No one who has read the current archbishop of Canter-bury's magisterial work, Arius: Heresy and Tradition, can be in any doubt about his ability to operate with ease at the highest levels of scholarship and to write prose as sophisticated and dense as its subject matter. It is thus something of a delight to discover that he is also capable of writing books that also speak the language of the laity with grace, clarity, and charm. Of such is this small volume in which Williams follows in the hallowed footsteps of many theologians throughout the ages by offering a series of reflections on the various topical heads of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. The book consists of five chapters, dealing with faith, creation, Christology, reconciliation, ecclesiology, and the resurrection. The attractive presentation of the book is enhanced with the inclusion of numerous paintings and photographs.
Inevitably, the book's theology is not that which typical Modern Reformation readers, including myself, have much positive sympathy. Nevertheless, Williams does make some valuable observations. For example, in the chapter, "God in Company," he makes the necessary point that the Reformation did not envisage a radically individualist reading of Scripture, but rather saw the Bible as something to be read in the community of believers. Elsewhere, when talking about trust, he offers trenchant criticism of the idea of identifying God's trustworthiness as wish-fulfillment and proposes instead a model rooted in the notion of a loving parent. Then he can also-and rightly, in my opinion-connect a healthy understanding of God as Creator to an ethic that respects the created order and can speak to the current ecological problems we face. He also draws attention to the way in which so many Christians have privileged the mind over the body and offered a view of Christianity that is unbiblically negative about the physicality of the world. Indeed, as is so often the case, as a Reformed evangelical I can sympathize with so many of the targets at which a mainstream theologian such as Williams takes aim.
In this context, perhaps the most satisfying part of the book is Williams' discussion of forgiveness, where he makes the following comment: "One of the oddest things in our culture is that we seem to be tolerant of all sorts of behavior, yet are deeply unforgiving" (152). This is followed by a good discussion that avoids the unrealistic pious platitudes of so much Christianity for a much more realistic understanding of the difficulties surrounding the act of actually forgiving someone.
Nevertheless, there are the typical and obvious problems with which those who have read or heard Williams will be familiar. Williams is clearly uncomfortable with orthodox understandings of hell. He also sees the Bible's inspiration as rooted in the fact that it is the collection of writings used by the Holy Spirit to inspire and guide the church (124), a view built on the back of a typical caricature of what orthodox notions of inspiration imply. The problem is obvious and as old as the hills: Williams wants the Bible to tell us what God wants us to know, but exactly what it is that the Bible tells us seems really to be left to Williams' own discretion. In addition, it was not clear to me from the chapter on Christology as to why, on Williams' account, Jesus needs to be God: there is plenty of talk about Jesus being God's embodied action and love, but these are not the personal categories of the very orthodoxy that the Nicene Creed embodied.
For these reasons, this is not a book to give to someone looking for a good introduction to the basics of the Christian faith. For that, Tom Wright's Simply Christian or, even better, something like Bruce Milne's Know the Truth would be far better. Nevertheless, this is an easy-to-read book; and, given the importance of the Anglican communion worldwide, this book is a good introduction to the thought of its leading churchman and theologian. It does make some good points and certainly stimulated me to think about certain issues; but as an introduction to Christian belief, it is seriously lacking.
