KULEUVEN

Anglican Social Teaching

Jeroen Jans 25-4-2013

Introduction Key facts of Anglican church structures World-Anglicanism and the Church of England Within the Anglican community, there is a difference between the Church of England, and churches that have similar beliefs, worship practices and church structures, or are historically tied with it. Important to note, is the fact that each church province is autonomous. he Anglican community is governed by a !ynod, which e"ists of three houses# laity, clergy and bishops. hey may organi$e national, provincial or diocesan synods and have a different scope of authority. %evertheless, to be a member of the Anglican Communion, one must be in full communion with the !ee of Canterbury. here are three international bodies, whose resolutions are not legally binding for the different Church provinces# The Lambeth Conference &since '()*+, is held every ten years by the archbishop of Canterbury, where bishops are invited for consultation The Anglican Consultative Council &since ',)(+ e"ists of bishops, clergy and laity, and has a permanent secretariat &the Anglican Communion -ffice+, of which the Archbishop of Canterbury is the president The Anglican Communion Primates Meeting &since ',*(+ is a forum for thought, prayer and deep consultation

Within England, there are two provinces# .or/ and Canterbury, of which the second is primate of all England. he legislative body of the Church of England is the 0eneral !ynod, which can create measures that have to be approved by the 1ritish 2arliament and canons which re3uire 4oyal 5icence and 4oyal Assent. 1y now, it6s easy to understand why discussing 7Anglican !ocial eaching8 is such a comple" matter. An interesting e"ample, is the fact that some provinces allow female homose"ual bishops, while others, li/e the Church of England, do not allow female bishops at all. 1ecause of the comple"ity, we will focus our attention to the Church of England '. Catholic and reformed o ma/e it even more comple", there is the 3uestion if Anglicanism should be defined as Catholic, 2rotestant or as a distinct branch. -n the one hand, Anglo-Catholic practices have revived as a conse3uence of the -"ford 9ovement in the ', th century, and have become more dominant in the last century. -n the other hand, many churches still hold to the Evangelical practices. While AngloCatholics have a more 4oman Catholic vision on theology, the Anglo-Evangelicals are in favour of more liberalisation of church structures. 9aybe the best definition is the following# High Church is generally used to describe forms of Anglicanism influenced, to a greater or lesser e"tent, by the Catholic tradition. Anglo-Catholicism is often identified with this variety of churchmanship, although not all 7:igh Church8 Anglicans, such as 5iberal AngloCatholics, would endorse some prominent aspects of Anglo-Catholicism. Low Church usually refers to Anglicans of a more Evangelical tradition who, more consistent with the 2rotestant tradition, emphasi;$<e the primacy of scripture and salvation through faith

=or more, see the official website of the Anglican Communion# http#>>www.anglicancommunion.org>inde".cfm

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alone. 5ow Church Anglicans usually worship according to the official prayer boo/s, but with much less ceremony. Broad Church generally refers to Anglicans somewhere between the 7high8 and 7low8 traditions. he term is sometimes used to denote Anglicans of a more liberal theological perspective?.

2olitically spea/ing, 4adical -rthodo"y is more dominant among Anglo-Catholics and 2olitical heology among Anglo-Evangelicals. %evertheless, the line is not that clear. %. . Wright for e"ample, is considered to be more on the -pen Evangelical side, while in his 1iblical interpretations, he is considered as more conservative. he former Archbishop, 4owan Williams, is an AngloCatholic, but when it comes to politics, he is more in line with the 2olitical heology. While these terms may be useful when spea/ing of church structures, they are 3uite useless when spea/ing about social teaching. We will therefore use the categories Radical rthodo!" and Political Theolog".9ore and more media suggest that the second one is becoming the most dominant within the Church of England. he @aily elegraph, for e"ample, writes that the pastoral care today, tends more to feeding the mouths than saving the souls. -ne article even has the following title# 7 he Anglican Church is now the 5abour 2arty at 2rayer8 A. Within the broader, global Anglican Community, this is less certainB. We must also note that this dialogue runs in two directions, which is, for e"ample, shown by the article 7Catholic 92s Crge 2ope =rancis to Allow -rdination of 9arried 9en8D. he established Church in 1ritain he 5ords !piritual 2robably best /nown in the relation between Church and state in the CK, is the presence of ?) bishops in the :ouse of 5ords, from which D diocese have a permanent seat &Canterbury, .or/, @urham, 5ondon and Winchester+. he other ?' members are the longest serving bishops of the CK. %ormally, archbishops become life peers after their retirement, which means that they ta/e seat among the 5ords emporal for life. here is always at least one bishop present, to read prayers before debates start. he others normally attend when matters of interest and concern are laid before the :ouse ). he Church of England describes its tas/ in the :ouse of 5ords as follows#
heir ; he bishop6s< presence in the 5ords is an e"tension of their general vocation as bishops to preach 0od6s word and to lead people in prayer. 1ishops provide an important independent voice and spiritual insight to the wor/ of the Cpper :ouse and, while they ma/e no claims to direct representation, they see/ to be a voice for all people of faith, not Eust Christians *.

he commons he Church of England has not only a role to play in the :ouse of 5ords, but also in the :ouse of Commons, where the government is present. -ne of the /ey members for this dialogue between Church and state, is the #econd Commissioner. =or the moment this is !ir ony 1aldry 92, who is a member of the conservative party. :e is the lin/ between 0overnment and 2arliament on the one hand, and with the Church on the other. 7 he !econd Commissioner answers oral and written
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Anglo-Catholicism, https#>>www.princeton.edu>Fachaney>tmve>wi/i'GG/>docs>Anglo-Catholicism.html . ! A%5E., Justin Welby v David Cameron, The Anglican Church is Now the Labour Party at Prayer , in The Daily Telegraph, '' 9arch ?G'A. 4 !ee for e"ample# 9. E1E4! A@ , iewpoint, !n the War over Christianity" #rthodo$y is Winning , ?, April ?G'A, http#>>ideas.time.com>?G'A>GB>?,>viewpoint-in-the-war-over-christianity-orthodo"y-is-winning> 5 9. EA:A%, Catholic %Ps &rge Pope 'rancis to Allow #rdination o( %arried %en , in Catholic )erald, ?* 9arch ?G'A, http#>>www.catholicherald.co.u/>news>?G'A>GA>?*>catholic-mps-urge-pope-francis-to-allowordination-of-married-men> 6 The Lords *piritual, http#>>www.churchofengland.org>our-views>the-church-in-parliament>bishops-in-thehouse-of-lords.asp" 7 !bid+

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3uestions from 92s about Church of England matters, is a member of the Ecclesiastical Committee and steers Church of England legislation through the :ouse of Commons8. :e is also a e"-officio member of the 0eneral !ynod. o become !econd Commissioner, it is re3uired to be a lay member of the Church of England and an 92 from the governing political party(. We now move to the $cclesiastical Committee of 2arliament, which e"ists of AG bac/benchers, 'D members of each :ouse, chosen by the !pea/er of each of those :ouses. he most important role of this Committee is describes as follows# 7 he Ecclesiastical Committee e"amines draft 9easures presented to it by the 5egislative Committee of the 0eneral !ynod of the Church of England. It reports to 2arliament on whether or not it considers the measures to be e"pedient8 ,. he #%ea&ers Cha%lain, finally, says prayers for 2arliament in the Chamber each day, but also ta/es the services in he Chapel of !t 9ary Cndercroft, which is located within the :ouses of 2arliament. his post is held by 4ose :udson-Wil/in'G. Radical rthodo!"

his line of thin/ing, situates itself mostly within the Anglo-Catholic approach, and is very critical towards modernity. It opposes a constructive use of secular social theory within theology. %evertheless, li/e we already mentioned, the line will not be that thic/. Hohn 9ilban/ Hohn 9ilban/ is a 2rofessor of 4eligion, 2olitics and Ethics at the Cniversity of %ottingham. Interesting to note, is that, in Cambridge, he studied under 4owan Williams, who, as we will discuss later on, prefers a rather different approach. 9ilban/ claims, that the false humilit" of modern theolog" is a fatal disease, because it has become the voice of a finite idol , instead of articulating the word of 0od. When theology stops 3ualifying other discourses, these discourses will position theology''. About these political theologians themselves, he writes# 7Contemporary Ipolitical theologians6 tend to fasten upon a particular social theory, or else put together their own eclectic theoretical mi", and then wor/ out what residual place is left for Christianity and theology within the reality that is supposed to be authoritatively described by such a theory8 '?. he following 3uote of 9ilban/ is also very stri/ing#
I wish to challenge both the idea that there is a significant sociological 'reading( of religion and Christianity, which theology must 7ta/e account of8, and the idea that theology must borrow its diagnoses of social ills and recommendations of social solutions entirely from 9ar"ist &or usually sub-9ar"ist+ analysis, with some sociological admi"ture 'A.

9ilban/ adds to this e"planation that scientific social theories are theologies or even antitheologies themselves, but in disguise. hat his vision on liberal secularism is very negative, becomes clear when he describes it as an ontolog" of violence# 7a reading of the world which assumes the priority of force and tells how this force is best managed and confined by counter-force8 'B. !ociology, he consideres to be positivist. When theology goes in dialogue with sociology, it becomes a church in disguise, which promotes a certain secular consensus. hat is the reason why 9ilban/ wants this dialogue to end. Christian socialism, then, 7is itself a theology which has surrendered to liberalism

The *econd Commissioner, http#>>www.churchofengland.org>our-views>the-church-in-parliament>secondchurch-estates-commissioner.asp" 9 ,cclesiastical Committee, http#>>www.churchofengland.org>our-views>the-church-in-parliament>ecclesiastical-committee.asp" 10 *pea-er.s Chaplain, http#>>www.churchofengland.org>our-views>the-church-in-parliament>spea/erJ?*schaplain.asp" 11 H.9I51A%K, Theology and *ocial Theory, /eyond *ecular 0eason, -"ford, ',,G, p. '-?. 12 !bid+, p. ?. 13 !bid+, p. A. 14 !bid+, p. B.

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in the form of transcendental philosophy8 'D. In short, he calls the previous the nihilistic voice'). hat he is an opponent of the idea that theology can embrace elements of social science, becomes very clear when he writes that#
If truth is social, it can only be through a claim to offer the ultimate 7social science8 that theology can establish itself and give any content to the notion of 70od8'*.

5ater on, he ta/es it even a step further, by calling theology the )ueen of the sciences for all who live in the altera civitas. 9ilban/ himself, is thus in favour of a Christian social theor", which is in the first place an ecclesiology. 1ecause the Church is already a reading of other human societies, ecclesiology may be considered as a sociology '(. his Christian sociolog", is described by 9ilban/ as follows#
;It is< the e"plication of a socio-linguistic practice, or as the constant re-narration of this practice as it has historically developed. he tas/ of such theology ;...< is to tell again the Christian mythos, pronounce again the Christian logos, and call again for Christian pra"is in a manner that restores their freshness and originality. It must articulate Christian difference in such a fashion as to ma/e it strange',.

2ositive in his way of reasoning, however, is that he as/s the 3uestion of how Christianity has affected human reason and practice. 9ilban/ also ma/es his goal very clear, namely# a moral %ractice, which is embedded in the historical emergence of a new, but also uni)ue communit". :e goes on, by using terms li/e 7counter-history8, 7counter-ethics8 and 7counter-ontology8. :e considers the word 'counter( to be Eustified, because there is a total difference between Christianity and the nihilism that threatens the other cultural systems. Another important aspect is an ecclesial self-criti3ue, which, most of the time, will have to do with too much engagement with the liberal secular world. %evertheless, this does not ma/e the Christian doctrine a static narrative, for 0od can still reveal himself later on, to give a dee%er understanding of his being for e"ample. It is important to note that no historical study is, as 9ilban/ e"presses it 7over and done with8. herefore, it is essential that the Church stands in a narrative relation to *esus and the gos%els . !alvation is available for us, since Hesus inaugurated a new sort of community, whose response to Christ is made possible by the :oly !pirit, and it is from the !pirit that the community receives the love that flows between !on and =ather. his story is already reali$ed in a finally e"emplary way by Hesus Christ, but it still has to be realised universally and both in harmony with Christ and differently by all generations. his shows why the conte"t of the Church is essential for 7real history8, but also to interpret and regulate with respect to all other history. hat is the reason why the Church is the carrier of the metanarrative. According to 9ilban/, the Church claims to be the 7e"emplary form of human community8 ?G. :e clarifies his point of view#
he logic of Christianity involves the claim that the 7interruption8 of history by Christ and his bride, the Church, is the most fundamental of events, interpreting all other events. And it is most especially a social event, able to interpret other social formations, because it compares them with its own new social practice?'.

2robably, it will already have become clear, that 9ilban/ is highly in favour of the idea of two cities, as described by Augustine in Civitas Dei. According to 9ilban/, it shows that that the criti3ue of political theology can come directly out of the developing 1iblical tradition, without using e"ternal supplementation as a resource. Essential in this wor/, is the priority of peace over conflict. !alvation means the liberation from the political, economic and psychic dominium, and thus from all structures
15 16

!bid+, p. B-D. !bid+, p. A-D. 17 !bid+, p. ). 18 !bid+, p. A(G-A('. 19 !bid+, p. A('. 20 !bid+, p. A('-A((. 21 !bid+, p. A((.

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that belong to the saeculum or Civitas terrena11. hrough the attraction that is e"ercised by a particular set of words and images, we may ac/nowledge the good and get an idea of the ultimate telos. In the stories of Hesus, a testimony of the 0ood, is offered to us. We must, therefore, %ractice non+violence as a s&ill, and learn it6s idiom?A. 9ilban/ regularly repeats the distinct and interruptive character of Christianity. =or him, this is not only the case for its attitude towards modernity, but also anti3uity. It6s a new ethos, in a new &ind of communit"- the ecclesia. When not only 4oman citi$ens, but also 4oman rulers began to be converted, there arose a gradual confusion of the boundaries between imperium and ecclesia. his encouraged the monastic movement. 9ilban/ nevertheless ac/nowledges that, according to Augustine, worldly Eustice and government as paideia are %artiall" realised on earth. !till, it is only fully realised in heaven. .et, the most predominant governing purpose of associations, is not automatically communality or Eustice. !ocieties, Augustine argues, need a collective obEect of worship to bind them together. In this regard, 9ilban/ argues that for the civil state, this will often be a violent ob.ect, li/e honour and glory. 1y saying this, 9ilban/, implicitly critici/es individualism, through the Augustenian way of thin/ing. Also important is that, as long as time persists, there will be sin in the world. We therefore need regulation through worldly dominium and peace, which will be a com%romise between com%eting wills. %evertheless, 9ilban/ holds the opinion that this is not really Eustice. he civitas terrena, thus stays sinful, since sin is curbed by sin ?B. he implications is that a 7IChristian emperor6 ;...< is a Eust ruler e"actly to the e"tent that he treats his political function as an inner-ecclesial one, or as an e"ercise of pastoral care8 ?D. he reason for 9ilban/s reservations for the political engagement of theology, becomes clear when he critici$es A3uinas#
-nce the political is seen as a permanent natural sphere, pursuing positive finite ends, then, inevitably, firm lines of division arise between what is 7secular8 and what is 7spiritual8 ?).

:e continues, by e"plaining the conse3uences of this line of thought#

A desirably parochial e"istence of small local groups, constant adEacent mediations, plural membership of many different, inter-involved and overlapping corporations is bound to be eroded. -ne ceases to see social, spatial and temporal life as itself the continuum which shades off into infinity?*.

As a conse3uence, true Eustice and virtue, re3uire the e"istence of this new form of society, which is ontologically characteri$ed by#
' micro>macro cosmic isomorphismK ? the non-subordination of either part to whole or whole to partK A the presence of the whole in every partK and B positioning within an indefinite shifting se3uence rather than a fi"ed totality?(.

Why are the pagans unEust according to AugustineL 1ecause they don6t grant priority to peace and forgiveness. It is true that the pagans saw a difference between body and soul, but they failed to see the third dimension# 0od>heaven>peace. It is important to note, that only in the third dimension, the soul can reali$e its true desire and is able to be drawn into reciprocal relationships of affirmation with the other souls. Essential for true ethics, is thus an inter%ersonal %ers%ective. 4emar/able is the idea that in heaven, only the virtue of charit" remains , which is not a matter of mere generous intention, but the very consummation of Eustice and prudence. o approach divine perfection, forgiveness is essential?,. he reason for this, is the following#
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!bid+, p. A(,-A,?. !bid+, p. A,(. 24 !bid+, p. A,,-BG?.BG). 25 !bid+, p. BG*. 26 !bid+, p. BG*. 27 !bid+, p. BG(. 28 !bid+, p. BG,. 29 !bid+, p. BG,-B''.

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;1<ecause virtue itself as charity is originally the gratuitous, creative positing of difference, and the offering to others of a space of freedom, which is e"istence. As an infinite serial emanation, charity does not lay down a fi"ed hierarchy, and every 7position8 it establishes is of e3ual importance, and of e3ual necessity to all the other positions, even if there remain ine3ualities of ability and necessary ine3ualities of functionAG.

Essential to grasp, is that the most important difference between Christianity and the civil state, lies in her reconciliation of virtue with difference. Also important is the necessity of coercion in the earthly city. 9ilban/ notes that this is not without ris/ and that it does not have the true final peace in view, but it is needed for reaching the peace of compromise between wills. !till, he emphasi$es that Eudgement and punishment is never occupied by 0od, because it is an act against sin, which was, in the first place, not intended by 0od. Actually, 9ilban/ writes, that the trial and punishment of Hesus itself condemned, to some degree, all other punishments and trials. he most important thing of punishment, is that wrongs must be put right. While recogni$ing the need of an e"ternal punishment, the Church must also be an as"lumA'# 7a house of refuge from its operations, a social space where a different, forgiving and restitutionary practice is pursued. his practice should also be Iatoning6, in that we ac/nowledge that an individual6s sin is never his alone, that its endurance harms us all, and therefore its cancellation is also the responsibility of all8 A?. Characteristic for 9ilban/s way of thin/ing, is the following 3uote#
he Church, to be the Church, must see/ to e"tend the sphere of socially aesthetic harmony M 7within8 the state where this is possibleK but of a state committed by its very nature only to the formal goals of dominium, little is to be hopedAA.

When starting his ideas on counter-ontology, 9ilban/ summari$es his theory, li/e we discussed it so far, rather well#
his counter-ontology speculatively confirms three maEor components of the counter-ethics# first, the practice of charity and forgiveness as involving the priority of a gratuitous creative giving of e"istence, and so of difference. !econdly, the reconciliation of difference with virtue, fulfilling true virtue only through this reconciliation. hirdly, the treatment of peace as a primary reality and the denial of an always preceding violenceAB.

9ilban/ ends his reasoning with two noteworthy ideas# '+ he notes that Christianity has helped to unleash a more na/ed violence. :e therefore refers to the middle agesK and ?+ the state itself assumed the form of an anti-Church AD. Above all, it has, by now, become very clear that 9ilban/ is highly negative for secular reason, which becomes especially clear when he writes#
While it is possible to recover the narrative and ontological shape of the Christian 7interruption8 of history ;...<, one should also recogni$e that this interruption appears to have tragically failed, and that it is the course of this failure itself which has generated secular reason. -nce there was no secular...A) And the absolute Christian vision of ontological peace now provides the only alternative to a nihilistic outloo/. Even today, in the midst of the self-torturing circle of secular reason, there can open to view again a series with which it is in no continuity# the emanation of harmonious difference, the e"odus of new generations, the path of peaceful flight...A*

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!bid+, p. B'). !bid+, p. B')-B??. 32 !bid+, p. B??. 33 !bid+, p. B??. 34 !bid+, p. B?A. 35 !bid+, p. BA?-BAA. 36 !bid+, p. BA?. 37 !bid+, p. BAB.

