"…our present Archbishop would do well to identify soon
who he is and what he stands for."
ANDREW de BERRY, letter to The Times (02/09/04)

No sooner said then done: As if anticipating the correspondent’s demand Mike Higton has taken the brave stance of Rowan Williams' spokesperson: Difficult Gospel: The Theology of Rowan Williams presents Higton's own detailed analysis of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s theology.

The book is the result of diligent and extended study; Dr Williams’ has more than three million words in print, and Higton has done his very best to read and ponder them all.

But the "difficulty" of the title is only partially in the depth and diversity of the Archbishop's register; it is also in the Gospel message it conveys. Initially, Higton examines Dr Williams’ approach to God as exposed in Jesus crucified,

"there in our midst, suffering and transforming our human disaster" [34]

Working outwards from this comprehension of God’s essential love, Higton reduces Williams’ theology to the adoption of two critical questions:

"What difference does it make to my self-understanding if I believe myself to be held in a loving, accepting, gaze?"

and

"What difference does it make to our understanding of how we might live together if we believe that each of us is held in the same loving regard?" [19]

Using these questions as the key to William's theology, Higton then begins to illuminate, chapter-by-chapter, how the Archbishop applies these questions in the context of concrete dilemmas. From the literature of Philip Pullman, to the problem of evil, to the intense issues of sexual politics, Higton convincingly demonstrates Williams' theology as grounded in a Gospel of God's deep love.

Although a confessedly opinionated person, Higton describes the experience of researching and writing this book as akin to diving. Having submerged himself in William's thought to such a degree that he is still in the decompression chamber and has lost track of where Williams' opinions stop and his own begin.

But this proximity does not prevent him viewing Williams with a critical eye, querying his "unrelenting focus" on the uneasiness of a life lived in the Gospel's light:

"We must ask I think, whether the focus falls too consistently on the 'No' of the cross rather than its encompassing 'Yes'." [35]

The book is a great introduction for all interested. For now, the author of Difficult Gospel: The Theology of Rowan Williams is quite content gurgling over his newborn daughter to whom the book is dedicated:

"my beautiful daughter Bridget, who I imagine will be totally uninterested in it unless an edition is published with a strokeable beard on the front."

If you can't wait that long, buy your copy from Church House Bookshop: