The T & T Clark Blog

The relics of St Therese of Lisieux

Slightly off topic, but interesting I hope. I apologise for the lack of accents on 'Therese' throughout this post. I cannot work out how to do them.

As many of you will know the relics of St Therese of Lisieux are currently touring the country with rock-star-like reception wherever they go. I went to venerate them in Oxford, along with 5,999 other people.

The Oxford Oratory has been preparing for the visit for many months, and as I spend roughly half my weekends in Oxford I have sporadically been hearing about the visit at Mass on Sunday, rejoicing at how the visit of the relics has provided such a grace simply in the way it has drawn the community together (not that it was apart of course) in preparation and prayer, and in a very successful play about St T's life which was performed by the youth of the parish.

My encounter with the relics began on Wednesday amidst a downpour of rain. I arrived at 5.30pm in time for Vespers at 6pm hoping I might get into the church. No such luck. There was a queue stretching 50 yards down the road and the church was already full. Once the relics arrived (see picture right) they let  more people in - two nuns pushed in front of me in the rush, but I suppose they have a right to - and I eventually got in for Vespers. After Vespers people were able to venerate the relics, people had brought rose petals and rosaries, and whilst it was very crowded indeed the atmosphere was very prayerful.

It was wonderful to see such a great public witness of faith in our very secular times. I stayed on for the sung Mass in Latin, and Bishop Kenney gave a little story which amused me. He said that on the way the bus driver said to him 'where are you going?' and when told responded 'you'll never get in, it's packed'. Obviously he would - he was the bishop arriving to offer Mass. But the bus-driver's next line was apparently; 'but people don't queue up for religion'.  But of course here in England, in 2009, they do - it's somewhat rare to see it happening in a catholic church nowadays, but how wonderful that it still can. How wonderful that in such grim times St Therese's 'little way' is able to inspire, that her presence makes people take note. The general shock that this is happening is not restricted to Oxford bus-drivers - the media in general is in a bit of a tizzy about it. Even more wonderful was the fact that it was by no means a solely Roman occasion.

Obviously we publish many of St Therese's writings and books on St Therese, but in this post I'll forego the vulgarity of including a web-link. I do however urge you to read about St Therese, and about the tour of the relics - which are in Westminster Cathedral from the 12th - 15th October if you still want to venerate them. 

And to finish with the words of St. Therese herself:

"In spite of my littleness, I would like to enlighten souls as did the Prophets and the Doctors. I have the vocation of the Apostle. I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach Your Name and to plant Your glorious Cross on infidel soil. But O my Beloved, one mission alone would not be sufficient for me, I would want to preach the Gospel on all the five continents simultaneously and even to the most remote isles" St Therese, Story of a Soul, ch. 9

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A new biography

I am delighted to announce the publication of a major new biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer this fall. The book was originally published in German by C. H. Beck Verlag in Munich. The author, Dr Ferdinand Schlingensiepen, is one of the founders of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Society. The book was translated by Isabel Best, one of the translators of the "Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works". In his foreword Ferdinand Schlingensiepen explains how he came to write this book and why he thinks there is a need for a new biography now:

"My first encounter with the name Bonhoeffer came in 1948, when I received as a gift the small volume Zeugnis eines Boten [Testimony of a Messenger], edited by W.A. Visser ‘t Hooft of the Netherlands, the first General Secretary of the World Council of Churches. I was fascinated with the way it made Bonhoeffer live for me as a human being. Still, I never thought of asking my father about Bonhoeffer. That my father had not only known him, but that they had once sat together in a green police van having an animated conversation, while under house arrest along with other pastors in Martin Niemöller’s home, I only found out years later. Throughout my university study, Bonhoeffer remained for me a name from the time of the church struggle, to be mentioned respectfully along with the names of Paul Schneider, Lutz Steil, Werner Sylten, Friedrich Weissler and Friedrich Justus Perels, pastors and staff members of the Confessing Church who also were murdered by the SS in its concentration camps.

A Brief History of Theology

I am delighted to announce the publication of A Brief History of Theology by Derek Johnston. The book is published under the Continuum imprint and provides a concise introduction to theology for the uninitiated. Whilst readers of this blog are unlikely to have need of it themselves, it should prove perfect fodder for the very start of undergraduate reading lists [over the summer before going up to university] or first term/semester light reading.

It is also an excellent book to recommend to A-level/High school students considering taking Religious Studies or Theology as a degree or for general readers interested in knowing a bit more about theology.

It, no doubt, would make a charming Christmas Present priced at less than a tenner.

 UK Customers click here|US Customers click here

Freedom, Teleology and Evil endorsements for first book in new series.

Three wonderful endorsements for the first book in the new series Continuum Studies in Philosophy of Religion. The book is called Freedom, Teleology and Evil and is by the series editor Stewart Goetz.

"Goetz's book Freedom, Teleology, and Evil is highly original and, indeed, unique in that it is a systematic defense of a non-causal approach to agency, including free will and moral responsibility.The critical arguments are probing, and Goetz's positive suggestions are provocative and important. I highly recommend this book."

