and it has stirred me up. James H Cone’s work has been much discussed within the black theological...
Unique selling point
Fall of dregs-from-the-wine-vat petals: unprogrammed, let’s say, or aleatory blossom. The thought (today’s) is this: unique selling point of religion is (still) holiness. Petals in blood-spill asymmetry make it more arduous for reason to prevail. Stamens sift rich sand in timbre, shock flakes are tumbled pumpkin.
‘Caroline provided Virginia with a role model of an independent woman.’
In Simon Webb’s review of Virginia Woolf’s biography of Roger Fry in the Friend last month, he was right to point out that Virginia Woolf was not a Quaker. But she had much closer contact with Quakerism than is often realised – in particular with something quite like Quakerism...
Apeirogon: A novel by Colum McCann
This book moved me in a way that few novels have ever done. I could only read a few pages at a time, so powerful was the effect on me. I was often close to tears.
Humankind: A hopeful history by Rutger Bregman
This book presents scientific evidence showing that it is reasonable to hold a more realistic and positive view of human nature than is common. Many environmentalists see humans as a destructive plague on the earth. And the news gives a dispiriting picture of human beings. But Rutger Bregman points out...
Notes from an Apocalypse: A personal journey to the end of the world and back, by Mark O’Connell
How will humans respond to a species-threatening event? Mark O’Connell attempts to answer this question in this very timely new book, written before Covid-19.