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0arry Hohn Williams -ne who even ta/es it a step further, is 0arry Williams. 4emar/able, is the fact that he is an Evangelical Anglican. :e is @irector of the Hohn -wen Centre, teaches Church :istory and @octrine at -a/ :ill College in 5ondon and is visiting professor of the Westminster heological !eminary in 2hiladelphia and 5ondon.0. Williams writes that the wides%read sus%icion of %ower , is a postmodern phenomenon. -f course it is true that 0od undermines human systems and we do not /now :im in :is essence through :is wor/s. %evertheless the catholic tradition holds confidence in the revealed truth that can be found in !cripture. ' Clement, Hustin 9artyr and Irenaeus state that there is no error in the !criptures. he first two even mention the influence of the :oly !pirit on the 1ible. 0. Williams concludes# 7We find no tal/ of misapprehension here8 A(.0.Williams also notes that theolog" is a s"stem of revealed %ublic truths , so we can test our thoughts against the revelation of 0od. :e is opposed to a theology, where human e!%erience becomes the measure for truth . he idea that Hesus brings only 3uestions is, for him, not very satisfying A,. :ow strong his reservations for certain forms of life-style, which are part of the most modern societies, are, becomes clear in his criti3ue on 4owan Williams#
he se"ual ethics which 4owan Williams espouses will have terrible eternal effects, since it is a matter of salvation and condemnation. It is identified as such within the framewor/ of biblical theology. In 4omans '#?)-?* homose"ual practice serves as an instance of the conse3uences of human rebellion against 0od and as an e"ample of the Eudgement of 0od manifested in the present age. As such, it is identified ;N< as an epitome of human rebellion against 0od. =or a senior presbyter in the church ;N< to defend such an epitome of sin is to place himself in conflict with the 0ospel and to imperil the souls of the men and woman who follow him. his is easily demonstrated by considering the conse3uences of Williams6s words and actions. ;N< Certainly he has published on the subEect and has thus encouraged his readers. And now his views have been reported within the hearing of millions of people, and he has taught them that 0od has no problem with gay se", and that there is grace in other non-marital se"ual encounters. In this way the senior presbyter of the church has been instrumental in encouraging people to engage in what the Apostle 2aul regards as an embodiment of human rebellion. And where will that lead themL he same Apostle tells us that if they do not turn from it in repentance it will lead them ;N< to being shut out of the /ingdom of 0od &' Corinthians )#,-'G+. he Archbishop has taught and is teaching people, now millions of people in this country and around the world, a sure way of being shut out from the presence of 0od for ever. 0iven his views on these issues, the theology of 4owan Williams puts souls at ris/ of perishing. ;N< o /eep silence in the face of his theology is to ac3uiesce in the inEury of soulsBG.

:ow does 0arry Williams see the role of theology in the public s3uareL !trange enough, he usus a 3uote from 4owan Williams to e"plain his position#
;2<eaceful co-e"istence in an undemanding pluralism is an inade3uate response when the matters at issue seem to relate to basic 3uestions about how the gospel can be heard in the struggles of contemporary social e"istence. here is a case for protest, even for 7confessional8 separation over some issuesB'.

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0. H. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , An #utline" Criti2ue" and Consideration o( !ts Conse2uences &5atimer !tudies, DD+, 5ondon, ?GG?, ?GG?, ??GGA, p. ??. 39 !bid+, p. ?'-?B. 40 !bid+, p. A)-A*. 41 !bid+, p. A*. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. D*.

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Political theolog" om Wright om Wright was bishop of @urham from ?GGA-?G'G, which gave him a seat in the :ouse of 5ords, and is currently 4esearch professor of %ew estament and Early Christianity at !t 9ary6s College, Cniversity of !t Andrews in !cotland. :is arguments for political engagements are the following#
;!<o long as we maintain the historic split of religion and politics, of faith and public life, we will be powerless to do more than lament before the errors of misplaced imperial ambition. he good news is that the great scriptural narrative, which we have for so long hushed up, tells a different story, one which calls all human empires M ancient or modern, military or economic M to account. his is the biblical story of the strange lordship of Hesus Christ. It has compelling implications for the conduct of 1ritish government todayB?.

According to Wright, it was far too long ta/en for granted that the early Christians weren6t interested in serious political theology, but that changed in the last AG years. In order to e"plain this, Wright uses his /nowledge of 1iblical theology. =or e"ample# when it is emphasised that Hesus, Who was crucified, is the one 5ord, than this means that Caesar is not, and even that the notion of lordshi% has changed. Another e"ample is Hesus trial before 2ilate in Hohn '(-',, in which Wright sees two types of /ingdom. In Caesars &ingdom, truth is relative to %ower0 The &ingdom that *esus brings is, on the contrar", not of this world0 %evertheless this is not the same as saying that the /ingdom of Hesus is purely spiritual. It does not derive from this world, but is designed for it. 1ut, says Wright, 7precisely because it is the /ingdom of the wise Creator 0od who longs to heal this world, whose Eustice is aimed at restoration rather than punitive destruction, it can neither be advanced nor attained by the domineering, bullying, fighting /ingdom-methods employed in merely earthly /ingdoms8 BA. Hesus also states that 2ilate couldn6t have the authority of releasing :im, if it were not given from above. !o, even in the rebellious state of this world, 1od does not desire anarch" or chaos. o have no rulers is thus even worse than having ones from the ran/s of the wic/ed. herefore, Hesus has not come to destroy the world, but to rescue it from evil . he abuse of the structures of human authority is a double evil, because they are part of the good creation. Wright concludes his e"planation of Hohn '(-',, by writing that Hesus has given us a new notion of ruling and thus power, namely the transformative and healing %ower of suffering loveBB. :is political understanding of the history of the 1ible is also stri/ing#
It is the underlying theology, in fact, which enables the %ew estament writes to avoid that /ind of shallowness and lay the foundations for a mature political theology. We trace their thin/ing, through boo/s such as the Wisdom of !olomon, all the way bac/ to the biblical story of 0od6s people under pagan rule. he line from 0enesis A to the ower of 1abel in 0enesis '' then gives way to the call of Abraham, Abraham6s family ends up in Egypt, rescued when 0od Eudges their pagan overlordsK the decidedly ambiguous con3uest of Canaan results in the still ambiguous /ingdom of @avid and !olomonK and eventually we find ourselves bac/ in 1abel, in the 1abylonian e"ile, which creates the conte"t for those two most deeply political prophecies, Isaiah and @aniel. he 2salms, meanwhile, celebrate the /ingship of .:W: over the nations, and .:W:6s placing of his 9essiah as the one who will bring the /ing6s of the earth to order. It is this story that formed the matri" within which the early Christians fashioned their own political stance BD.

1y now, it has become clear that Hesus6 life and death redefined lordship, and thus power. If we want to understand :is 5ordship correctly, we must do this in harmony with the theological themes of creation and Eudgement, which tell us about a Creator, Who ta/es position against the dar/ness of a
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%. . W4I0: , Neither Anarchy nor Tyranny, 3overnment and the New Testament, in %. !2E%CE4O H. C:A25I% &eds.+, 3od and 3overnment, 5ondon, ?GG,, p. )A. 43 !bid+, p. )D. 44 !bid+, p. )B-)*. 45 !bid+, p. *G-*'.

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world gone astray. his is not only a heavenly lordship, and not only something to be e"pected in the ultimate future. It is the tas/ of the followers of Hesus, to bring the signs of His ho%eful rule and healing to the %resent timeB). Wright then moves to a more political part, in which he outlines 70od6s alternative empire8, about which he writes that the Creator intended the world to be ordered and structured, with parts that are in harmony with each other and enable flourishing, fruitfulness and, eventually, the fulfilment of 0od6s intention. he possibility of human rebellion and their will to set up on their own, goes all the way bac/ to 0enesis '. his story learns us, that instead of abandoning the world to chaos, 0od wor/s from within, for the purpose of restorationB*. =rom this, Wright concludes#
in a threefold typology, based on the doctrines of creation and redemption# &'+ 0od intends the world to be ordered, and will put it in proper order at the lastK but &?+ he doesn6t want chaos between now and then, and uses human authorities, even when they don6t ac/nowledge him, to bring a measure of his order in advance of the endK and &A+ since that puts awful temptations in the way of the authorities, 0od6s people have the vital calling to spea/ the truth to them and call them to account in anticipation of that same final dayB(.

his e"plains, why, according to Wright, the Church has to reEect both tyranny and anarchy, but must affirm that 1od intends the world to be ruled b" %ro%erl" constituted authorities . %evertheless, holding the authorities to account, remains one of the duties of the Church. :e also writes that people, these days, are only interested in the way other people attain power, while the early Christians were far more interested in what they did with that power, and in holding u% a mirror to %ower. herefore, 7;t<he church must, in short, learn from Hesus before 2ilate how to spea/ the truth to power rather than for power, or merely against power8 B,. here are also many misinterpretations of the meaning of an 7established8 church, for the church is not in charge of the state, but 7bishops do have a voice, and often use that voice to spea/ up for the voiceless in their regions, and indeed for other denominations and other faiths8DG. It is also wrong to thin/ that the state tells the church what to do. What the church actually has, is a voice in the discussion, but not the only or an easy voice D'. :e illustrates his arguments on a typical, and yet beautiful, way#
0od wants there to be good government, and the church M and Christian politicians M must bear public witness to the fact in every way possible. hat, after all, is what Christians are doing when they pray, as Hesus himself taught us, for 0od6s /ingdom to come on earth as in heaven D?.

%ic/ !pencer %ic/ !pencer is 4esearch @irector at the public theological thin/ tan/ heos, which deals about the place of religion in society. :e emphasises that the Christian political interest is very divers. hey can be part of or go into dialogue with each of the mainstream political parties of the CK, on very diverse topics. According to !pencer, this idea ma/es 1ritish people nervous. his is no wonder, since 7there is a notable absence of serious thin/ing on the 3uestion of what political Christians should actually be trying to achieve as political Christians8 DA. It is obvious, then, that there is no consensus on these topics. his does not mean that Christians are bound to disagreement about the role of the governmentDB. About the 1ible, which, as we have seen, is of particular importance for %. . Wright, !pencer writes the following#
Its guidance may not be particularly obvious, neatly assembled, focused on contemporary concerns, or framed in current terms, but the 1ible has a wealth of serious and important material
46 47

!bid+, p. *'-*?. !bid+, p. *?-*B. 48 !bid+, p. *B-*D. 49 !bid+, p. **. 50 !bid+, p. *(. 51 !bid+, p. *)-*(. 52 !bid+, p. *,. 53 !bid+, p. ?. 54 !bid+, p. '-?.

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outlining the central purposes of government, material that has fed a long, rich and, sadly, largely un/nown tradition of political theologyDD.

:e also complains about the fact that the academic resources do not often connect with political Christians. As Christians, our political standpoints must be as much as possible controlled by our Christian convictions. We may not e"pect the 1ible to give us percentages, but it should be helpful to come wisely to those percentages. It is therefore important to note, that Christian theology 7may not ultimatelyma-epolitical decisions but it can shape them8 D). !o without obliging others to follow the same political line, for the sa/e of unity, they should wor/ hard, in order to come to points of agreement and to wor/ together as much as possible D*. he goal of !pencer6s article is 7persuading Christians that politics is an honourable and worthwhile vocation8 D(. Honathan Chaplin Honathan Chaplin is @irector of the Kirby 5aing Institute for Christian Ethics, a member of the @ivinity =aculty of Cambridge and Consultant 4esearcher of heos. Hust li/e !pencer, Chaplin writes %olitical theolog" will not bring detailed policy prescriptions forward. his is also true for political theory in general. he real purpose of political theology is 7to help form %ractical Christian %olitical wisdom8D,. he core 3uestion, is the following# 7what is the uni3ue role of government in society and how may it better discharge that role on behalf of its citi$ensL8 )G. Important in this regard, are the common good and the %riorit" of .ustice , but the views on these topics may differ )'. About coming to a conclusion in democratic debates, he writes#
Where consensus is attainable, well and good# it should be sei$ed upon and made the most of. Where it is out of reach, debate continues until a decision must be ta/en, and all sides must then accept the constitutional &if not moral+ validity of the outcome, at least until it is formally reopened)?.

:e also writes that political truth is not de%endant on %arliamentar" ma.orities and there is no guarantee that it will be achieved by democratic debates. %evertheless, it can only be reached by such debates. When introducing a principle, it should be specified how it can be concretel" a%%lied. his is also true for the Church, when she wants to engage with the public debate )A. Chaplin now moves bac/ to the Christian %olitical wisdom, which consists of s/ill and substance. It 7involves discerning how a body of political principle is to assume concrete form in policy-ma/ing and statesmanship at a particular time and place8 )B. 5i/e all valid Christian traditions, Christian politics must continually be tested by a fresh biblical scrutin". It should also be coherent in its worldview. Chaplin also affirms that government is on the one hand created, but on the other, fallen. !till, it is open for redemption)D. his, he e"plains as follows#
It ;the government< is, in the first place, one outwor/ing of the Icultural6mandate given to humanity at creation, a mandate to reali$e the many potentials of created life by establishing institutions that serve human needs. 1ut, second, it is also as thoroughly corrupted by sin and evil as anything else in the human creation. Indeed, as one of the Ipowers6 it forms part of ;...< the threatening sway of the powers insofar as they are in rebellion against the Creator. .et, third, government, again li/e everything else in the human creation, remains open to the restraining and
55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65

!bid+, p. A. !bid+, p. ). !bid+, p. A-).'A. !bid+, p. 'B. !bid+, p. ?G). !bid+, p. ?G). !bid+, p. ?GD-?G(. !bid+, p. ?G(. !bid+, p. ?G,-?''. !bid+, p. ?''-?'?. !bid+, p. ?'?-?'A.

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elevating influence of redemption, whereby, ;...< state power is drawn Itowards the service of Eustice and /indness6)).

.et, government is only secondarily and indirectly advanced by 0od, first comes the Church. -ne of the insights that can be generated from this vision, is a warning against unrealistic e"pectations of what a government may achieve, but it also affirms that it doesn6t have an ine"haustible capacity to do evil at its disposal. Chaplin than e"plains the legal status of the government # &'+ it6s legitimate authority e"tends only so far as its divinely assigned purposeK &?+ it is to be held accountable when it discharges that authorityK &A+ in the divine ordering, there are many other centres of legitimate authorityK and &B+ it must be re%resentative of its citi/ens)*. =or his fourth point, Chaplin addresses the modern secular liberal view, which most of the time, is only seen in one direction# 7political authority originates with the Isovereign6 people and is transferred to government in acts of consent8 )(. he implications on this view, is a lac/ of inherent moral purpose or limit. 9ost secular liberals also thin/ that democratic maEorities should safeguard %eo%les libert". In this regard, they often refer to individual human rights, interests or needs. !till, the divinely assigned purpose of government isn6t e"hausted by these needs. %evertheless, Christians aren6t hostile towards democracy, for if the state has to protect the common good, the public must play a role in identif"ing the re)uirements of this common good. his is perfectly understandable, since the common good, is the good of the whole people. It has thus to do with a corporate responsibility),. -ut of the different political theological perceptions, there can arise different visions on policy. When one, for e"ample, brings the human-made government close to the fall, the essential tas/ will normally be a corrective Eustice. 9ost of these theologians are inclined to argue in favour of policies which re3uire the smallest of government intervention as possible. -f course this is not always the case. According to Chaplin, the government 7does not e"tend the whole of the common good8 *G, it can only create the conditions in which we can e"ercise our social responsibilities. Another source of disagreement arises from different interpretations on common good, Eustice, solidarity, subsidiarity and e3uality. he common good is a 3ualitative concept and it is irreducible held in common. he principles of subsidiarity and solidarity do help to specify the role of the government. %ormally, there is no discussion on political and legal e3uality, but there is, for e"ample, on property and the capacity of a government to redress economic ine3uality*'. Chaplin then as/s the 3uestion if a government is able to pursue moral %ur%oses. oo often, the lin/ between these moral goods and economy is not established. .et there are attempts ;e"ample# speech of @avid Cameron at the conservative party conference in ?GG( *?<. %evertheless, people often wonder, how much weight is given to these issues when doing politics becomes really hard. Chaplin is convinced, that governments should, at least, tray harder. In the 1ritish conte"t, it is, in the first place, the tas/ of political parties*A. :e continues#
heir ;the political parties6< challenge is to formulate a clear political vision, a coherent Ibody of principle6, and to wor/ it out in successive policy documents, maEor speeches by leaders, manifestos and in other ways. Citi$ens then rightly e"pect parties once in government to continue to articulate this body of principle and to see/ as far as possible to put it demonstrably into practice in specific policies. If this were done, the result would be less pandering to narrow and short-term populist instincts, and more commitment to longer-term, strategic, principled policy-ma/ing *B.

Chaplin agrees with 9argaret hatcher, when she says that we need 'conviction %oliticians(, but he thin/s that we need 'communities of constructive dissent( to stimulate social change*D.
66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75

!bid+, p. ?'A. !bid+, p. ?'B-?'D. !bid+, p. ??G. !bid+, p. ?'A-??A. !bid+, p. ??B. !bid+, p. ??A-??D.??(. !ee appendi" 1 !bid+, p. ?AG-?A?. !bid+, p. ?A?-?AA. !bid+, p. ?AA.

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The Church of $nglands official teaching We now move our attention, to have a loo/ about how the Church of England deals with public issues in its official documents. Its worldly character becomes immediately clear, when we loo/ at the topics, which are dealt with# 9arriage, =amily and !e"uality Issues International Affairs :ome and Community Affairs Environment and 4ural Affairs Ethical Investment he Church in 2arliament 9edical Ethics O :ealth O !ocial Care 2olicy Women 1ishops Education*)

Although there are many different interesting topics to be discussed, we will have a closer loo/ at 79edical Ethics O :ealth O !ocial Care 2olicy8, which is ordered as follows# Abortion @ying matters M End of 5ife Care 0enetics :ealthcare Chaplaincy :uman fertili$ation and embryology %:! 4eform -rgan @onation 2rotecting life M opposing assisted suicide !ocial care**

oday, we will have a closer loo/ at 7%:! 4eform8 and 7!ocial care8, but due to the limited amount of time, we will only discus 7%:! 4eform8 more in detail. %:! 4eform*( In Huly ?G'G, the newly elected Coalition 0overnment of Conservatives and 5iberal-@emocrats proposed a %:! reform, which is considered to be the most far-reaching in si"ty years. hey published a White 2aper 7E3uity and e"cellence# 5iberating the %:!8. An answer of the established church could, of course, not stay off. hey therefore published the report 7:ealth Care and the Church6s 9ission8, which is a product of the discussion in the 0eneral !ynod. It is structured as follows#
76 77

Introduction %:! Chaplaincy %:! 4eforms he %eed for Change An International @imension

iews, http#>>www.churchofengland.org>our-views.asp" %edical ,thics 4 )ealth 4 *ocial Care Policy , http#>>www.churchofengland.org>our-views>medical-ethicshealth-social-care-policy.asp" 78 !ee 9. :I55, 3* 5678, )ealth Care and the Church.s %ission , http#>>www.churchofengland.org>ourviews>medical-ethics-health-social-care-policy>nhs-reform.asp"

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We will now 3uote some parts from the document. It begins as follows#
hat this !ynod, mindful of -ur 5ord6s ministry of healing and his charge to his disciples to heal the sic/ in his name# &a+ affirm the ministry of all who promote health and wholeness in body, mind and spirit, and call upon :er 9aEesty6s 0overnment to ensure that chaplaincy provision remains part of the core structure of a %ational :ealth !ervice committed to physical, mental and spiritual healthK &b+ call upon :er 9aEesty6s 0overnment to apply as the test to any proposed changes to the %:! whether they are best calculated to secure the provision throughout the country of effective and efficient healthcare services provided free at the point of delivery and according to clinical needK &c+ commend the wor/ of mission agencies and the networ/s of the Anglican Communion in embodying the churches6 contribution to health and wholeness and promoting fairer sharing of health resources worldwide.

