Ruth Gledhill in the Times of London
Saturday, March 13, 2010
I have been reading articles by Ruth Gledhill, religion correspondent of the Times Online (and the paper too, presumably), for several years now and she seems to me to be quite knowledgeable.
A March 9 piece offers some good words from Rowan Williams. He is much criticised from both ends of the spectrum for his lack of leadership skills, but he certainly is intelligently thoughtful and deeply faithful. Here is an excerpt:
The Archbishop of Canterbury has condemned evangelist “bullies” who attempt to convert people of other faiths to Christianity. Dr Rowan Williams said it was right to be suspicious of proselytism that involves “bullying, insensitive approaches” to other faiths.
In a speech at Guildford cathedral, Dr Williams criticised those who believed they had all the answers amd treated non-Christians as if their traditions of reflection and imagination were of no interest to anyone. “God save us from that kind of approach,” he said.
But he added: “God save us also from the nervousness about our own conviction that doesn’t allow us to say we speak about Jesus because we believe he matters. We believe he matters, because we believe that in him human beings find their peace, their destinies converge, and their dignities are fully honoured.”
[We believe more than this about Jesus, of course, and Dr. Williams would be the first to agree. But this is in the context of trying to find an approach that is really universal without yielding our foundational Christology.]
Link to the complete article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7055377.ece