John Martin Fischer
Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside

"Goetz’s remarkable book Freedom, Teleology, and Evil fills a much-needed gap in the contemporary
discussion of the metaphysics of human freedom." For many years, philosophers have noted the
existence of logical space for a thoroughly non-casual libertarian theory, but generally dismissed the idea as unworthy of serious or sustained discussion. Such disdain will be hard to defend in the wake of
Goetz’s careful and detailed defense of one version of this view.  His position is presented with great clarity and precision, and difficulties alleged to bedevil the theory are met head-on. The extension of the view into theological issues in the final chapter is also much to be applauded. Many libertarians (including this one) may still have reservations regarding the noncausal approach even after reading this impressive book, but few will (or at least should) still doubt that it is an option worthy of libertarians' most serious consideration."

Thomas Flint
Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame

"In Freedom, Teleology, and Evil, Stewart Goetz skillfully develops a highly significant position on free will and moral responsibility. His central claim is that free choices are uncaused, but at the same time
explained teleologically by purposes or reasons. Goetz argues that this view is attractive and important for two central reasons: it accommodates the intuitions that count against the compatibility of free will and determinism, and it provides an answer to the main challenge to libertarian accounts of free will: that because actions are undetermined, whether they occur is a matter of luck, and the agent is therefore not responsible for them. This book will be valuable to anyone interested in the problem of free will, and especially to those attracted to exploring new possibilities for libertarian views of agency."

Derk Pereboom
Professor of Philosophy, Cornell University

The book is out in the UK in November and the US in Jan 2009.

Conversations on Religion - Book Launch tomorrow!

Conversations on Religion, edited by Mick Gordon and Chris Wilkinson, is a fascinating new book by Continuum. Tomorrow, at the Samuel French Bookshop in London, we shall be holding a book launch to celebrate its publication.

Mick Gordon and Chris Wilkinson will be talking about the book along with discussions from a number of contributors; including AC Grayling, Shelina Janmohamed and Muhammad Yusuf Al-Hussaini.

For directions and a map to the bookshop visit: http://www.samuelfrench-london.co.uk, or for further information and to RSVP, contact Simone Gilson at

sgilson@continuumbooks.com

Conversations on Religion addresses questions such as: How do we define religion? Can we define faith? Why in our twenty-first century world are so many people religious? and What should our ambition for religion be?

Gordon and Wilkinson explore these questions together with 18 well-known religious thinkers and commentators, including: AC Grayling, Giles Fraser, Rowan Williams, Lewis and Matthew Wolpert, Don Cuppit, Muhammad Yusuf Al-Hussaini, Tariq Ramadan, John Gray, Alistair McGrath, Abdelwahab El Affendi, Richard Dawkins, Julia Neuberger, Fraser Watts, Azzam Tamimi, Ann Widdecombe, Karen Armstrong, Shelina Janmohamed, and Jonathan Sacks.

The launch will take place on Tuesday April 8th, 6-8 pm, at the Samuel French Bookshop, 52 Fitzroy Street, London. All are welcome.

Mick Gordon is a theatre director and dramatist. He is the Artistic Director of acclaimed theatre company On Theatre. Its most challenging piece to date, On Religion, forms the basis for this book.

Chris Wilkinson

studied Theology at Cambridge University, UK. He is a theatre director and an award winning arts journalist. He has written for The Scotsman, The Financial Times, Prospect Magazine and The Guardian (Online).

The Death of God

We have received an endorsement from Werner G Jeanrond, newly appointed Professor of Divinity at the University of Glasgow, for The Death of God by Frederiek Depoortere:

"Frederiek Depoortere offers the reader a challenging analysis of the fate of God in Western thinking. Whoever is troubled by the slogan "God is dead" will find here engaging information and thoughtful comments both on the history behind Nietzsche’s conclusion and on its implications for theology today."

The Death of God is a fascinating study into the history of the western concept of the divine, tracing the roots of Nietzsche's outcry "God is dead!" as far back as to Greek philosophy. Frederiek is one of those incredibly prolific young scholars from the K U Leuven in Belgium, a place not only famous for its beautiful mediaeval town centre with the town hall and Begijnhoof and its beers (the home of Stella Artois!), but also for the quality of research and scholarship of the theologians of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Frederiek is member of the Research Group Theology in a Postmodern Context, from which background his forthcoming book on Christ in Postmodern Philosphy will derive (due to be published later in 2008).

Endorsement for Temple Themes in Christian Worship

UK customers click here/US customers click here

With most of the editorial team now off to the AAR/SBL, I imagine it will be a moderately quiet week or so for the T&T Blog. Most of the readership is probably heading to San Diego anyway.

However, for those of you not heading that way - or for those who have found a minute between papers and visits to the zoo - here is a glowing endorsement of Margaret Barker's new book from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

"As always, Margaret Barker deploys a great range of scholarly equipment to invite us to rethink quite radically many of the conventional readings of the New Testament.  Through a systematic study of biblical imagery, related to rabbinical and patristic interpretation, she makes it clear that the categories associated with the worship of Solomon’s Temple and with the person of the High Priest are central for understanding not only the earliest Christological language of the Church – an argument she has set out in other books – but also the nature of Christian sacramental practice.This is a book full of insight and challenge; some of its conclusions will be controversial, but it is a wonderfully learned and creative essay, drawing together much neglected or misunderstood material in a compelling new synthesis."

Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury 

Margaret's other major book with T&T Clark, The Great High Priest continues to a strong seller, follow the links for details: US/UK