Introduction
hroughout the history of the Church, healing has been an integral part of the proclamation and application of the 0ospel. ;...< Christian concern for physical and social wellbeing, as well as for spiritual transformation, was evident in times of persecution under the 4oman Empire. ;...< he emergence of modern nation states resulted in greater governmental involvement in the delivery of healthcare, but Christian agencies, often in the form of voluntary or charitable bodies, continued to be at the forefront of highlighting and addressing health issues, especially among the poor and disadvantaged. he establishment of the %ational :ealth !ervice ;...< owed much to the insight and energy of Archbishop William emple and other Christian thin/ers and activists. It is, therefore, appropriate for the Church to loo/ at the current and prospective state of healthcare delivery in England, focussing on particular areas of interest and concern that are pertinent to the Church6s healing ministry and mission.

%:! Chaplaincy
here is no defensible rationale for separating spiritual and religious care from other aspects of healthcare.

Chaplaincy Care
While faith communities ought to be willing to cooperate with %:! rust in delivering such ;spiritual< care, it remains the responsibility of the %:! to see that every patient is properly cared for.

%:! 4eforms
It has been argued that such a situation ;where state welfare s3uee$es out local, voluntary and charitable provision< not only encouraged an abdication of personal and community responsibility, in deference to a centralised organ of the !tateK it also encouraged the !tate to become overbearing in its care for its citi$ens. In reaction to this, dis3uiet at the imbalance of power in the relationship between !tate and people has been e"pressed in revulsion against the 7%anny !tate8.

he %eed for Change

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; he e"pression< 7drivers for change8 ;...< suggests that pressure to change is e"ternally imposed and is beyond anyone6s control. Choices remain to be made and it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that a correct balance is set between contrasting pressures. he Church has played a full and active role in the government6s consultation process and it is encouraging to note that some of our observations have been reflected in changes made to the original proposals. here are still issues that continue to cause concern, including ;...< the need to safeguard healthcare delivery in England against an unwarranted degree of privatisation or fragmentation. he Church has an obligation to warn of the dangers of a wrong balance.

An International @imension
-ur interest as the Church of England should, we argue, combine a deep-rooted concern for the health of the people of our nation, and a lively interest in the most effective mechanisms for delivering physical, mental and spiritual care across the land, combined with the determination to contribute as far as we are able to the health and flourishing of all 0od6s people. In this, we believe, we are following the e"ample and the mind of -ur 5ord.

!ocial care*, -ne of the documents you can find in this section, is 7-lder and @isabled 2eople %eed 9ore !upport8 of ?G'?. It is written by Hames %ewcome, the 1ishop of Carlisle, who supports a petition for a reform of the care system, so that everyone gets the care they need. he document was then published on the website of the Church of England. Again, we 3uote some parts of the document.
he social care system was set up to help ensure that no-one who couldn6t cope alone was left to struggle. 1ut years of underfunding of the social care system has, Age CK believes, left a system that is in crisis despite the best efforts of those who wor/ with older people, and as a result, the whole system fails many of those who need it. =amilies, neighbours and parishioners are providing increasingly intensive levels of social care support. 1ut the care they so lovingly given needs to be underpinned by a properly functioning, ade3uately funded system of social care. Church communities have a proud history of effecting social change both here and overseas and Age CK is hoping that parishioners will rally behind the cause of ma/ing the care system better to help those who are among the most vulnerable in our society.

The former archbisho% of Canterbur"- Rowan 2illiams

79

!ee H. %EWC-9E, #lder and Disabled People Need %ore *upport , http#>>www.churchofengland.org>ourviews>medical-ethics-health-social-care-policy>socialcare.asp"

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After having discussed the different lines of thought within the Church of England and having given some e"amples from official te"ts, we now move our attention to the theology and political ethics of 4owan Williams, who was the archbishop of Canterbury between ?GG?-?G'?, after having been elected bishop of 9onmouth in ',,' and archbishop of Wales in ',,,. :e is currently 9aster of 9agdalene College at the Cambridge Cniversity and is life peer in the :ouse of 5ords. We will only shortly discuss his theology, insofar as it is relevant for our actual point of interest# his boo/ 7=aith in the 2ublic !3uare8. he theology of 4owan Williams (G Central in WilliamsP political theology, is the meaning e"pressed through language, which he sees as follows#

@eath

4esurrection

1ecause we cannot ade3uately capture what we mean, in words, Williams compares this with the death of language. !till we have to try to e"press what we have to say. hrough our failure to do this, we search for new ways of e"pressing our views. his we can do best in community, because, while spea/ing with others, we say things we would otherwise not have thought of. his way, a shared meaning arises. It is certainly the case for laws, structures, governments,... hat is the reason why ongoing debates are essential. he reasoning as presented above, is compared by Williams, by the poet, or the artist. =ive elements are important in this regard# '. In art, poems for e"ample, one can never ca%ture its full meaning . !till the poet continues trying to use words as ade3uately as possible. ?. Another very important element is, of course, the creativit" of the poet. :e>she wants to create things, in an original way. Christians believe they, and the earth, are created by one and the same Creator. his has two very important conse3uences# a. he other is alread" seen and loved, before I have seen him>her. b. 1ecause the other is created and loved by the same Creator that created me, I have to love my neighbour and defend his>her rights as if the" were m" own. A. o be creative, the poet has a need of imagination, to go beyond the normal structures of this world. %evertheless, this world still matters. B. The artist starts from a %oint that is not controlled b" the %ublic realm0 his is also true for the Church, whose truth goes beyond the legislation of the state. 30 The %iece of art is not for him+4herselfa. =or it is seen and inter%reted b" others , which means that there is not one obEective truth. ranslated into politics, this means that we are in need of different communities. b. Although this piece of art remains the same, its meaning ma" thus evolve in time . It can even become a 7fuller8 more ade3uate meaning than was originally intended by the artist, and it has the potential of /eeping its relevance in time. herefore, we can spea/ about a creative re-engagement with the past, which remains relevant for the future. his is what Williams means by a living tradition of %ra"er.
80

he part only captures Williams theology insofar as it is relevant for a clear understanding of 7=aith in the 2ublic !3uare8. =or a more e"tended version with references, see Appendi" A.

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1ut what is true for language, is e3ually true for moral reasoning#
Where moral reasoning tries to evade the tragic dimension, where it posits any unambiguous good, it becomes an e"ercise in fantasy and a failure to accept that 0od6s grace is at wor/ in the real, damaged world of human e"perience('.

he best way to give e"pression to this form of live, Williams writes, is by adopting a contemplative life, for which three elements are essential# '. Its a man that nobod" &nows0 :e>she does not long for worldly prestige, and does not long to become an idol. herefore, he>she has no interest in becoming the obEect of prayer. -n the contrary, he>she lives in a radical dependence of 0od. ?. he monastic person lives in the worldl" cit", and thus among the children of 0od. 1ecause he>she lives in the city, he>she is confronted with the failure and sin of earthly structures. In other words# the mon/ has seen the demons of our world, but he>she has said 7no8. It is possible that he>she lives in the margins of society instead of the centre of the Church. his is what Williams means with the 7saint8. A. A final aspect that is of essential importance for the monastic life, is living in communion, whether it are the members of the abbey or the people living in the city. his, says Williams, is also true for theology, which should not be studied in private, dar/ offices, but in a community.
; <he solid reality of a really functioning Christian community is li/e that of a good marriage, in which mutual attention, giving and receiving, enEoyment and sacrifice are tightly woven together, as both reali$e that there is nothing good for one that is not good for both, nothing bad for one that is not bad for both, that fullness of life is necessarily a collaborative thing(?.

his may be interesting, but where to beginL Well, says Williams, let6s start with the $ucharist, for it6s there that the living community meets, and it6s there that people are inspired by the framewor/ that is repeated every wee/# whine, bread, and the cross . hese three words, capture everything we have been discussing till now. In them, we see the free gift of 0od, and we learn that life is not only about receiving, but giving is e3ually important. 2erhaps the most important thought in all the wor/s of 4owan Williams, is that orthodo!" is about common life, before common doctrine . It6s therefore that the Church 'ha%%ens(.What is the Church thanL It6s the place where Christ is visibly active in the world. We all /now e"amples where we saw the Church, and it wor/ed.=or Williams, this happened for e"ample at the 7Hubilee ?GGG8#
1ac/ in the millennium year, the IHubilee ?GGG6 campaign for debt relief reached a clima" with a huge demonstration in 1irmingham in the CK, where the economic power-bro/ers of the 0( countries had gathered. We had brought two coach loads from my diocese in !outh WalesK and, as I loo/ed at the e"traordinary variety of Christian groups on the streets M Catholic, 2entecostal, outrageously left-wing, and outrageously right-wing M I, li/e others, felt able to say, II have seen the Church and it wor/s.6!omething of a real hunger and thirst for Eustice in Christ6s name had drawn and held this unli/ely coalitionK its only agenda was to further what all believed was the call of 0od6s /ingdom, to resist what offended 0od6s Eustice(A.

-r in other words#

81 82

1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ?*. !bid+, p. 'G,. 83 !bid+, p. 'AG.

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-ur life and our death is with our neighbor. If we win our brother, we win 0od. If we cause our brother to stumble, we have sinned against Christ(B.

=aith in the 2ublic !3uare Introduction We cannot turn ourselves away from the tas/ of finding out how doctrine affects public life. :is boo/, 7=aith in the 2ublic !3uare8, in which Williams has collected some of his most important speeches, is not 7a compendium of political theology8, but 7a series of wor/ed e"amples of trying to find the connecting points between various public 3uestion and the fundamental beliefs about creation and salvation8, from which he hopes, 7Christians begin in thin/ing about anything at all8 (D. !till, there are some unifying threads running through them, which, says Williams, may be elements of a 7broader theory about faith and social order8. It is, he continues, not the loud, critici$ing voices, which form a problem, but the confusion between communities(). What is secularismL (* Williams points out, that it is very hard to spea/ about 7secularism8, because it is such a broad term. :e therefore ma/es use of two /inds of secularism. he first one is %rocedural secularism, which he defines as follows#
It is the principle according to which the state as such defines its role as one of overseeing a variety of communities of religious conviction and, where necessary, assisting them to /eep the peace together, without re3uiring any specific public confessional allegiance from its servants or guaranteeing any single community a legally favoured position against others ((.

the second one is %rogrammatic secularism, which is a paradigm#

In which any and every public manifestation of any particular religious allegiance is to be ironed out so that everyone may share a clear public loyalty to the state unclouded by private convictions, and any signs of such private convictions are rigorously banned from public space(,.

he latter has at least A negative conse3uences# '. Moral convictions, which may be the most important foundations for the opinion people e"press, are no longer allowed in the public debate. -ne can therefore no longer e"press why one has a certain opinion on public issues. When someone still wants to do this, he>she has to e"press his>her opinion in a far poorer language, because all religious and ideological elements that do not fit within the vision of the state, have to be ta/en out of his>her speech. -r, in other words# we do not /now any longer why people say, what they say. ?. 5undamental criticism for a real change, has become impossible, because all arguments that go beyond the state, are stuc/ in the private space, for arguments my not go beyond the tangible. he negotiation happen between visible agents. When they do not meet these standards, they have to translate their language, into a vocabulary, that is accessible for all. A. Public criticism on religions also becomes im%ossible . he conse3uence may be the creation of ghetto6s and religions that formulate their visions, isolated from the secular state. When a religion turns to fundamentalism, a criti3ue from the state or even the public debate, has become impossible, for it is a private, and thus personal matter.
84

!bid+, p. 'A. -riginally published in W. 1E%E@IC A, The *ayings o( the Desert 'athers, Kalama$oo, 9I, ',(B, p. A. 85 4. WI55IA9!, 'aith in the Public *2uare, 5ondon, ?G'?, p. ?. 86 !bid+, p. '-?. 87 !ee !bid+, p. '-??. 88 !bid+, p. ?. 89 !bid+, p. A.

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A way in which secularism has succeeded is in seculari$ing some religions.In this regard, religious commitment has, in the first place, to do with an acceptance of propositions that determine acceptable behaviour. 1y now it has become clear that secularism and seculari$ed religions come into confrontation over social power, for both want to replace each other6s certainties. !o, in its neat distillation, secularism is inseparable from functionalism. his functionalistic secularism will generate a social practice, which is dominated by managerial or instrumental considerations. he state that allows a procedural secularism, thin/s of itself as a 'communit" of communities(. his, one could call a more 7pluralist ideal8 of social life.When being honest to the com%le! societ", there will be challenge between the communities. It will be no surprise than, that the argument is an essential element for the democratic state, in which religion should be involved. heir sense of limitedness and dependency of human creatures, is liberating us from the myth that an absolute human control over the human destiny would be possible. 1ut what is the non-secular thanL 7what I am aware of, I am aware of as in significant dimensions not defined by my awareness8,G. he imaginative construction can be compared with art, which allows itself to be contemplated from other perspectives than those of the subEectivity of the artist. he world is therefore not reducible to an instrumental account, 7related to one agenda, one process of negotiation at one time8 ,'.

owards a positive or negative libertyL ,? An argument in favour of secularism, that is often heard, is that a 7secular society is one in which it is possible to have fair and open argument about how common life should be run because everyone argues on the same basis8 ,A. hus there should be something as %ublic reason. his is often accompanied by some version of the distinction between a negative and a positive liberty, as formulated by Isaiah 1erlin. A negative libert" is#
What you have in a society where government allows a ma"imal level of individual choice and does not see/ to prescribe moral priorities,B.

A %ositive libert" is#

he situation arising in a society where government sees itself as having a mission to promote one or another ideal of emancipation M as having a specific agenda,D.

A true liberal, says Williams, must be in favour of the negative liberty, for the 7positive liberty leads to ideological tyranny, to the closing-down of argument and the ironing-out of plurality8 ,). here is also a difference between the true interest of people, and what they claim to want. 1y now it has become clear that a policy of ma"imal individual choice will not do.=or Williams, liberty goes far beyond consumer choice. When we have identified sources of inEustice and formulated a language that allows us to thin/ about them, we are bound to be involved in the process of %ublic change. -therwise, one ma/es an active choice for stagnation. Williams summari$es his position on secularism and liberalism as follows#
It ;the distinction between programmatic and procedural secularism< is the distinction between the empty public s3uare of a merely instrumental liberalism, which allows ma"imal private licence,
90 91

!bid+, p. 'A. !bid+, p. 'B. 92 !ee !bid+, p. ?A-B(. 93 !bid+, p. ?A. 94 !bid+, p. ?A. 95 !bid+, p. ?A. 96 !bid+, p. ?A.

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and a crowded and argumentative public s3uare which ac/nowledges the authority of a legal mediator or bro/er whose Eob it is to balance and manage real difference. he empty public s3uare of programmatic secularism implies in effect that the almost value-free atmosphere of public neutrality and the public invisibility of specific commitments is enough to provide sustainable moral energy for a properly self-critical society. 1ut it is not at all self-evident that people can so readily detach their perspectives and policies in social or political discussion from fundamental convictions that are not allowed to be mentioned or manifested in public,*.

What Williams sees as an alternative situation, is one in which these convictions get a public hearing in debate. his is an approach which does not deny difference in society. o avoid that only the loudest voice is being heard, there must be a sharedrecognition of law , which determines the limits of freedoms. hese decisions can be lived with, because they remain open for argument, and can therefore be reformed. he state itself is 7a coalition of groups agreed on a legal structure8 ,(. Instead of being a pacific force, the state can be a violent system, when it wants to achieve social integration in a society with no shared ends. According to the state, each citi$en is an agent in need of integration. In order to secure the agreed boundaries between the interests of these agents, the state proposes a concordat. herefore the state assumes that it has a direct relation to its citi$ens. =rom this point of view, there is no room for mediation through communities. he state has to legali$e the rights of communities, but it has to ma/e sure that these communities are able to identify themselves with public processes and social institutions. his way, specific groups can play a positive role in the policy, before a legislation is finali$ed. his, on its turn, re3uires more developed representative institutions of consultation. he previous as/s for a different understanding of loyalty, in which the state consults and ac/nowledges communal identities, but at the same time accepts that she cannot deal with them as they concretely are. When the state fails to do this, it intensifies the impression that there is a competition between two comparable loyalties. According to Cavanaugh, the modern state generates a state+societ" com%le!, in which it defines what is culturally acceptable or dominant. In this regard, Cavanaugh writes that the public space of contemporary culture is not neutral or free in any meaningful sense. In the same regard, the Christian community must distinguish itself, by telling and enacting a narrative that differs from that of the modern state. his e"plains why lobbying cannot be the main activity of the Church in society. @espite the fact that the Church is not a simple rival of the secular state, it will, and must, raise 3uestions about how the secular state thin/s of social unity and loyalty.!till, this apparatus is essential in a law+governed societ", where different communities e"ist side by side, and whose members are more diverse and mobile than ever before. After all, a government has to /now who to address. What the state thus implicitly proposes, is a minimum level for %olitical virtue, moreover# 7the /eeping of the law as a form of ac/nowledging the basic claim of other agents to the same stability or security as you desire for yourself8 ,,.Even if the maEority vote determines what is lawful, it does not specify what is true. here is thus a need for a vantage point to discuss moral 3uestions. What we understand by democrac", says Williams, is a sort of political accountability, in which the government has to answer regularly and routinely to the will of the people. his way, it is possible to avoid that one interest group can gain an unchallenged power. Also important is that democracy should be more than a guarantee that maEorities have their way. In this regard, Williams uses the notion lawful democrac", by which he means#
democratic institutions that earn credibility not Eust by corresponding to 7popular will8 but by placing themselves under law'GG.

he active pluralism'G'

97 98

!bid+, p. ?*. !bid+, p. A'. 99 !bid+, p. B). 100 !bid+, p. B,. 101 !ee !bid+, p. B,-*B.

~ 20 ~

!o the law actually creates conditions, which enable communities to pursue what they see as good, in a comple" social environment. It defends the good of the groups within, but also against destabili$ing from outside. his is what Williams means with %luralism as it should be. %evertheless, in the actual understanding of pluralism, the single sovereign power of the state6s law comes first. 1y now, it has become clear, that an important tas/ of assuring certain general social conditions of stability, by addressing the agenda, which no community can, and has the right, to manage. his is something 3uite different than delegating downwards. It6s thus about dealing with things at the appropriate level, and ac/nowledging that no single national Eurisdiction can manage. his could be a version of the principle of subsidiarit", e"cept that Williams6 views differ from a delegation downwards.9aybe the metaphor used by Hohn the @warf, captures Williams6 theology even better#
7.ou don6t built a house by starting with the roof and wor/ing down. .ou start with the foundation.8 hey said, 7What does that meanL8 :e said, 7 he foundation is our neighbor whom we must win. he neighbor is where we start. Every commandment of Christ depends on this8'G?.

he moral interest of the state is twofold# 7An interest in securing the liberty of groups to pursue their own social goods, and an interest in building in to its own processes a set of cautions and defences against absolutism8 'GA. he state can facilitate co-operation between groups by its own partnership and sponsorship. Williams concludes adds that, for the Christian tradition, only the 1ody of Christ can claim a divine authority. 1asic to all these elements is the belief in the human capacity for self+creation. he scepticism, in which nothing, not even the self, was secure, came in. his e"plains the success of the novel, which actually tells about how selves are shaped. his allowed people to discover different 7roles8 in society and the conse3uences of non-conformity. hey could read or hear the diagnoses of the ills of society and the recipes for its transformation. he novel even moved its focus from the goal to the search. Williams describes the purely postmodern climate as 7a world of imitation, endless self+ reflection which doesn6t do much to ta/e forward the creative proEect8 'GB. In such a world, it is tempting to loo/ for convictions, that give us absolute certainties, and thus liberate us from our uncertainties. If this is true, all the 3uestions have been answered, and the idea of culture is death. hings that are innovative or 3uestioning are than resisted. Williams concludes#
;I<f this spirit ;of Christianity< is to be critical, a means of proper 9udgement, it can6t be endlessly suspicious, it can6t settle with the notion that there is nothing to trust anywhere. Christian faith tells us that, because 0od is to be trusted, we can be very bold indeed about the degree of scepticism we give to what is less than 0od. In the conte"t of faith, this is the Iunbearable lightness6 that is given to us in relation to the systems and e"pectations of the world around, the irony that is still compatible with love and commitment in 0od6s name 'GD.

Political liberalism, writes Williams, is 7the idea that political li(e can and should be a realm o( creative engagement8'G). It is not Eust about individual liberties or democratic rights, but it ac/nowledges that loyalty to the state and religious belonging are not the same thing. he Church defines itself as a community, that locates itself alongside, but also in a different order than the political society. %evertheless it is no empire on the same level as the worldly empires. herefore, its citi$ens do not have to live in rivalry to the e"isting systems. he Christian community spea/s of alternative citi/enshi%. he role of the church is to harmoni$e and regulate the social variety to some degree. his e"plains the importance of an interactive %luralism, which is about allowing distinct styles and

102

4. WI55IA9!, Where 3od )appens, p. 'D. -riginally published in W. 1E%E@IC Desert 'athers, p. ,A. 103 !bid+, p. D(. 104 !bid+, p. *?. 105 !bid+, p. *A. 106 !bid+, p. *(.

A,

The *ayings o( the

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convictions to challenge each other, but by assuring that they, in the first place, had the freedom to be themselves. he enEoyment of the real'G* Williams e"plains the reEection of religion through the loosing of mono%ol". It is clear by now, that people choose their identity, and this is the result of economically developed societies, who shift away from a controlling narrative, which tells about shared goals and meanings. raditional styles of religious commitment had not so much to do with resolving lines of thought, but is about creating environments where people are supplied with possible roles within a comprehensive narrative. Religious freedom is, in this conte"t, 7the liberty to embody an obEective truth8'G(. Another important element of religion is responsibility, for it has to do with being called to answer for and to other agents. here is also a need for a starting point and motivation for radical challenge and possible change. What the religious distinguishes from the spiritual, is especially an inter%ersonal imager". 7 o discover who I am I need to discover the relation in which I stand to an active, prior -ther, to transcendent creator8'G,. his creative imagination is also greatly e"pressed by the mystical writers, moreover 7an awareness that the policy of living in faith and worship constantly opens upon a landscape still to be e"plored, resisting mastery and mapping, yet also authoritative in its distance from what the individual or collective human will produces8 ''G. -ne could describe this as the en.o"ment of the real. Williams concludes about religion#
In short, as religion M corporate, sacramental and ultimately doctrinal religion M settles into this /ind of awareness, it becomes one of the most potent allies possible for genuine pluralism# that is, for a social and political culture that is consistently against coercion and institutionali$ed ine3uality, and is committed to serious public debate about common good '''.

The current archbisho% of Canterbur"- *ustin 2elb" o become an Anglican priest, Hustin Welby turned his bac/ on a successful career in the oil industry in ',(,. In ',(A his seven-month-old daughter, Hohanna, died in a car crash. Although it was a dar/ time for the family of Welby, it brought them closer to 0od. :e is considered to be on the Anglo-Evangelical side. -ne of his many functions was that of co-director for international ministry at the International Centre for 4econciliation, in which he came, in a number of occasions, close to being /illed. In %ovember ?G'', he became bishop of @urham, and in Hanuary ?G'A Welby was elected as Archbishop of Canterbury. :e is also a member of the parliamentary commission on ban/ing standards and has written on business ethics. Instead of discussing these wor/s, we will turn our attention to his public interventions as archbishop. hat this is worth mentioning, is somehow proven at the moment that Welby compared the reports of the Cypriot financial crisis to some accounts of the crucifi"ion of Hesus''?. At the 'Gth of 9arch, even before his enthronement, Welby condemned the governments benefit changes, for she has the duty to protect people who are vulnerable and in need. his whas not an isolated voice, since BA bishops wrote a letter in the same regard, which was supported by the archbishop of .or/, Hohn !entamu. What Welby thin/s of public systems, becomes a bit clearer when he says that# 7 hese changes will mean it is children and families who will pay the price of high inflation, rather than the government8. he reason for this intervention of bishops, is to press for a vote on an amendment, which could result in a defeat for ministers. hat this intervention of the
107 108

!ee !bid+, p. *D-,). !bid+, p. (,. 109 !bid+, p. ,'. 110 !bid+, p. ,'-,?. 111 !bid+, p. ,D-,). 112 !. H-%E!, Archbishop Justin Welby Warns Against Trusting 'allible Leaders , in The 3uardian, A' 9arch ?G'A.

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Archbishop is not meaningless, is shown by the reaction of the president of the 5iberal @emocrats, im =arron, who describes this intervention as 7an immensely helpful one in strengthening ;its< hand to fight for a fairer deal8. he priority of this archbishop will be tac/ling poverty ''A. Already in his first !ermon, Welby made very clear what the priorities of the Church should be. he Church Welby has in mind, is certainly no Church that Eust gets on with its own business. =or a society without Hesus at its centre, is a deficient society, and it is the tas/ of the Church to place Hesus there. About such interventions in the public sphere, he said#
!laves were freed, =actory Acts passed, and the %:! and social care established through Christliberated courage. he present challenges of environment and economy, of human development and global poverty, can only be faced with e"traordinary courage. ;...< A Christ-heeding life changes the church and a Christ-heeding church changes the world''B. .et at the same time the church transforms society when it ta/es the ris/s of renewal in prayer, of reconciliation and of confident declaration of the good news of Hesus Christ. In England alone the churches together run innumerable food ban/s, shelter the homeless, educate a million children, offer debt counselling, comfort the bereaved, and far, far more. All this comes from heeding the call of Hesus Christ. Internationally, churches run refugee camps, mediate civil wars, organise elections, set up hospitals. All of it happens because of heeding the call to go to Hesus through the storms and across the waves''D.

When we /eep Hesus at the centre of the Church6s life, this inevitably results in a desire to see the world changed. he Church itself, is a community of individuals, who are united in their love for Christ. hey wish to share what they have received from 0od and challenge inEustice ''). In his first Easter sermon, Welby said that it is simplistic and wrong to pin hope on politicians or priests, because they are frail and fallible human leaders. he reason why this is a mista/e, has to do with the human sin. As a conse3uence it6s naQve to assume that an organi$ation can have such good systems, that human failure will be eliminated. -nly by trusting in 0od6s power, can we escape cynical despair and fear. %evertheless, also Christian leaders have not always listened to 0od, when they were confronted with fearful conse3uences of change ''*. :owever, one of the archbishop6s most significant politic interventions happened the ?Ath of April, when he called for an introduction of regional ban/s, as one of the maEor steps to get 1ritain out of the economic depression, hereby bac/ing an idea, put forward by Ed 9iliband, the leader of the 5abour party and the opposition. :e said this in a discussion, which was organi$ed by the 1ible !ociety. Welby argues that the problems we are facing today, were created when ban/s became distant from the communities they served''(.

Conclusion- 2hat role has the Church of $ngland to %la" in the contem%orar" societ"6

113

. 4EI@, Archbishop o( Canterbury Condemns /ene(it Changes, 'G 9arch ?G'A, http#>>www.bbc.co.u/>news>u/-?'*A'B(( 114 0. !C- , Justin Welby, A Church Con(ident in Christ will Trans(orm the World , ?? 9arch ?G'A, http#>>godandpoliticsu/.org>?G'A>GA>??>Eustin-welby-a-church-confident-in-christ-will-transform-the-world> 115 !bid+ 116 !bid+ 117 !. H-%E!, Archbishop Justin Welby Warns Against Trusting 'allible Leaders. 118 1. RCI%%, Archbishop o( Canterbury Calls (or !ntroduction o( 0egional /an-s , in The 3uardian, ?A April ?G'A.

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9ore and more voices are heard these days, who have 3uestions with the presence of an established church in the CK. While the previous, 5abour prime minister, 0ordon 1rown, wanted to create cardinal-emeritus, Cormac 9urphy--PConnor, 5ife 2eer in the :ouse of 5ordsK the Conservative prime minister @avid Cameron suggested the possibility of 4oman Catholic bishops becoming 5ords !piritual. he 5iberal @emocrats were in favour of different religions being represented in the :ouse of 5ords. !till others wish to /eep religions out of parliament. he results of these discussions where the following# cardinal 9urphy--PConnor refused 1rown6s offer, the only 4oman Catholic bishop, who showed real interest in the offer of Cameron was the archbishop of Westminster, Sincent %ichols, who was held bac/ by the then pope 1enedict TSIK and the reform of the :ouse of 5ords was outvoted by parliament. !till the discussion on the role of the Church of England within politics, remains intriguing. We therefore share our thoughts on this issue# '. Appointing bishops-emeriti can happen in the conte"t of normal 1ritish politics, where people with an e"ceptional merit or intellectual s/ills can get a seat in the :ouse of 5ords. When it has to do with getting 4oman Catholics in the :ouse of 5ords, it is one of the least desirable options. When Anglican bishops ta/e seat as 5ord !piritual and Catholics as 5ord emporal, the devision still e"ists. %evertheless, it resolves one difference between them# both Anglican as well as Catholic former archbishops can become life peers, and thus, 5ord emporal. !till the real issue is not yet resolved. ?. Creating both Anglican and 4oman Catholic bishops 5ord !piritual, actually creates two established churches in one country. his creates three further problems# a. What about other Christians &li/e the reformed church+ or other religions. In other words# ine3uality still e"ists, it has Eust changed. b. According to Canon 5aw &canon ?(DUA+, Catholic priests are not allowed to ta/e seat in parliament, and while the Anglican heads are the 1ritish 3ueen and archbishop of Canterbury, the Catholics serve a pope who doesn6t live in the CK and is thus an e"ternal force. his can create problems in parliament, where laws for a country are being voted. c. !ince the Catholic archbishop of Westminster supports the Conservatives and the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury supports 5abour, relations between both Christian communities can become more complicated. here would be a real ris/ for focussing on political conflicts instead of the Kingdom of 0od. In other words# in their discussions, Anglicans and 4oman Catholics could be more determined by their political preferences than by faith. A. Allowing more religions as 5ords !piritual, creates the 3uestion where to stop. here will always be religions who are not included. In that case it is worse when some are held bac/, than when one is privileged. B. :aving no religions at all in the :ouse of 5ords allows even more space for secularisation. We may not forget that than/s to the presence of Anglican priests and bishops in both parliaments, religious wisdom drops into politics. =urther the bishops can, and do, defend the rights of the other religions. In this regard they are a voice for religious people, but also for the poor. In conclusion to this point we are principally against the presence of bishops in parliament. !ince this can create serious problems, we would not advice countries to include them into that parliament. %evertheless, since the Anglican tradition is already hundreds of years closely woven with 1ritish politics, and above all because it wor/s, we would argue to ma/e an assumption here. he 4oman Catholic tradition, with its centre in 4ome, wor/s different. -ur answer would thus, in both cases, be a conservative one# respect both traditions. he real advantage for both, when entering in a fruitful ecumenical dialogue is this# while Anglicans can defend the rights of 4oman Catholics in parliament, the strongly independent 4oman Catholics can be very critical, and even protest, against unEust governmental decisions. his, of course, does absolutely not e"clude a fruitful dialogue between Catholics, whether they are bishops, priests or laity, with 92s. With regard to the radical orthodo"y, we discern three problems#

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'. -ften the two-city theory of !aint-Augustine is copied into our time, ta/ing note little of the changed conte"t. %o arguments are needed to see that the 4oman, imperial conte"t, was very different from the contemporary 1ritish society. herefore one can use the following model# Church =athers Ancient society F medieval authors F contemporary authors medieval society contemporary society

?. According to the Christian tradition, the Kingdom of 0od is not yet fully, but partly realised. We find ourselves in a time between yet and not yet. When emphasi$ing on the sinfulness and violent character of the secular society, it does not pay enough attention on what is realised. A. It creates too high e"pectations towards the leaders of Christian communities. When they behave sinful, this has severe conse3uences for the credibility of communities, who have to show an e"ample. In other words# the e"pectations of human leaders becomes unrealistically high. We therefore prefer the political theology, which seems to ac/nowledge the good realisations of society, and wants to engage to ma/e the structures more Eust. %evertheless, there are still ris/s, when !pencer and Chaplin write that Christians can be involved in the whole spectrum of mainstream political parties. While we agree on the idea that the 1ible does not deliver clear answers on contemporary problems, a line of thought needs to be searched. -ur specific 3uestion is this# can people be involved with the Conservatives, 5abour, 5iberal @emocrats and CKI2 on the basis of the same truthL :ow can two contradicting parties be both right in a 1iblical perspectiveL Although we ac/nowledge that Chaplin and !pencer would nuance this and are in fact searching for the direction which the 1ible suggests, the problem is a realistic one. =or e"ample# because the cigarette was not yet invinted in the time of Hesus, :e never spo/e of it. While 5abour is against smo/ing in pubs, CKI2 is in favour. %ow, when Christians are involved in both parties, who6s rightL In this regard, the attitude of archbishop Welby is an healthy one# not forcing Christians to loo/ in one direction, but trying to convince them by argument. :e also does not continually support one party, but gives reasons to support a specific perspective. he te"ts of the Church of England itself, seem to follow the same direction# they warn the government for the ris/s of certain policies and write down their own, Christian vision, but without condemning Anglicans who are member of these parties. -ne who has found the middle ground, is 4owan Williams. :e argues that religious communities should have the right to govern their own structures, and should be motivated for active discussions in the public sphere. !till it is up to the government to create laws, in a democratic way, to protect the people and prevent groups from harming each other6s rights. !till, these groups are also responsible for each other. herefore the state has the duty to create laws to protect its citi$ens, but she doesn6t have to regulate everything. In the same regard, we, as persons, are determined by different groups. We can, for e"ample, be member of the Church of England, the Conservative 2arty and the =ire 1rigades Cnion. All these communities while determine our identity, while we may partly determine the direction of these three groups. hat is another very good reason for discussing by argument what the 7right8 position is, instead of condemning specific people.

Appendi" A ~ 25 ~

Noverim %e Noverim Te he heology of 4owan Williams Introduction 9any people consider it difficult to read the theology of 4owan Williams, and even he himself admits that his words can be 7constipated and abstract8 '',. %evertheless, for Williams, this difficulty is not a problem at all, for reality is comple", and therefore he is wor/ing with something which 7does not instantly and effortlessly ma/e sense8 '?G. According to 9i/e :igton, one 3uestion runs as a red thread through Williams6 wor/s#
;A<ll of it, that is, tries to proclaim the good news of 0od6s utterly gracious, utterly gratuitous love, and raises the 3uestion of what difference that love ma/es to us. And that simple message is the most difficult one we can ever hear, in a rather different sense of Idifficult6# it is difficult, not because it will demand our most painsta/ing intellectual s/ills but because it will demand everything515.

:igton also writes that Williams often follows unpredictable paths, in response to particular situations, under particular conditions. :e also tends to thin/ that the only truly honest and useful theology happens through practical engagements, which ma/e a connection with specific lives of people. In some way, Williams6 theological boo/s can be seen as a preparation, instead of a fi"ed theory'??. =urther, Williams holds the opinion that Christ is universally available, and 7the truth of the gospel can be refracted through all the disparate fragments of human e"perience and tradition8 '?A. About Williams6 theology, 9yers writes#
heology, in his ;Williams6< view, is not a private table for one but a rowdy ban3uet of those who gather, famished and thirsty, around Christ. he lonely wor/ of reading and writing is not yet theology but only its preparation. heology happens wherever we are drawn together into the congenial and annoying labour of conversing, listening, and disputing M in short, where we are drawn into a collective struggle for truthful speech. he aim of Williams6 writing is to provo/e us into such a struggle, to remind us that truth is not something possessed by any one of us but a promise and a proEect for which we have to ta/e responsibility together'?B.

his is why he /eeps doctrine and social criti3ue together '?D. Also very stri/ing, is his response to a )-year-old girl who had sent a letter to 0od, as/ing 7:ow did you get inventedL8. :er nonbelieving father sent the letter to Williams, who answered as follows#
@ear 5ulu,

119

9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , 5ondon, ?GGB, p. A. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, -"ford, ?GGG, p. ?*G. 120 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. A. -riginally published in . WI55IA9!, Arius, )eresy and Tradition, 5ondon, ',(*, ??GG', p. ?A). 121 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. D. 122 !bid+, p. )-*. 123 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, 5ondon, %ew .or/, %., ?G'?, p. "i. 124 !bid+, p. "i-"ii. Italics included by the author of this thesis. 125 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , An #utline" criti2ue" and consideration o( its conse2uences &5atimer !tudies, DD+, 5ondon, ?GG?, ??GGA, p. A. his becomes particularly clear in 75ost Icons8, which we will, more often refer to in the chapter on Williams6 political reasoning.

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.our dad has sent on your letter and as/ed if I have any answers. It6s a difficult oneV 1ut I thin/ 0od might reply a bit li/e this M I@ear 5ulu M %obody invented me M but lots of people discovered me and were 3uite surprised. hey discovered me when they loo/ed round at the world and thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it came from. hey discovered me when they were very very 3uiet on their own and felt a sort of peace and love they hadn6t e"pected. hen they invented ideas about me M some of them sensible and some of them not very sensible. =rom time to time I sent some hints M specially in the life of Hesus M to help them get closer to what I6m really li/e. 1ut there was nothing and nobody around before me to invent me. 4ather li/e somebody who writes a story in a boo/, I started ma/ing up the story of the world and eventually invented human beings li/e you who could as/ me aw/ward 3uestionsV6 And then he6d send you lots of love and sign off. I /now he doesn6t usually write letters, so I have to do the best I can on his behalf. 5ots of love from me too. W Archbishop 4owan'?)

his letter fits perfectly in the way Williams thin/s about theology, moreover that 7human e"perience and everyday language can become windows into 0od6s activity8 '?*. he parado" of Williams6 wor/ is that 0od is near and hard to grasp. Williams himself compares doing theology with 7the noise of someone falling over things in the dar/8 '?(, for this 0od, 7who rearranges the furniture of our lives8'?,, 7enters into a world of confusion and ambiguity, and wor/s in contradictions8 'AG. In this regard, Williams uses the e"ample of the child, whereby 0od spea/s through the crying of the child, which is disturbing, interrupting and uncontrollable 'A'. Even 0od6s self-communication was not a unilateral declaration, but happened through the ambiguity of death and resurrection 'A?. =inally, the %icene Creed runs as a red thread through Williams6 theology. -ne could even argue that his theological reflection is actually a commentary on this Creed. It is, therefore, impossible to understand Williams6 views without /eeping the %icene Creed in the bac/ of our mind. It is not strange then, to begin our actual study with the Creed#
I believe in one 0od the =ather almighty, ma/er of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible# And in one 5ord Hesus Christ, the only-begotten !on of 0od, begotten of his =ather before all worlds, 0od of 0od, 5ight of 5ight, very 0od of very 0od, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the =ather, by whom all things were madeK
126

!bid+, p. A. -riginally published in @. :-92!-%, A *i$-:ear-#ld 3irl Writes a Letter to 3od+ And the Archbiship o( Canterbury Answers, he helegraph, ?G''. 127 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. B. 128 !bid+, p. D. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Telling the Christmas *tory Li-e !t !s, he 0uardian, ?GGG. 129 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. D. 130 !bid+, p. D. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, The Wound o( ;nowledge, *pirituality (rom the New Testament to *t+ John o( the Cross, 5ondon, ',*,, ?',,G, p. 'B. 131 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. DG-D'. 132 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. A-D.

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who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the :oly 0host of the Sirgin 9ary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under 2ontius 2ilate. :e suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the !criptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the =ather. And he shall come again with glory to Eudge both the 3uic/ and the dead# whose /ingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the :oly 0host, the 5ord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the =ather and the !on, who with the =ather and the !on together is worshipped and glorified, who spa/e by the prophets. And I believe one catholic and apostolic Church. I ac/nowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And I loo/ for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen'AA.

Important here is that 7Hesus begins to be as a human being because of this meeting of 0od6s free grace and 9ary6s grace-filled human readiness and openness8 'AB. he essence for Williams6 theology and political thin/ing becomes already very clear, when he mentions that#
-nly three human individuals are mentioned in the Creed, Hesus, 9ary and 2ontius 2ilate# that is HesusK the one who says Iyes6 to himK and the one who says Ino6 to him. .ou could say that those three names map out the territory in which we all live. hrough our lives, we swing towards one people or the other, towards a deeper Iyes6 or towards a deeper Ino6. And in the middle of it all stands the one who ma/es sense of it all. Hesus M the one into whose life we must all try to grow, who can wor/ with our Iyes6 and can even overcome our Ino6'AD.

We will not follow a specific timeline in accordance to the se3uence in which Williams6 ideas came into being. In the light of the main aim of this contribution, we will set out some main themes, which we consider to be important for his political way of thin/ing and ordered these in a logical order, which can be obEect of discussion, for, in Williams6 mind, there are always strong connections between different areas. herefore 7you are seldom sa(e when reading Williams6 wor/. ;N< Williams6 wor/ is constantly crossing boundaries, in the confidence that the 0ospel has crossed them before him8'A). %evertheless, we must admit that during the years a shift has ta/en place in the views of 4owan Williams, which is not surprising, since he himself admits that every theory comes being through conversations with the community and is tested by this very same community. he change is this# while Williams began his studies with strongly emphasi$ing the un/nowability of 0od in 7 he
133

!ometimes Williams uses the Apostles Creed, but most of the time he seems to prefer the %icene one. he translation he uses is that of 7 he 1oo/ of Common 2rayer Communion !ervice8 of '))?. !ee 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. "ii-"iii. 134 !bid+, p. *). 135 !bid+, p. *). 136 !bid+, p. ,-'G.

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Wound of Knowledge8 &',*,+, 7-pen to Hudgement8 &',,B+, 7-n Christian heology8 &?GGG+, 7Arius8 &?GG'+ and 74esurrection8 &?GG?+K he later on began creating an opening to say something about 0od in the contemplative life. he first time this was clearly hinted, was in 7Where 0od :appens8 &?GGD+. Williams later on continued to mention the importance of contemplative life for /nowing something of 0od in the last chapter of 7 o/ens of rust8 &?G''+ and his letter to 5ullu &?G''+. It was, finally, e"tensively discussed in 7A !ilent Action8 &late ?G''+. We therefore may conclude that his e"periences as Archbishop of Canterbury have fruitfully contributed, nut only to his social and political views, but also on his theological position. The %riorit" of life over ideas =or Williams, there is a clear priority of life over ideas, which will become more clear throughout this study. 9yers also writes correctly that Williams 7is best understood not as an Anglican with an interest in -rthodo"y but as essentially I-rthodo" in an Anglican form68 'A*. :e is especially interested in Sladimir 5oss/y6s negative or 7apophatic8 theology, who claims that spea/ing of 0od means saying what :e is not'A(. Williams himself writes that 7;f<aith is always, not only in this life, a longing and trust directed away from itself towards an obEect to which it will never be ade3uate, which it will never comprehend. 0od is what we have not yet understood, the sign of a strange and unpredictable future8'A,. =or Williams this is not a conceptual game, but a process of transformation of the self, 7whereby we are drawn outside ourselves into the presence of someone who is different8 'BG. his is what happened to the first Christians when they were addressed by Hesus. :e gave :is life for the sa/e of others, stepping beyond all boundaries 'B'. 5oss/y himself describes the trinity as 7a cross for human ways of thought8'B?. 7In the trinity, there is no self-interest, no Iindividual will6, but only an enormous movement of painful, ecstatic self-renunciation. his self-renouncing pattern of life is the root of all personal being8'BA, for the image of 0od is not to be found inside the self, but outside. It is by attaching ourselves to the interests of others, instead of our own, that we begin to reflect 0od. his reasoning implies that personhood is only /nown apophatically, because we can never determine what a person is, 7since the Ipersonal6 element is e"actly what remains most dar/ and un/nowable in another8 'BB. In other words# humans reflect 0od6s un/nowability'BD. 9yers continues# 79ystery is not the opposite of /nowingK it is the e"act content of what we /now about others8 'B), or#
;W<hen 0od6s light brea/s on my dar/ness, the first thing I /now is that I don.t /now M and never did. ;N< Christ6s is the /ingship of a riddler, the one who ma/es us strangers to what we thin/ we /now'B*.

137 138

!bid+, p. '). !ee also 4. !:-4 , 0owan.s 0ule, The /iography o( the Archbishop, 5ondon, ?GG(. 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ')-'*. !ee also 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. B(-B,. 139 !bid+, p. B,. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, The Wound o( ;nowledge, p. D(. 140 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. '*. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, Loss-y, the ia Negativa and the 'oundations o( Theology, in 9. :I0 -% &ed.+, Wrestling with Angels, 0rand 4apids, 9I, ?GG*, p. ?. 141 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ?'-??. 142 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. '*. -riginally published in S. 5-!!K., The %ystical Theology o( the ,astern Church, Cambridge, ',D*, p. )). 143 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. '*. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, Loss-y, p. 'B-'D. 144 !bid+, p. '(. 145 !bid+, p. '*-'(. About not owning the message of the 0ospel, see 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ?G-?'. 146 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. '(. 147 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. *. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, 5ondon, ',,B, p. '?G.'A'.

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his denial of /nowledge is also presence in Williams view on the trinity, which teaches us that certainties must be given away as 0od gives himself away in this rinitarian relationship 'B(. In his own reasoning, Williams intertwines Wittgenstein with 5oss/y6s theology of the human person# 7!ocial life ;N< is not about collapsing differences or engineering an artificial unity. Instead differences should be accentuated as sharply as possible, so that what you e"perience in another person is not fantasy, not another deceptive proEection of yourself, but the real intractable mystery of another self. .ou can never be done with another person, since every advance in /nowing is an opening on to greater mystery. ;N< It is in the most intimate pro"imity to others that we are most painfully aware of their difference. ;N< Cnderstanding another person ;N< is ;N< a continuing labour8 'B,. -r in Williams6 words#
IWe must long to learn the secret of our own nothingness &not 0od6s secret first of all, but our own secret+. 1ut 0od alone can show us our own secret6. If every person6s identity is hidden in 0od, every person6s bound to see/ it through that perilous e"posure to 0od in solitude which is the basis of contemplation. Contemplation is not a religious e"ercise but an ontological necessity in the intense personalism of Christian faith, the encounter of the human person with the @ivine Council of 2ersons'DG.

The moral %riorit" of traged" According to Williams, the entire se3uence of history is empty and trivial, but, parado"ically, the incarnation becomes a vehicle of divine meaning. In this human life, 0od willingly endures the emptiness of history. In his preaching on Eliot, Williams states that we can only ma/e room for the wor/ of love and communion by abandoning our self-centered fantasies 'D'. In other words# by addressing us by the cross, 0od shatters al our images and idols 'D?. =ar more important for our faith than the idols of our society, is the man that nobody /nows#
Christian belief finds the ground of truth in the silence of Christ, in the story of a man so Ipoor6 that, at the end of his days, he preaches no word, no idea, but suffers only, ta/es the world to himself by resisting nothing of it, by e"ercising none of the self6s habitual violence, and whose life is thus transparent without 3ualification to the shape of reality. A man nobody /nows'DA.

As a metaphor, Williams, prefers the poet, which, at first, is disillusioned because of the failure of language to be transparent to reality, but, in complete honesty, endures the failure in order to continue spea/ing'DB. his way, poets discover ways of e"pressing themselves that goes beyond the normal limits of language'DD. Williams e"plicitly e"presses the 7hope that one effect of Christian

148 149

0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. )-*. !bid+, p. '(. 150 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, ,ngagements with Thomas %erton, 5ouisville, K., ?G'', p. AG-A'. !ee also# . 9E4 -%, A *ecular Journal, %ew .or/, %., ',D,, p. ,(. 151 !bid+, p. ?A-?D. !ee also 1. 4AHA%, The &nity o( the <uartets, in 1. 4AHA% &ed.+, T+*+ ,liot, A *tudy o( )is Writings by *everal )ands, 5ondon, ',B*, p. ().,D. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, La=arus, !n %emory o( T+*+ ,liot, in 4. WI55IA9! &ed.+, A 0ay o( Dar-ness, *ermons and 0e(lections, Cambridge, ',,B. 152 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. D'. !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. 'GK !D+, The Wound o( ;nowledge, p. 'B,. 153 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. '(. 154 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ?)-?*. 155 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. *(-*,. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, What is Catholic #rthodo$y>, in 4. WI55IA9!O K. 5EEC: &eds.+, ,ssays Catholic and 0adical, A Jubilee 3roup *ymposium (or the 57?th Anniversary o( the /eginning o( the #$(ord %ovement 56@@-5A6@, 5ondon, ',(A, p. ''-?D &especially p. '?.'*+.

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believing is always seeing the world in a new way M seeing beyond the surface without letting go of what6s actually there on the surface &which still matters immensely+8 'D). here are no private or individual meanings, but only the shared meanings that we e"change with others. It is this what 9yers calls an ethical version of negative theology. 9oral agency is only possible when we recogni$e the tragic limitations of our actions, but nevertheless resolve these limitations to ma/e it possible to act. According to Williams, we have to act against the grain of the world and what is humanly possible, instead of embedding moral norms obEectively into the world, li/e natural law ethics does'D*. =or theologians is hard to spea/ in terms of positive definitions. @efining oneself can happen more clearly by negations. his is, li/e we already stated, also true for poetry. According to Williams there are four things that poetry is not# &'+ poetry is no magic, &?+ it is not about being useful, &A+ poetry is against a focus on the artist in instead of the wor/, and &B+ poetry is against the self and its awareness that brings forward the idea that we have indefinite choices 'D(. 1y now it becomes clear why Williams prefers the artist# the perception of art is always incomplete. hese wor/s constantly evo/e more response. It is, in other words, the response, and not a definition of the effects, that becomes a datum for the mind 'D,. =ollowing @ouglas 4. :ofstadter, Williams writes#
I; <he self-awareness comes from the system6s intricately intertwined responses to both internal and e"ternal stimuli6. And this presupposes a difference between a signal M which triggers a reaction but has no meaning in itself M and a symbol, which is already a comple" bundle of interrelated elements, a meaningful reality. A symbol is intrinsically bound up with the relation of things sensed and lodged in the subEect, it is part of a system of seeing or absorbing what is thereK and so it necessarily generates further symbolic connections, not merely a repeatable, generali$ed response. 9ental activity instantly combines M complicates M signals into symbolsK recognition is never simply of an isolated stimulus M or perhaps we should say that recognition at such a level is so deeply buried in the process of the mind that it cannot even be intelligibly described ')G.

About the artist he writes# 7 o spea/ of art as having Idimension6 in this way is to say that the artist is always concerned with things as they are in relation to something more and other than the artist. his holds true at both ends8')'. 9yers describes the social conse3uences of this view#
9oral reasoning does not show us the right way to actK it only e"poses the claustrophobic limits of our capacities. here is no unambiguously good act, no act that escapes the web of tragic relations in which our lives are enmeshed. Where moral reasoning tries to evade the tragic dimension, where it posits any unambiguous good, it becomes an e"ercise in fantasy and a failure to accept that 0od6s grace is at wor/ in the real, damaged world of human e"perience ')?.

Williams thus holds the opinion that 0od is at wor/ where he is most hidden. When the world reEects :im, :e is most committed. As a conse3uence, ethics includes endurance, disappointment and

156 157

4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. i". 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ?)-?*. 9yers writes the following about the poet# 7poets e"pand our human capacities by e"posing us to the sheer obEectivity of language, the way it enables human community while resisting human mastery and control8 &p. ?)+. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, Poetic and 0eligious !magination, in Theology (G &',**+, p. '*(-'(*. 158 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. BG-B*. 159 4. WI55IA9!, 3race and Necessity, 0e(lections on Art and Love, 5ondon, ?GGD, B?G'G, p. 'AD. 160 !bid+, p. 'A)-'A*. !ee also# @.4. :-=! A@ E4O @.C. @E%%E &eds.+, The %ind.s ,ye, 'antasies and 0e(lections on *el( and *oul, 5ondon, ',(', p. '*)-'*(.?GG. 161 4. WI55IA9!, 3race and Necessity, p. 'B,. 162 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ?*.

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recommitment')A. And still we can /now something about 0od# 7If Hesus is translucent to 0od in all he does and is, if he is empty so as to pour out the riches of 0od, if he is the well-spring of life and grace, what thenL :e is 0od, in infancy, in death, in eating and drin/ing, in healing and preaching N his is the 5ord, 0od in flesh, 0od made /nown in history, 0od fearing, struggling and sufferingK the only 0od we /now or can /now, the glory of 0od in the face of Christ, love and healing in human hands and eyes M how else could we grasp it8 ')BL he difficulty with Hesus is, that, as a human being, :is power and /nowledge was finite, and :e :imself was confined to one time and place. In this way :e was not only involved with, but also dependent of others. And yet, :e is 0od. herefore we are obliged to ta/e Hesus whole life into account, as the Word of 0od. Although Hesus lived in a particular time and place, :e transcends these borders by his resurrection. !o, on the one hand, :e loved people in particular ways, in which :e met them in their need, deceit and failure and has set them on solid ground, living :is love towards them in a particular relationship in concrete encounters. -n the other hand, the resurrection has made an encounter with :im possible everywhere. Hesus love is therefore particular as well as universal. :ealing is only possible through constantly repeated encounters with Hesus')D, or in the words of Williams#
Hesus grants us a solid identity, yet refuses us the power to Iseal6 or finali$e it, and obliges us to reali$e that this identity only e"ists in an endless responsiveness to new encounters with him in the world of unredeemed relationships')).

1ecause Hesus lives the 0ospel, that tells us about :is love, it is not in anyone6s control, e"cept for :is own. It is for this reason, that Williams warns us for thin/ing that we understand all of it and can manage the challenges that come from it. he 5ordship of Hesus is Ione who ma/es us strangers to what we thin/ we /now8')*. We can only become as human being as we are meant to be, in relation to Christ. 1ecause Hesus lives, we can encounter :im again. herefore :is personal identity remains and :e will always be 7a person who obstinately stands over against us8 ')(. Christians are a people who continually point away from themselves, towards the righteousness of Christ. he 0ospel itself tells us about Hesus6 7free, unan"ious, utterly demanding, grown-up love8. It tells us that it is possible for us human beings to 7receive from his fullness and set others free8 '),. In the incarnation, we find 0od6s pure and selfless love for us. %evertheless, Christ is no 7container of all8. Instead :e comes to us as gift and 3uestion, thereby challenging and transforming every situation we are confronted with. It will be no surprise than, that, for Williams, theology is more about people than about ideas, theories or concepts. What he is not trying to do, is to create a theory of

163 164

!bid+, p. ?*. 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ?(. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. *G. 165 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ?,-A'. !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, A )istory o( 'aith in Jesus , in 9. 1-CK9CE:5 &ed.+, Cambridge Companion to Jesus, Cambridge, ?GG', p. ??GK I@., 0esurrection, 5ondon, ?GG?, p. (?K I@.,To-ens o( Trust, p. D*. 166 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. A'. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, 0esurrection, p. *). 167 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. A?. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. 'A'. 168 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. A?. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, 0esurrection, p. *?. 169 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. AA. 1oth originally published in 4. WI55IA9!, ,nthronement *ermon, ?* =ebruary ?GGA, http#>>www.archbishopofcanterbury.org>sermonXspeeches>. In 7 he Wound of Knowledge8, he e"presses him as follows# 7Christ is the root of our security and our insecurity ali/e, promise and Eudgement, end and beginning, the burning bush, the 2aschal lamb, the roc/ and the tabernacle, present as a sign of hope at every stage of our painful Eourney out of bondage and across the wilderness8. 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. AA. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, The Wound o( ;nowledge, p. *G.

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everything'*G. =or Williams, the 0ospel is an invitation 7to be drawn into cross and resurrection and to find there N at once a decisive %o and an everlasting .es to our selves8 '*'. 1ut it has not only to do with receiving. he free gift of 0od as/s for a response, which is not less divine than the gift. What ma/es the Christian faith different from the others, is that it is about giving, as well as receivingK depending, as well as controlling. And this can reflect 0od6s life in all our aspects. As a conse3uence it is not correct to say that 0od only gives :is life, :e shares :is life with us. he same is true for :is love. herefore we can say that we are sharers of 0od6s life and love '*?. And by now, we /now that this love is not Eust an idea but an never ending deed#
4emember, Christianity is a contact before it is a message. 0od is at wor/, 0od is communicating himself in flesh and blood, from the first moment 9ary embraces her child. 0od is at wor/ in this presence even when Hesus is saying nothing particular and doing nothing particular '*A.

=urther, when we pray together in the :oly Communion, 7;w<e stand before 0od the =ather, clothed in the identity of Hesus by the gift of the !pirit8 '*B. !o, when we wal/ in the fire of 0od6s love, we are accompanied by Christ, the eternal !on of 0od. At the moment when we receive bread and wine, we are as near to the heart of what it is to be a Christian or the Church as possible. 7It is a moment when we declare who we are and when we are given the greatest opportunity to grow as believers because we are as open as we can be to the act of 0od in Hesus and the !pirit8 '*D. Also important and already mentioned, is the 1ible, which originally was read in communion, and still is before the :oly Communion ta/es place, in the conte"t of prayer and shared reflection. hat way, these te"ts can constantly renew and convert the Church, as a constant test of her own integrity. In a shared e"perience, we are what we are meant to be. In this regard, the Church6s holiness has to do with standing where Hesus stands, instead of being an achievement '*). hus, what we have, are signs# 7;!igns are< the totally enigmatic face on the wall, the cross, the bread and wine;.< ;N< ; hey are< ;s<ilent signs, as silent as he was before 2ilate, consistently refusing a straight and simple answer. ;N< We can draw little balloons coming out of his mouth, as much as we li/e. What does that tell usL he vulgarity of the analogy underlines the futility of the e"ercise8 '**. When the correspondence is missing, we find ourselves in error. Conformity is the test of faithfulness'*(. 7When we start to force the shape of our thin/ing to ma/e it consistent within itself, we may gain internal intellectual consistency, but we will lose Ithe coherence of lived fidelity68 '*,. Williams continues# 7 he meanings of the word 70od8 are to be discovered by watching what this community does M not only when it is consciously reflecting in conceptual ways, but when it is acting, educating or 7inducting8, imagining and worshipping8 '(G. What is the Church thanL It is the place

170

9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. A'-AD.DB-DD.!ee also 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. ,BK I@.,To-ens o( Trust, p. ,?-,D. 171 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. AD. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. ,'. 172 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. )D-)(.*'. 173 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. ,?-,A. 174 !bid+, p. ''*. 175 !bid+, p ''(. 176 !bid+, p. ''(.'??-'?). 177 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , p. (-,. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. 'G*. 178 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. '?-'A. 179 !bid+, p. 'A. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, What is Catholic #rthodo$y>, in K. 5EEC:O 4. WI55IA9!&eds.+, ,ssays Catholic and 0adical, 5ondon, ',(A, p. '). 180 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , p. 'A. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. "ii.

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where Christ is visibly active in the world. We all /now e"amples where we saw the Church, and it wor/ed'('. =or Williams, this happened for e"ample at the 7Hubilee ?GGG8#
1ac/ in the millennium year, the IHubilee ?GGG6 campaign for debt relief reached a clima" with a huge demonstration in 1irmingham in the CK, where the economic power-bro/ers of the 0( countries had gathered. We had brought two coach loads from my diocese in !outh WalesK and, as I loo/ed at the e"traordinary variety of Christian groups on the streets M Catholic, 2entecostal, outrageously left-wing, and outrageously right-wing M I, li/e others, felt able to say, II have seen the Church and it wor/s.6 !omething of a real hunger and thirst for Eustice in Christ6s name had drawn and held this unli/ely coalitionK its only agenda was to further what all believed was the call of 0od6s /ingdom, to resist what offended 0od6s Eustice'(?.

The death and resurrection of language =or Williams, death and resurrection are the heart of reality. he resurrection narratives are about creating a new form of life, or a new shared language for 0od '(AK or, in Williams words# 7the death and resurrection of meaning8 '(B. 9oreover# they show us that our orthodo"y must constantly be transformed. =or our Eudgement, cross and resurrection are the frame. 7;I<f you do believe in and commit yourself to this frame of reference, this point of Eudgement, you may e"pect to live with a continuing brea/ing and recovery of this same frame of reference, at deeper and deeper levels8 '(D. he power of the pre-%icene orthodo"y was, that it did not gave too many answers. According to Williams, orthodo"y is a process of brea/ing and rema/ing '(). 1ecause in Christ, 0od came unbearably close, there is no safe vantage point to spea/ about '(* 0od . Williams puts it this way# 7Christians must learn to spea/ of a 0od from whom their lives are not to be separated, a 0od, therefore, involved with the whole fabric of their being8 '((. -r in another writing#
; <he divine nature cannot be abstracted from 0od6s active relationship with the world. And since that relationship, in which the theologian as believer is caught up, is not susceptible of being distanced and e"haustively defined, neither is 0od6s nature. :is everlasting act is as little capable of being a determinate obEect to our minds as the wind in our faces and lungs can be held still and distant in front of our eyes '(,.

It is about 7a steady and endless enlarging of the heart8 ',G. A topic on which Williams was influenced by 9ac/innon, is in his interpretation of the resurrection. In his reading of the resurrection, 9ac/innon, distances himself from the liberal as well as the conservative interpretations, for both as/ the 3uestion if a given historical fact happened or not. Instead he argues that the resurrection transcends what we understand as history, and is more than can
181 182

4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. '?,-'AG. !bid+, p. 'AG. 183 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ?,. 184 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , p. 'D. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, /etween Politics and %etaphysics, 0e(lections in the Wa-e o( 3illian 0ose &9odern heology, ''#'+, ',,D, p. ?G. 185 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , p. 'D. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, What is Catholic #rthodo$y>, p. ?G. 186 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. '). 187 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ?,-AG. !ee also 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. DB. 188 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. AG. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, 0esurrection, !nterpreting the ,aster 3ospel, Cleveland, -:, ',(?, ??GG?, p. (*. 189 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. DB. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Arius, p. ?B?. 190 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. DB. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Arius, p. ?BA.

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be proven or observed','. herefore 9yers holds the opinion that we can best understand Williams6 theology by a 3uotation of 9ac/innon# 7I sometimes thin/ that only when we bring out into the open what it is that defeats our every day attempt to handle the tings of the Christian faith confidently and without hesitation, will we be able to perceive at least a small measure of its uni3ueness8 ',?. hey both thin/ that theology is meant to perform a semantic untangling, instead of clearing things up. With our language, we are not able to grasp the resurrection ',A. !till we cannot avoid this language and we must ta/e it seriously',B. his difficulty is also attested by the Christian narratives ',D. -n the contrary, it is not correct to thin/ of 0od as a character of the story, :e is the author of the script, and only :e can tell us who we truly are',). Christ is the light, who pierces our protective shield, and because of that ma/es me a stranger to myself ',*. In the light of this, Williams writes# 7When 0od6s light brea/s on my dar/ness ;N< the first thing I /now is that I don6t /now, and never did8 ',(. =or Williams, original sin is an ugly wound that runs right through human reason and e"perience. In this, he thus follows Augustine. 1ecause we are fallen, we cannot simply trust our belief in 0od. he Awareness of a disordered reality is what /eeps us morally alert. his means not that we must remain silent about 0od, for despite the fact that language is annihilated by the trauma of Christ, it is also reborn. =rom this, a new community is shaped. his is the reason why the Christian tradition is a 7continuing process of the conversion of human language to 0od8 ',,. heology is thus rather about life, then about ideas. It is 0od who fractures the human identity ?GG, and because :e has no self-interest, :e does not ma/e us fit neatly in :is own agenda, but allows us to discover our proper identities?G'. We do this 7not by struggling for an entirely illusory independence but by turning to our deepest, purest dependence M the undistorting dependence of creatures on their Creator8 ?G?. 1ut which are the implications Hesus6 death and resurrection for the human communityL
he resurrection, Williams argues, is a universal happening. =or Christ, creation has no frontiers. And the e"istence of the church is already implicated in the e"istence of the risen Christ# the resurrection immediately gives rise to a new community whose imagination has been converted to this new and unbounded world, the Inew creation6 of the gospel &0al. ).'D+. he church e"ists not for itself but for the sa/e of a reconciled humanity. Indeed the church is humanity made new, a new world in which the old walls of division have been torn down?GA.

It now becomes clear that, for Williams, in the first place, orthodo"y is about a shared pattern of life, far more than a shared body of doctrine. :e ma/es clear that 7orthodo"y is common life before it
191

1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. AG. !ee also 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ?D-?). !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. 'D,-')GK 4. WI55IA9!O 4. 1ACCK:A9, Jesus B 3od with &s, in C. 1AT E4 &ed.+, *tepping *tones, Joint ,ssays on Anglican Catholic and ,vangelical &nity, 5ondon, ',(*, p. ?(. 192 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ?,-AG.-riginally published in @. 9ACKI%%-%O 0.W.:. 5ampe, he 4esurrection, A @ialogue Arising from 1roadcasts, 5ondon, ',)), p. (*. 193 !bid+, p. AG. 194 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. B*. 195 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. AG. 196 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. B*. 197 !bid+, p. AG-A?. =or an interpretation of Williams6 vision on language, see also9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. BD-B(. Williams writes that this is especially the case for action &p. B)-B*+, see therefore# 4. WI55IA9!, Doctrinal criticism, *ome <uestions, in !. C-AK5E.O @.A. 2AI5I% &eds.+, The %a-ing and 0ema-ing o( Christian Doctrine, ,ssays in )onour o( %aurice Wiles, -"ford, ',,A, p. ?A,-?)B. 198 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. A?. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, A 0ay o( Dar-ness, in 4. WI55IA9!, A 0ay o( Dar-ness, *ermons and 0e(lections, Cambridge, ',,B, p. L 199 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. AD. 200 !bid+, p. A?-AD. 201 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. B*-B(. 202 !bid+, p. B*. 203 !bid+, p. A(.

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is common doctrine8?GB. It is no surprise than that mission is about a way of life, rather than changing minds by preaching?GD. Williams formulates it as follows#
;9ission< is not the wor/ of persuasion, getting someone to adopt your views or Eoin your groupK or, rather, it6s only persuasion in the sense that an e"tended hand, a smile, an opening door, a greeting could be called persuasion.

his new form of social life ma/es it possible to spea/ about 0od in new ways. =or the firstcentury Christians, 3uestions about social identity and social boundaries where treated as theological 3uestions, and therefore had to do with the identity of 0od. =rom here it is but a small step to creation. he fundamental reordering of the world, in relation to Christ, is due to :is resurrection. In this reasoning the physical embodiment of the risen Christ is essential for the embodied human e"perience, and thus for the relevance for our lives ?G). In the reasoning of Williams the Christian language is neither complete nor finished, and we are in a need of critical wor/, which constantly returns to the sources that generate it. herefore the Church is Eudged in the light of the reality of which her e"istence is supposed to bear witness too?G*. As a conse3uence# 7 he theologian6s Eob may be less the spea/ing of truth N than the patient diagnosis of untruths, and the reminding of the community where its attention begins8?G(. he end of this Eourney, is describes by Williams as follows#
; he goal is to< stand where Hesus stands as Christian believers, and pray as Hesus praysK and in standing in that place before 0od as 7Abba8 ;to< share e3ually in Hesus6 directedness towards the good and the healing of the world?G,.

A living tradition of %ra"er It is no wonder then, that Williams is 7not Eust tal/ing about ideas in their own right, but about the interaction between thin/ing, doing and praying out of which the statements of belief originally came8?'G. he church always had to negotiate her own continuity with the past and her early doctrinal affirmations are very fragile. %evertheless the struggle for a normative orthodo"y is essential for a Christian community. 7-rthodo"y is the church6s attempt to resist and to compose for itself a coherent social imaginary8 ?''. herefore 9yers writes that# 7If the Christian community is a theological reality, the beginning of a new reconciled humanity, then the church6s history will be a matter of urgent theological importance for the present8?'?. It now becomes clear, that for Williams, the past is right at the centre of the present, or in other words# 7 he present is simply what the past is doing now8 ?'A. Against Arius, Athanasius made clear that a continuity of the tradition can create the necessarity to
204

0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , p. 'B. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. ?)B. 205 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , p. 'B-'D. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. ?)D. 206 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. BG-B'. !ee also9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ?). 207 !bid+, p. ''-'?. 208 !bid+, p. '?. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. ',). In 7@on Cuppit8, he even goes a bit further, by writing# 7Cnder modern conditions N a theologian has got to be a heretic8 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. '?. -riginally published in# 4. WI55IA9!, Don Cupitt, in 9. @E-5A-%-.&ed.+, %ichael 0amsey, A Portrait, 5ondon, p. ,,. 209 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. D). -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!,To *tand Where Christ *tands, in 4. WA55E4O 1. WA4@ &eds.+, !ntroduction to Christian *pirituality , 5ondon, ',,,, p. ?K I@., To-ens o( Trust, p. ,B. 210 !bid+, p. viii-i". 211 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. BB-BD. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, De(ining )eresy, in A. K4EI@E4 &ed.+, The #rigins o( Christendom in the West, Edinburgh, ?GG', p. A?B-A?*. 212 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. BD.

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have a brea/ in the linguistic continuity. In the light of this, one can argue that there is no simple choice between conservation and innovation. here is more needed for the continuity of faith, than Eust a repetition of traditional vocabulary?'B. With regard to the theology of %icaea, Williams argues that#
he loyal and uncritical repetition of formulae is seen to be inade3uate as a means of securing continuity at anything more than a formal levelK !cripture and tradition re3uire to be read in a way that brings out their strangeness, their non-obvious and non-contemporary 3ualities, in order that they may be read both freshly and truthfully from one generation to another. hey need to be made more difficult before we can accurately grasp their simplicities N And this Ima/ing difficult6, this confession that what the gospel says in !cripture and tradition does not instantly and effortlessly ma/e sense, is perhaps one of the most fundamental tas/s for theology?'D.

his is a difficult tas/, for one has to identify the changes that are needed to secure a proper continuity. According to Williams this as/s for a critical and creative re-engagement with the past. o ma/e this possible we need orthodo"y, or a tradition. In Williams6 opinion, the history of doctrine is actually a history of formative conflicts and struggles. 7What the articulation of doctrinal truth concretely is can be traced only through the detailed rewor/ing and re-imagining of its formative conflicts8?'). his may not be simplified as a conflict between truth and error, or orthodo"y and heresy, for with its struggle with heresy, orthodo"y comes into being. hat is the reason why the doctrinal orthodo"y is an unfinished, continuing proEect and Its fulfillment is still future ?'*. =or Williams heresies are heresies because they owe a destructive longing for complete clarity and a total vision, Eust li/e political and religious idolatry. In orthodo"y, on the contrary, we find 7a constantly e"panding networ/ of interpretive resources in which the Iraggedness6 of Christian language is retained. -rthodo"y is messy, li/e real life8 ?'(. herefore the church6s identity is the obEect of continual negotiation and dispute, and at every stage, the gospel becomes more difficult, and even a stranger?',. his is actually not hard to understand, for 7;w<ords of faith ;N< are too-well /nown to believers for their meaning to be /nowable8 ??G. his has also to do with the current cultural setting# 7almost any words in the modern cultural setting will be worn and shabby or illusory and selfserving8??'. -n the other hand it becomes possible to preach Hesus in diverse cultures and periods ???. Williams e"presses his view on doctrine as follows#
he slow and difficult evolution of a doctrinal language, creeds and definitions ... ;has< to do at heart with maintaining the possibility of spea/ing about a 0od who becomes unreservedly accessible in the person of Hesus Christ and in the life of Christ6s community. What is reEected is, pretty consistently, any teaching that leaves 0od only provisionally or partially involved in the communicating of the new life of grace and communion??A.

213

!bid+, p. BD. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, Why *tudy the Past>, 0rand 4apids, 9I, ?GGD, p. ?A-?B.?(. for more about the Arian controversy within the debates about the nature of Christian continuity, see 4. WI55IA9!, Arius, )eresy and Tradition, 5ondon, ',(*, ??GG'. 214 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. BA-B). 215 !bid+, p. B). -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Arius, p. ?AD-?A). 216 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. B*. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Arius, p. ?D. 217 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. B)-B(. =or more of the already and the not yet, see 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. ,D-'GG. 218 !bid+, p. B(. 219 !bid+, p. B(-B,. 220 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. ''. 221 !bid+, p. ''. 222 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. (G. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, Does !t %a-e *ense to *pea- o( Pre-Nicene #rthodo$y>, in 4. WI55IA9! &ed.+, The %a-ing o( #rthodo$y, ,ssays in )onour o( )enry Chadwic-, Cambridge, %ew .or/, %., ',(,, p. '*.

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As a church leader, Williams struggled to uphold the catholic vision, that Christ is 7the beginning of a reconciled human community in which all dividing boundaries are bro/en down8 ??B. his sharpens the riddle of difference and identity. =or Williams, the problem is that if there is an absolute difference or a colourless homogeneity between people, than the idea of a catholic community becomes impossible. In the mind of Williams, the difference is tenuously preserved. 1ecause of the hard labour of /eeping the difference between ourselves and others in place, our own identity comes forth. he solution was found in the wor/s of :egel, due to Williams6 friendship with 0illian 4ose, who saw :egel as an alternative for the postmodern ethics of the -ther. According to 4ose, the loss of difference in theology and the loss of self in ethics, are two sides of the same coin. 7We betray difference whenever we try to Imend the world6, whether through a secular or religious teleology or through the elevation of an absolutely transcendent -ther8 ??D. Instead, she argues that difference is not an obstacle to be overcome, but that we have to accept the flawed middle between the difference. It is with this bro/en middle that we must sustain. his, she calls the 7agon8 of difference. he importance is that we act in the face of the opposition that cannot be overcome ??). Also growth is central in the ideas of Williams. =rom this theory, he made a Christian theology of identity, difference and sociality. :e holds the opinion that otherness and identity emerge dialectically. hey are mutually dependent and mediating. herefore the incompleteness of language has to do with :egel6s conception of a social mediation of truth. Authentic social e"change occurs wherever different persons mediate meaning to one another. When we have a good conversation, we see something new, something which would not have revealed itself when we would have reasoned individually. In the hard wor/ of sustaining differences, by different selves, the truth comes into being as a new thing. When we want to receive the truth, in order to share it freely with others, we must give up the desire to own it. he tragic shadow is the fact that the distance between myself and the other can never be overcome. Instead of a synthesis, there is a history of negotiation an dispossession. herefore, the social life is interpreted by Williams under the theological category of /enosis, which he understands as 7the painful wor/ of negotiating difference8 ??*. his shows the importance of hard and patient labour that ma/es a life together possible. hat is why the theology of Williams is a 7theology of growth8??(. Important in this regard, is the notion of thrust#
I shall be suggesting that Christianity as/s you to trust the 0od it tal/s about before it as/s you to sign up to a complete system. I hope it may become clear how, once you have ta/en the step of trust, the actual teaching, the doctrine, flows out of that. A good and sensible bit of Christian teaching is good and sensible because it has grown out of e"ploring the implications of believing in a completely trustworthy 0od??,.

223

9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. (G-('. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Teaching the Truth, in H. H-:% &ed.+, Living Tradition, A((irming Catholicism in the Anglican Church, 5ondon, ',,', p. A?. 224 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. D'. 225 !bid+, p. DA. !ee also 0. 4-!E, The /ro-en %iddle, -"ford, ',,?, p. ?,A. 226 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. D'-DA. =or Williams criti3ue on :egel, see 4. WI55IA9!, Trinity and #ntology, in 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, -"ford, ?GGGK I@., /etween Politics and %etaphysics , 0e(lections in the Wa-e o( 3illian 0ose, in 9. :I0 -%, Wrestling with Angels, 0rand 4apids, 9I, ?GG*. =or the position of 4ose, see 0. 4-!E, /ro-en %iddle. 227 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. DD. 228 !bid+, p. DA-D). =or more about Williams opinion of :egel, see 4. WI55IA9!, )egel and the 3ods o( Postmodernity, in 9. :I0 -%, Wrestling with Angels, 0rand 4apids, 9I, ?GG*. =or his vision on growth, see 4. WI55IA9!, Against An$iety" /eyond Triumphalism, in 4. WI55IA9!, A 0ay o( Dar-ness, *ermons and 0e(lections. 229 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. viii.

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1y now it becomes clear that, for Williams, it is important to live the tradition ?AG. he conse3uence is a church, whose members represent different stages of understanding, maturity and responsiveness. :e also writes that Christian eschatology is not about a final triumph over human limitation and imperfection, for then the differences that ma/e us human would be gone. What is a real human possibility thenL =or Williams it is truthfulness. Whenever he thin/s about 0od, he also thin/s about human relations, because the trinitarian 0od is also characteri$ed by difference. herefore, when one spea/s about 0od, one also spea/s about the universal human community. In the light of this analysis, we may conclude, for now, that the church does not yet posses its identity, but in the :oly !pirit, 0od is patient with us?A'. %evertheless, Williams is not very comfortable with hope, because it opens the possibility for fantasy and proEection. In other words# we hope for the wrong things. What Williams is actually advising is a patience beyond hope and he therefore translates the language of hope into a moral attention. It is a refusal of the final gratification of human desires and it is only tragic for the human beings, who watch to life through the glasses of unredeemed desire. =rom this perspective, even the trinitarian love seems to be tragic. In the light of this, theology may not allow itself to become the final word, for theology is too often used for gaining and /eeping power. As a reaction Williams suggests that we can only be freed when we use a language of prayer and praise, and direct that language to 0od. After all, prayer is the confession of our own failure. -nly then, a real conversation with others becomes possible. =or Williams, Christianity is thus in the first place a tradition of prayer. As a conse3uence, the people who pray should be the subEect matter of theology. he life of one who devotes his>her life on prayer may seem marginal for those who determine the movement of history. %evertheless, they show us what spea/ing of 0od really means. :ere Williams is highly influenced by !imone Weil, who states that we have to open ourselves for what is already there. In other words# we have to wait. In this way there is an intimate bond between spirituality and the study of theology, and thus also between love and /nowledge?A?. According to Williams, they meet in contemplation, where 7we are I3uestioned, stripped na/ed and left speechless6 by a reality that we cannot control8 ?AA, for the 0ospel cuts across our desire to control and denies our systems and policies. his becomes clear in Williams comments on the birth and childhood of Hesus, where we find 0od, Who is present, but unable to spea/ clearly to us?AB. :e continues#
As/ a baby about the ordination of women, about divorce legislation, violence on television, who will win the election# it is not a fruitful e"perience. ;N< !o far from the divine child being a cipher, the tool of our schemes and systems, he confronts us with the alarming, mysterious, shattering strangeness of 0od?AD.

230 231

9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ('. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, Arius, p. ?A). 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. D)-D(. 232 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ,A-'GY. !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, Theological !ntegrity, #n Christian Theology.=or the unpredictable future, see 4. WI55IA9!, The Wound o( ;nowledge, 5ondon, ',,GK I@., The *pirit o( the Age to Come , in *obornost )#, &',*B+, p. )'A-)?). !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, The )ealth o( the *pirit , in 9. 14IE45E. &ed.+, Public Li(e and the Place o( the Church , 0e(lections to )onour the /ishop o( #$(ord , Aldershot, ?GG)K I@., The 'inality o( Christ, #n Christian Theology, -"ford, ?GGG. 233 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. 'GA. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, The Wound o( ;nowledge, p. '. 234 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. D. 235 !bid+, p. D. -riginally published in# 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. AD-A*.4. Williams also uses the image of a nine-year-old spastic child# 7 his is the solitude of truth, the solitude, finally, of 0od# 0od as a spastic child who can communicate nothing but his presence and his inarticulate wanting8 &0. Williams, p. )K 4. Williams, p. 'BD+.

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his undermines all our power-see/ing systems ?A). It is a misunderstanding that there is too few meaning or too much incomprehensibility, it is actually 3uite the opposite# from Williams6 point of view, there is too much meaning and communicativeness in 0od for us to understand. 0od is se near, that :e is strange to us. his, Williams describes as 7divine dar/ness8. hat is the reason way language can collapse into a contemplative silence. In Williams6 theology of sociality, only within the contradiction of irreducibly different lives, the truth comes to sight ?A*. 9yers concludes# 7What prayer is to speech, what difference is to sociality, what the saint is to a damaged humanity, so the cross is to the world, and so Christ is to 0od8 ?A(. As a conse3uence, Williams does not want us to thin/ of a 7Christ who saves us the trouble of being crucified8 ?A,. Instead, our baptism, is a baptism into Christ6s death?BG. :igton writes it as follows# 7And, as such, our speech about 0od, our ideas about 0od, our theology, needs to share in the same characteristics that mar/ a life being captivated by the 0ospel# than/fulness and openness to Eudgement. !o, in the first place, we receive our language about 0od as a gift, and celebrate itK in the second place, we need constantly to be open to the brea/ing and rema/ing of our language, as the truth of the 0ospel wor/s upon our lives and our ideas8 ?B'. =or Christians, 0od6s power is the source of a radical dependence of the human being to 0od. .et, this dependence is not self-destructive# 7 o depend for one6s identity ultimately upon a hidden source of self-giving or self-sharing is to be as free as one can be within the tragic limits of the world8?B?. It can even lead to a self-awareness. 1ecause we search to often for idols and slip to selfprotective claims, our theology is in a constant need of demythologi$ing. In the other case, 0od would become a proEection of wishes and a tool for power. herefore it is up to theology, to unmas/ our fantasies and our comfort of false images of 0od. Influenced by Iris 9urdoch, who studied about !igmund =reud, Williams says that we can only be freed from our selfish fantasies by seeing something beyond ourselves?BA. And by praying we get to /now ourselves, and put off our mas/s, to stand na/ed before 0od. We let go of our self-protection, of what ma/es us feel comfortable and good?BB. :e holds the opinion that#
faith becomes the one wholly infle"ible ground for resistance to violence, precisely because it N allows us to recogni$e power for what it is and isn6t# as what is given us for the setting-free of each otherK not as the satisfying of our passion for control?BD.

%evertheless, what we need is art, far more than therapy, 9urdoch states. !ince art is one of the few points where we deliberately cultivate a truthful seeing of reality, it is an essential source for moral action?B). Williams describes the importance of art as follows# 7Art N dispossesses us of our habitual perception and restores to reality a dimension that necessarily escapes our conceptuality and
236 237

0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. D. 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. 'GA-'GB. !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, The De(lections o( Desire, p. L. =or !imone Weil, see !. WEI5, Waiting (or 3od, %ew .or/, %., ',D'. 238 !bid+, p. 'GD. 239 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. AD. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, To give and not to count the cost, A *ermon Preached at %ir(ield in 'ebruary 5A8C , in *obornostD The Journal o( the 'ellowship o( *t Alban and *t *ergius *.D &',**+, p. BG'. 240 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. AD. Williams puts it li/e this# 7into his ;Christ6s< descent into hell, into a condition of vulnerability8 &p. AD+. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, /read in the Wilderness , The %onastic !deal in Thomas %erton and Paul ,vdo-imov, in 9.1. 2E%%I%0 -% &ed.+, #ne :et Two, in Cistercian Publications &',*)+, p. B)A. 241 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. B(. 242 !bid+, p. 'G,. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, 'reudian Psychology, in A. 4IC:A4@!, The Westminster Dictionary o( Christian Theology. 243 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. 'G,-'''. 244 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. 'DD. 245 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. BG. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Presidential Address, ?G !eptember ?GG', http#>>www.churchinwales.org.u/>archbishop>GGIIe.html.

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our control. It ma/es the world strange8 ?B*. his image is comparable with Williams way of spea/ing about the !cripture. We may not try to control it by systemati$ing or harmoni$ing it. Instead of being grasped at once, we must ta/e time to read and re-read the 1ible, time for 3uestioning and discussion. his is, according to Williams, the core of literal reading, which allows us to pay attention to the intractable resistance of the te"t. his /ind of reading ac/nowledges that it ta/es time to unfold the meanings of the biblical te"ts. he resistance of the te"t becomes particularly clear within the differences of the four gospels. he reason for ta/ing time, is the fact that the te"ts where written over time, by individuals and communities who struggled to come to terms with the reality they had encountered, but also with each other. In other words# these te"ts are produced by historical beings, within historical settings. hese wea/, mortal people learned what it means to live the 0ospel. In solidarity with those authors who struggled with the biblical te"ts, and even misapprehended and misread these te"ts, we read these te"ts. In this reading, we bring all that we thin/ to find to the cross, where it can be Eudged and sifted. his way we have to refuse the violent fantasies, but we also have to avoid ma/ing the te"ts acceptable. he biblical te"ts have to be read in the light of Hesus, or in Williams words# 7When we approach the 1ible, ;N< we must approach it as if it were N held open before us by the living Christ8 ?B(. he 0ospel has to be read in company, as to allow ourselves to be challenged by the readings of others?B,. Williams himself formulates his biblical ideas as follows#
he 1ible is not a human record from the distant past, full of a mi"ture of inspiring and not-soinspiring stories or thoughtsK nor is it a sort of magical oracle, dictated by 0od. It is rather the utterances and records of human beings who have been employed by 0od to witness to his action in the world, now given to us by 0od so that we may learn who he is and what he doesK and the Igiving6 by 0od is by means of the resurrection of Hesus. he risen Hesus ta/es hold of the history of 0od6s people from its remotest beginnings, lifts it out of death by bringing it to completeness, and presents it to us as his word, his communication to us here and now?DG.

Important in this regard is the teaching of the Church, which itself e"ists of a community of people. 1y inviting others to Eoin with her in learning, but also by pointing others to the sources from which she is slowly learning herself, the Church will teach. herefore Williams argues# 7If we had to choose between a Church tolerably confident of what it has to say and see/ing only for effective means of saying it, and a Church constantly engaged in an internal dialogue and criti3ue of itself, an e"ploration to discover what is central to its being, I should say that it is the latter which is the more authentic8?D'. !o instead of being a bearer of answers, the Church 7transmits 0od6s 3uestion from generation to generation8?D?. -ne could argue that the Church teaches by pointing to a reality, which cannot be fully grasped by any system. It is, of course, not correct to suppose that the Church is only a
246

1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. '''. =or 9urdoch, see# I. 9C4@-C:, The *overeignty o( 3ood, 5ondon, ',*G. 247 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. '''. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, 3race and Necessity, 0e(lections on Art and Love, 5ondon, ?GGD, p. A*. 248 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. )). -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, The Dwelling o( the Light, %orwich, ?GGA, p. **. 249 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. )?-)*. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. AG.B*.DDK I@., @oes !t %a-e *ense to *pea- o( Pre-Nicene #rthodo$y>, in 4. WI55IA9! &ed.+, The %a-ing o( #rthodo$y, ,ssays in )onour o( )enry Chadwic-, Cambridge, %ew .or/, %., ',(,, p. '-?AK I@.,#pen to Judgement, p. '').'D,-')G. About reading in company, see 4. WI55IA9!, 'oreword, in 9. 24.CE &ed.+, Literary Companion to the Lactionary, 0eadings Throughout the :ear, 5ondon, ?GG', p. i". 250 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. )*. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, The Dwelling o( the Light, p. AA. !ee also# 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. ,-''. 251 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ),. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Women and the %inistry, A Case (or Theological *eriousness, in 9. =C45-%0 &ed.+, 'eminine in the Church, 5ondon, ',(B, p. '?. 252 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ),. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, The Wound o( ;nowledge, p. ?.

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3uestion, that it does not have a content. he reason why the Church has a content indeed, is the fact that it believes to /now the source of the 3uestioning and it also believes to /now that the character of the 3uestioning is a life-giving love. he Church thus has not yet achieved the fullness of humanity and is never in itself an obEect of faith?DA. Williams ma/es his position very clear when he writes that 7We are imposters, travelling in borrowed clothes, under an assumed name, the name of Hesus8 ?DB. We now may conclude that#
he resurrection of Hesus Christ and the 2entecost of his !pirit do not mean that Hesus Christ is henceforward the answer to everything;.< N hey indicate that 0od bears witness that the 3uestion raised by Hesus Christ is the one by which 0od manifests himself. Hesus 7uni3uely8 reveals the 0od whose nature is not to ma/e the claim of uni3ue revelation as total and authoritative meaning. :e is presented as the revelation of 0od# as 0od6s 3uestion, no more, no less?DD. At least it means that Christian teaching isn6t Eust staticK it6s always trying to learn from the last set of mista/es?D).

%ow one 3uestion remains# what do we have to do when we disagree over who Hesus isL he vital thing , Williams writes, is that we stic/ together in our discipleship and come to the eucharist, for it is there that we are all Eudged by the silence of the cross. We must be ready to go into the desert, were pictures and ideas fade away, and in the end all theologies will give way to 0od. herefore we cannot have access to 0od6s -wn truth by theology. he ones who claim to have found it, are the oppressors who attac/ othersK or the spiritually immature, who did not meet the silence and dar/ness of the cross. In this regard, we may 3uestion, but not e"clude ?D*. Personal identit" and engagement with the world Williams holds the opinion that the 7grammar of social life is a wellspring of love and life M the holy trinity8 ?D(. :e thin/s of 0od as a community of people, who relate to each other, who give and receive?D,. his community is not Eust held together by Eustice or a common sense of calling. It has far more to do with mutual giving, nourishment and dependence. his is what Williams means by 7sharing as giving8?)G. =or his interpretation of desire, he finds his inspiration in the wor/ of Augustine, who sees the difference between 7use8 and 7Eoy8. According to Williams, the greatest temptation is to use the world as an enEoyed end in itself. In other words# we loo/ at the world, as if it e"ists for our own sta/e. 1y acting this way, we do not ta/e the process of growth in love into account. When desire is asymmetrical M read# seeing another person6s body as a device of gratification M perversion occurs. Also in the light of Augustine, Williams considers 0od to be an infinite basis of love, obEectivity and truthfulness. In 0od, there opens a differentiation, whereby 0od loves 0od, with a desire that is never gratified, and the !pirit personifies their mutual e"cess of love ?)'. 9yers e"plains
253

9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. )(-*'. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, Ponder These Things, %orwich, ?GG?, p. B)K I@.,The Wound o( ;nowledge, p. '-?K I@.,#n Christian Theology, p. A'-AAK I@., 0esurrection, p. "iv-"v. 254 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. *'. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. '(*. !ee also# 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. *. 255 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. 'GB-'GD. 256 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. *?. 257 !bid+, p. ,. 258 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. (A. 259 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. BA. 260 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. 'G'-'G?. 261 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. (A-(). !ee also# 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. '). =or the interpretation of Augustine by Williams, see# 4. WI55IA9!, Language" 0eality and Desire in Augustine.s @e @octrina, in

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it as follows# 7!n short" 3od is a trinity o( loveD the lover" the beloved" and a constantly e$panding surplus o( love itsel(+ 0od6s love never comes to rest but forms a widening field as it surges bac/ and forth, infinite giving, infinite receiving, infinite deflection of desire8 ?)?. 0od therefore does not decide to give. Instead :e gives and relates eternally ?)A. here is thus an openness, which allows us to participate in the love of =ather and !on. his openness is made possible by the infinite capacity for new, and yet constant, faithful activity by the :oly !pirit. he reason we can be drawn into it, is the opening, created by the incarnation. We therefore have to thin/ about the active giving of the life of 0od by 0od in rinitarian ways, moreover as =ather, !on and :oly !pirit. It is the !pirit Who translates the relation between =ather and !on in the medium of human e"istence, and forms a 7!onli/e8 life in the human world?)B. Williams himself puts it li/e this#
he whole notion of a 0od who is Iproductive6, free to create a world to which he can communicate something of himself, depends upon conceiving 0od6s intrinsic life as generative of relation# the creation of the world only ma/es full theological sense in the light of a belief in the everlasting generation of the !on from the =atherK the shape of the redeemed life is the reali$ing in our world of an eternal actuality?)D. ; <he actual concrete meaning of logos in the world, the pattern decisively and transformingly embodied in Hesus, could only be seen and reali=ed through the entire process of the history to which the event of Hesus gives rise, with all its fluidity and unpredictability?)).

When we accept the non-negotiable and unavoidable love, we cross the boundaries we have set up against reEection and call our own. In this way, the 0ospel ta/es away our understanding of ourselves, others and the world?)*. And although there is no I without a you or a we, the identity between I and you remains a real difference ?)(. What we have to discover, is the fact that our identity is not located within ourselves, but in the pattern of love and deflection. -nly then can we recogni$e ourselves as loved?),. 7!o believing in the Church ;as a community< is really believing in the uni3ue gift of the other that 0od has given you to live with. he %ew estament sees the Church as a community in which each person has a gift that only they can give into the common life8 ?*G. It is 0od6s gift, which ma/es us givers. hat is why 2aul cannot accept that some churches have more than they need, while at the same time, others do not have enough. =or him, this is a signal that they are

Journal o( Literature and Theology A#? &',(,+. =or Williams opinion on embodied desire, see# 4. WI55IA9!, The /ody.s 3race, The 5?th %ichael )arding %emorial Address, 5ondon, ',(,. =or his ideas about love and trinity, see 4. WI55IA9!, What Does Love ;now>, *t Thomas on the Trinity , in New /lac-(riars (?#,)B &?GG'+K I@., The De(lections o( Desire" Negative Theology in Trinitarian Disclosure , in -. @ASIE!O @. C4%E4&eds.+, *ilence and the World, Negative Theology and !ncarnation, Cambridge, ?GG?. 262 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. (). Italics included by the author of this thesis. 263 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. BA. 264 !bid+, p. D)-D(. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, !apientia and the Trinity, 0e(lections on @e rinitate, in 1. 14C%I%0, 9. 5A91E4I0 !O H. SA% :-C E9 &eds.+, Collectanae Augustiniana, %Elanges T+J+ van /avel, vol. ', 5euven, ',,G, p. A'*-AA?K !D+, The *pirit o( the Age to Come, in *obornostD The Journal o( the 'ellowship o( *t Alban and *t *ergius )., &',*B+, p. )'DK I@.,#n Christian Theology, p. '?G. 265 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. BA. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, The Wound o( ;nowledge, p. D'. 266 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. D(. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. '*?. 267 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ')-'*. !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, To 3ive and not to Count the Cost , A *ermon Preached at %ir(ield in 'ebruary 5A8C , in *obernost, The Journal o( the 'ellowship o( *t Alban and *t *ergius *.D &',**+, p. BG'-BGAK I@.,The Truce o( 3od, 5ondon, ',(A, p. ?). 268 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. 'G). 269 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. (,. 270 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. 'G).

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frustrated in what they are free to give. Hust li/e the gift of each is uni3ue, says Williams, the need of each is uni3ue. And this need has Eust as much to do with 0od as the gift ?*'. :e continues#
; <he solid reality of a really functioning Christian community is li/e that of a good marriage, in which mutual attention, giving and receiving, enEoyment and sacrifice are tightly woven together, as both reali$e that there is nothing good for one that is not good for both, nothing bad for one that is not bad for both, that fullness of life is necessarily a collaborative thing?*?.

=ar too often, we want to force the world, to feel its moral obligations to us, or ma/e ourselves so small, that the world will not notice us. We also thin/ we can shape the world, or that we ma/e no difference, which releases us of being responsible ?*A. According to Williams, it is the 0ospel, which 7frees us from fear and fantasy N it is the great enemy of self-indulgent fantasy8 ?*B, or in other words# 7Establishing the truth of a religious claim is a matter of discovering its resource and scope for holding together and ma/ing sense of our perceptions and transactions without illusion8 ?*D. After all, 0od does not have personal interests or needs, in other words# 70od is not self-interested ?*). herefore, an obedience towards 0od, is not the same as being obedient to the state. he refusal to be a slave of !atan, and thus to illusion and falsehood, is actually a liberation, moreover a liberation into obedience. And the -ne we are obedient to, is :e, 7whose service is perfect freedom8 ?**. It is, for instance, not about commanding or lawgiving, but instead about being an e"ample for all ?*(. In the same regard, only the un/nown person can /now the truth# 7 ruth can only be spo/en by a man nobody /nows, because only in the un-nown person is there no obstruction to reality# the ego of self-oriented desire and manifold 3ualities, see/ing to dominate and organi$e the world, is absent. here is no-one there to /nowK but what is there to /now is the form, the configuration of a wider reality e"pressed in one place, one story8 ?*,. here is no isolated I, but a vast and universal web of I6s. In this web, I have a true and right ?(G place . It is not the intention of Williams to erase the distinctiveness of the self. What we have to do, is locating the ego outside ourselves, in another personal source. :e also 7Idemythologi$es6 the autonomous subEect by locating human selfhood within the movement of divine self-giving8 ?('. 1ecause 0od never satisfies our desire, we learn to love without limit or closure. Even though this means true freedom, people still feel this infinite refusal of gratification as pain and privation. We therefore e"perience 0od6s love as dar/ness and absence, instead of fulfillment. It now becomes clear that we have to abandon our self-centered desires. In the light of this ideas, the trinity is about grace, about 7divine gratuity and other-centredness8 ?(?. =or the community of Christian faithful it is about participating in Christ6s relation, as a !on, to the =ather. herefore the doctrine of trinity is 7nothing other than a teasing out of what it is to be converted and to come to live in Christ8 ?(A. his reflection ma/es clear why the saint is so important# he>she has become eccentric. In this reasoning, love forms
271 272

!bid+, p. 'G)-'G,. !bid+, p. 'G,. 273 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. '*. 274 !bid+, p. '*-'(. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, The Truce o( 3od, p. '*. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, Wound o( ;nowledge, p. 'K I@.,0esurrection, p. DB. 275 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. 'B. 276 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. BB. 277 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. ?*-?(. 278 !bid+, p. ?*-?(. 279 !bid+, p. '*-'(. 280 !bid+, p. '(. 281 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. (,. 282 !bid+, p. (,. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, What Does Love ;now, p. ?*G. 283 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. (,. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, @e rinitate, in A.@. =I Z0E4A5@ &ed.+, Augustine through the Ages, An ,ncyclopedia, 0rand 4apids, 9I, ',,,, p. (DG.

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the basis for everything. =or Williams, 7FlGove is reality" love is clarity" love is truth 8?(B. It is even possible to trust on love, when our e"perience is coloured by tragedy and failure ?(D. Williams himself, writes it as follows#
he whole story of creation, incarnation and our incorporation into Christ6s body tells us that 0od desires us as if we were 0od, as if we were that unconditional response to 0od6s giving that ;0od< ma/es in the life of the rinity. We are created so that we may be caught up in this, so that we may grow into the whole-hearted love of 0od by learning that 0od loves us as 0od loves 0od. he life of the Christian community has its rationale N the tas/ of teaching us this# so ordering our relations that human beings may see themselves as desired, as the occasion of Eoy?().

he only ade3uate way of reacting to this gratuitous love, is with gratitude and a deep openness to be Eudged and remade ?(*. %evertheless we must avoid to Eudge other members of the community. What we search is more Christ, is the unity between the different representations of Christ ?((. 7-nly in the activity of conversation do we find what the depths and what the limits are of our common language, what it is that holds us together as sharers in one world8 ?(,. =or Williams, the Church 7is the e"perimental beginning of a new creation8 ?,G, for 0od is no watchma/er. Instead religions hold that now, at this very moment, creation is going on. Creation is a commitment of 0od, a beginning of an active relationship, which we are in before we even reali$e it ?,'. Williams continues# 7It means that every obEect or person we encounter is in a relationship with 0od before they6re in a relationship of any /ind with us. And if that doesn6t ma/e us approach the world and other people with reverence and ama$ement, I don6t /now what will8 ?,?. Creation itself is therefore not a theory of the start of things, but about seeing everything in relation to 0od ?,A. he gospel has a message that can ta/e root in different places, languages and cultures, and can thus be translated into every conceivable human situation. =or the Church6s internal identity, nothing is more important than here engagement with the world. herefore Williams claims that the Church is the beginning of a new world, right in the centre of the old one. It is the place 7where the rationale of all other relations is made plain8 ?,B. When we stand, where Hesus is standing, we can say what Hesus sais, and be in a direct relation to 0od. !o because of Hesus, we are adopted in 0od6s intimate family. In :is own days, Hesus is never thought of, as Eust being a prophet. hat is because the emphasis is not on :is ideas but on :is deeds. It is Hesus, Who has created a new community, which prays in a uni3ue way ?,D. It is Christ Who enabled people to owe a coherent mode of belonging. In this coherent human belonging, everybody draws their life from a common well?,). %evertheless our current capitalistic society functions rather different#
Contemporary western societies have witnessed the emergence of a new tribalism, fuelled by the logic of capitalism with its proliferation of niche identities, and by the politics of multiculturalism
284 285

1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ,G. Italics included by the author of this thesis. !bid+, p. ()-,G. !ee also 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. '*-'(. 286 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ,G. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, The /ody.s 3race, p. A. 287 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. '(. 288 !bid+, p. (). !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. ?A. 289 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. (). -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Newman.s Arians and the <uestion o( %ethod in Doctrinal )istory, in I. KE4O A. :I55 &eds.+, Newman A(ter a )undred :ears, -"ford, ',,G, p. ?(A. 290 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. D,. 291 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. AB-AD. 292 !bid+, p. AD. 293 !bid+, p. A*. 294 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )G. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, !ncarnation and the 0enewal o( Community, in 4. WI55IA9! &ed.+, #n Christian Theology, -"ford, ?GGG, p. ??). 295 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. )G-)?. 296 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. D,-)G.

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with its advocacy of mere Idifference6 without any vision of a common good. !uch multicultural pluralism is a mirror image of the postmodern ethics of difference, where each person is assumed to be absolutely Iother6. -nce this doctrine of otherness has ta/en hold of political imagination, Williams argues, we are left with the depressing prospect of Ia world in which there aren6t and couldn6t be any real discussion of the goals and destiny of human beings as such6. he resulting social order starts to loo/ li/e a :obbesian war of all against all, a chaotic rivalry between segregated interest groups, each ruthlessly brandishing its own rights and freedoms while the state is reduced to the role of suppressing open conflict by policing the borders of Idifference6. his amounts to a crisis in our social imagination# we find ourselves unable to imagine what it might really mean to live together?,*.

It is no wonder then, that there is a social crisis, namely that there is no more society. In this contemporary world, Williams tries to e"plain that the Church is not 7Eust another interest group8, but a community whose interest is 7the interest of all8, for Christ can only be relevant to someone, as his>her personal 5ord and !avior, when :e is relevant to everybody. In this case, Williams develops :egel6s vision that freedom is mediated through community. 2ersons 7have no legitimate interests that are purely private or individual8 ?,(. -n the contrary, their interests have to do with the good of the whole community. herefore rights are not purely private rights that can be used against others, but something that has to be negotiated with others ?,,. he reason for this idea of including all, comes from the /nowledge that everybody around us, is also loved by 0od AGG. he relevance of Williams6 theology for the public debate is already visible#
here is, in all this, a vision of the world as something li/e a chandelier# 0od6s light at the centre of all things streams out, and is caught and refracted in thousands upon thousands of crystals, created to reflect the central light to one another and bac/ to him. Crystals may be fractured or smeared, but the light is fierce enough to burn them clean, and to melt them enough to heal their wounds. ;N< ; <here is something overwhelming at wor/# ;N< a life that refuses to be domesticated. Hust as with his focus upon the cross, Williams6 vision of 0od will allow us no easy 0ospel# to /now 0od is to be caught in this fierce current, and to have all the comforting accretions which have cushioned us against its flow stripped away, one by oneAG'.

Williams describes the living by each other6s generosity as an 7economy of gift8. his path of gratuity is easily left when it becomes demanding or puts us at a real disadvantage. -riginal sin, then, is about mi"ing up our learning how to e"ist with learning what does not contribute to our own life or Eoy. he only way to reverse this is by human action. o achieve this, the life and identity of Hesus is utterly important, for in 0od6s freedom, there is no trace of self-interest or self-defence AG?. :e continues# 7If we /now what it means to trust the 0od who made the world, we can see where we must loo/ for the action that will transform it8 AGA. :ere we can see the importance of Hesus as being fully human and fully divine. :is life is without restriction, rivalry or envy in its capacity for giving, because it is unconditionally open to the divine freedom. his life, Hesus sacrificed to restore the communication between 0od and the world. After :is resurrection, Hesus has breathed :is !pirit into

297 298

!bid+, p. )G-)'. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, %ission and Christology, J+C+ Jones %emorial Lecture, ',,B, p. B-D. 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )'. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Logic and *pirit in )egel, in 9. :I0 -%, Wrestling with Angels, 0rand 4apids, 9I, ?GG*, p. BB. 299 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )'-)?. 300 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. DB. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( ladimir Ni-olaievich Loss-y , An ,$position and Criti2ue &doctoral thesis+, -"ford, ',*D. 301 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. D,. 302 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. (?-(A. 303 !bid+, p. (A.

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:is disciples. herefore, meeting a Christian in whom the !pirit is wor/ing, is being contemporary with Christ :imselfAGB. A real political engagement than, is a form of /enosis. 72olitics begins where I am dispossessed of my attachment to my own interests, and I accept responsibility for the interests of others8 AGD. herefore politics is not about groups lobbying for their own interests, but about having a vision of the social good, when private interests are not at sta/e. -f course this is more addressed to those in power, than to the ones who are vulnerable and disposed, the ones who try to maintain a precarious footing. his e"plains why, for Williams, Eust translating the liberation theology into a Western society is not realistic enough. Instead he as/s the 3uestion# 7what would it mean to practice Christian political commitment in a society li/e 1ritain, where the church is not a powerless or persecuted minority but is itself one of the institutions of cultural powerL8 AG). It then becomes clear why Williams says almost the opposite to the established Anglican church in the CK, than the liberation theology in 5atin America. According to Williams, it is the tas/ of the Anglican church to give away power and to ma/e use of her position to negotiate with the political powers to defend the rights of vulnerable social groups. In the political vision of Williams there can be no more sides. -n the contrary# in a fully human community, 7the ends of each are identical with the ends of all8 AG*. :e raises the 3uestion if what they see, can be part of what I see. his approach, he calls 7interactive pluralism8. his would result in a cohesion between local and universal societies. It is the vocation of the Church to bring down the fragmentation of self-protective ghettos within the human community AG(. Williams writes that the Christian tradition warns 7against canoni$ing in theology the tempting idioms of human personal interaction, re3uiring us to strain beyond these if we are to begin to hold to any sense of the radicality of divine gift8AG,. In line with this, an interfaith dialogue is not a sign of relativism or liberalism, but a dimension of liturgy, a public sign of the Church6s engagement with the finality of Christ. According to Williams, the radical singleness of Hesus Christ is the rationale for interfaith dialogue A'G. 71ecause Christ6s life is catholic and unbounded, he is never fully absorbed by any particular human conte"t. :e is both Inative6 and Istranger6 to all social locations. he word of life and love that Christ addresses to the church is only the echo of a word addressed to the whole of humanity8 A''. his humanity has one human future, which is fundamentally peaceful. In this peaceful future, their belonging together becomes visible. :er vision is centred on Christ, and is 7a single M or better, a freely communicating M human culture, in which the diversity of human e"perience and human struggle would seem to be Iat home6 with, focused on, the identity of Hesus8 A'?. 1y living :is life, Hesus has shown how life is lived fully for 0od. When we are called to be Christ-li/e, we must loo/ different from Christ, for we live in a world that is loved by 0od in a particular time and place. herefore we must see these particular lives. 2eople li/e =rancis of Assisi, @ietrich 1onhoeffer and homas 9erton saw Hesus differently. When a distinctive way of being Christ-li/e is denied, then, says Williams, there is also something
304 305

!bid+, p. (A-(B.(*.,?. 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )?. 306 !bid+, p. )?. 307 !bid+, p. )A. 308 !bid+, p. )?-)B. =or Williams vision on liberation theology, see 4. WI55IA9!, Liberation Theology and the Anglican Tradition, in @. %IC:-5!O 4. WI55IA9!, Politics and Theological !dentity, Two Anglican ,ssays, 5ondon, ',(B. =or his ideas about pluralism, see 4. WI55IA9!, Christian !dentity and 0eligious Plurality & he Ecumenical 4eview, D(#'+, ?GG). 309 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. BB. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Arius, p. ?)*. !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, 0esurrection, p. "ii. 310 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )B-)D. 311 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )B. !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, The 'inality o( Christ in a Pluralist World , a lecture in the @iocese of 0uildford, 9arch ?G'G# http#>>www.archbishopofcanterbury.org>articles.php>D(D>thefinality-of-christ-in-a-pluralist-world. 312 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ''B. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. ,B.

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denied in 0od6s communication to the world. his wor/ is done by the :oly !pirit. !o 7our common future is a vision of harmonious diversity animated by the !pirit8 A'A. It is about fitting in a communion which is not fragmented. he !pirit draws out each individual voice, and brings this voice into the greater whole. his is the wor/ of redemption. 1y tal/ing to other people, we show ourselves different and say things that we would otherwise not have saidA'B. Williams writes#
he stranger N is neither the failed or stupid native spea/er, nor someone so terrifyingly alien that I cannot even entertain thought of learning from them. hey represent the fact that I have growing to do, not necessarily into anything li/e an identity with them, but at least into a world where there may be more of a sense of its being a world we shareA'D.

Instead of thin/ing that others spea/ of a different Christ or to condemn them, we must e"plore patiently how the same Christ can be reflected from this different perspective. A vision of peace, therefore, does not as/ a denial of difference A'). Instead, Williams says, you must pay attention to
your elusiveness, your mystery, your terrible singleness and solitude. And because your solitude, li/e mine, belongs to 0od, I shall stand before you as I stand before 0od. .ou are holy, as 0od is holy, and un/nowable and unpredictable, as 0od is. !o that I must give up and put away all hopes of trapping you in my words, my categories and my ideas, my plans and my solutions. I shall offer you whatever I have to offer, but I shall not commit the blasphemy &I don6t use the word lightly+ of ordering your life or writing your scriptA'*.

In another of his writings, Williams ma/es clear how fundamental love is for this vision#
o purify love is to learn how egotistic fear and fiction wor/ to smooth out the particular otherness of another person, so that my language remains uninterrupted, my control unchallenged, my involvement in time and chance unac/nowledged. And to /now his contingence in the event of love is precisely to retain and nurture an apprehension of the difference of this or that Iother6, their own contingencyK to be surprised, delighted, pu$$led, hurt by them in a way which witnesses to their unassimilated reality, an independent hinterland to their side of the conversation A'(.

1ecause the Church embodies a new creation, the only good of the Church, is the social good. In other words# the life of Christ is nothing we can Eust claim for ourselves, but can only be active
313 314

9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ''). !bid+, p. ''D-''*. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, Jesus B 3od with &s, p. ?*-?(K 4. WI55IA9!O 2. !:E5@4AKE, Catholic Persons, !mages o( )oliness, A Dialogue, in H. H-:% &ed.+, Living the %ystery, A((irming Catholicism and the 'uture o( Anglicanism, 5ondon, ',,B, p. (B-(DK 4. WI55IA9!, *ermon at Canterbury Cathedral, 9orning !ervice, ? 9arch ?GGA, http#>>www.archbishopofcanterbury.org>sermonsXspeeches>K I@., The *pirit o( the Age to Come, in *obornostD The Journal o( the 'ellowship o( *t Alban and *t *ergius )., &',*B+, p. )?'-)??K I@., #pen to Judgement, p. ','-',?K I@., 0eview o( Paul ,vdo-imov, L.,sprit *aint dans la tradition #rthodo$e, in *obornostD The Journal o( the 'ellowship o( *t Alban and *t *ergius ).B &',*?+, p. ?(DK I@., 0esurrection, p. L &ch?+. =or more of the importance of a community to discover 0od6s peace and mercy, see 4. Williams, o/ens of rust, p. 'GG-'G?. 315 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ''*. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Christ on Trial, 0rand 4apids, 9I, ?GG?, p. )?. 316 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ''*. 317 !bid+, p. ''*-''(. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. 'B(. 318 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. ''(. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, The Necessary Non-,$istence o( 3od, in 4.:. 1E55 &ed.+, *imone Weil.s Philosophy o( Culture , 0eadings towards a Divine )umanity , Cambridge, ',,A, p. )).

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when we go beyond ourselves towards mission. hrough dialogue and engagement with the contemporary pluralist societies, the Church shows people that her message, namely the redemption of Christ, is relevant for all. 7It is in such Imissionary6 activity that the church discovers its own identity, and finds that its own ends are identical with the ends of all8 A',. herefore the eucharist loses her meaning when it is 7cut off from the pattern of 0od6s mission in the world8 A?G. he centre of the life of the Church is the eucharist, because it is outside the Church, which means that this eucharist connects us 7with an energy of life that lies beyond our own resources8 A?'. :ere the Church 7shows itself its source and criterion8A??. he eucharist reminds us at the last supper, where Hesus created an une"pected fellowship and handed :imself over to :is disciples A?A. :ere the Church receives anew what it never possesses. 9oreover, we receive the body of Christ, which is what we have to become A?B. his body, was given freely on the cross. o eat and drin/ at Christ table, than, is to accept the gift of fellowshipA?D. 7-ur own identity lies beyond ourselves, so that every act of receiving the eucharist is also a dispossession of whatever identity mar/ers we might have constructed for ourselves. In this way, the eucharist enacts the catholicity of Christ and the elasticity of a community that ma/es room for the whole world of human e"perience8A?). 9ission is thus locating the Church where Christ really can be found. In the opinion of Williams, liturgy is about letting go the fantasy that we posses Christ. When we arrive at the table, Christ is already there, offering us breath and wine, while we are actually 7unworthy, but welcome guests8A?*. In the eucharist, we discover Christ6s gift and our own poverty. We stand before :im with empty hands. his poverty is the e"perience of a community 7whose source of life lies beyond itself8A?(. he fully reconciled human belonging, in which our hunger can be fully satisfied, does not yet e"ist on earthA?,. 9yers concludes#
he Church6s mission is to go out loo/ing for Christ in the world, following the risen one on his way across all the self-protective barriers that human beings have erected. As it follows Christ on this path, the Church lets go of its own power, privilege, and security. We are Ialways li/ely to forget that Hesus is different from the Church, not the Church6s possession6# the eucharist is a tonic against this lethal forgetfulness. he Church, then, e"ists not for itself but for the sa/e of a reconciled humanity. We are a laboratory of human possibility, human flourishing, human belonging. And our materials are not test tubes and chemicals, but a boo/, a ;cup<, and the bro/en body of 0odAAG.

319 320

1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )D. !bid+, p. )D. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, !magining the ;ingdom, *ome <uestions (or Anglican Worship Today, in K. ! ESE%!-%O 1. !2I%K!&eds.+, The !dentity o( Anglican Worship , :arrisburg, 2A, ',,', p. 'G. 321 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )D. 322 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. *?. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Authority and the /ishop in the Church, in 9. !A% E4 &ed.+, Their Lord and #urs, Approaches to Authority" Community" and the &nity o( the Church, 5ondon, ',(?, p. ,*. 323 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. *?-*A. 324 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )B-)D. 325 9. :I0 -%, Di((icult 3ospel, p. *A-*D. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, 0esurrection, p. 'G?-'GAK I@., 'oreword, in :. 9CA@--O K. ! ESE%!-%&eds.+, The %ystery o( the ,ucharist in the Anglican Tradition , %orwich, ',,D, p. viiii". 326 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )D. 327 !bid+, p. )). -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, %ission and Christology, p. ?G-?'. 328 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )). 329 !bid+, p. )). !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, The Church as *acrament &International Hournal for the !tudy of the Christian Church, 'G#'+, ?G'G, p. LK I@., %ission and Christology. 330 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. )). We changed chalice by cup, because the chalice is more a medieval obEect. !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, %ission and Christology, p. ?G.

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#aints and sinners Another thread through the theology of Williams, is the importance of the saints. =or him, the saints, and not Church structures, form the heart of the Church. hese saints are not at a distance from ordinary life. -n the contrary# they can be found in any neighbourhood or village. It is the saint who stands closest 7to the source of what it means to be a full human being8 AA'. =or Williams, sinners and saints belong together. In his vision there are two polis# one of limping growth and one of holy lives. he presence of these saints learns us to be patient with others. hey give freely and receive freely from others. 1eing a saint means not the same as saying no to who you are, but it is the self that hears a yes from the other. -ne can even say that these people enEoy of the e"pansive capacities of the self, but as if they were the capacities of somebody else. his attitude, Williams names 7holy egotism8 AA?. he self also becomes more free, when it stops considering itself as the centre of things. his is the 7holy fool8. According to Williams they are not very balanced, but rather confused because of the strange world of 0od. =or us, the saint loo/s a bit weird, because our own world is out of shape. herefore we do often not recogni$e holiness while actually seeing it. !aints are not noticed for their wholeness, often on the contrary, but because they are awa/e, and therefore are aware of 7the glorious and troubling difference of 0od8 AAA. It is off course possible that the holy lives are marginal to the activity of the Church that is visible. his, one could call an 7ecclesiology of the margins8# he one6s at the real center of the wor/ of 0od, are those who are found in the social margins, for one cannot e"pect 0od to wor/ through the appropriate channels. When Williams writes about 7the hiddenness of Christ in the Church8, than this is what he actually means AAB#
What if the life that fuels the Church through prayer is not the routine prayer of the worshipping community, not even the prayer of the religious orders, but moments of e"posure and insight, or of desperately needy openness to 0od on the part of very irregular ChristiansL Isn6t this actually what Hesus6 story of the 2harisee and the ta"-collector might suggestL What if the Church really lives from the prayer and e"perience of those it least values in its public tal/AADL All we /now is that we are called to pray, to trust and to live with integrity before 0od &to live Iholy6 lives+ in such a way as to leave the door open, to let things come together so that love can come throughAA).

Williams also thin/s that it is more often our success that /eeps us far from the Kingdom of 0od than our failures, because it are our failures which decentre our ego. It is in the saints that our fantasies about 0od are overcome and where we truly learn to /now something about 0od, or to 3uote Williams# 7If they ta/e 0od that seriously, at least this isn6t some cosy made-up way of ma/ing yourself feel better8AA*. We have to be aware that our choices can destroy us. And maybe that is a state of hell. Williams sees it as a 0od Who is /noc/ing on a closed door, which we struggle to hold shut AA(. Instead of ma/ing 0od incredible or only available for the elite, saints let 0od in, and by doing so, ma/e :im credible and available AA,, by self-3uestioning and self-scrutiny before the 5ord. he Church
331 332

1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. *D. !bid+, p. *A-*). 333 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. *(. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, *aints, p. *B-*D. 334 !bid+, p. *)-*,. 335 !bid+, p. *,. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Ponder These Things, Praying with !cons o( the irgin , %orwich, ?GG?. 336 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. BD. 337 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. (G. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. ?'. 338 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. 'D'. 339 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. *,-('.

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is thus a community of hope, which is not afraid of her failures and is willing to point to 0od. his also implies &the hope for+ the possibility of forgiveness, which is not very popular in our current culture. his forgiveness is not something self-evident, for it is the restoration of the relation with the victim and with 0od, and :e has given us the power to say no, even if he always says yes ABG. In short# In being the channel of Christ6s action to the community, each person becomes fully him->herself. =or Williams, life in the Church is more about 7swimming in an overwhelming current of divine loving activity8 than about 7signing up to a society8 AB'. 1ecause the Church is the image of the rinity, unity and plurality are completely simultaneous, for 7what ma/es me have an identity is always absolutely bound up with the otherness to which I am related8 AB?. In this regard, these other people do ma/e things a lot more difficult, for the relation we have with eternal truth and love, is inseparably connected with the way we manage the pro"imity of our human neighbors ABA. o illustrate this, Williams 3uotes Anthony the 0reat, who was a Christian desert monastic teacher#
-ur life and our death is with our neighbor. If we win our brother, we win 0od. If we cause our brother to stumble, we have sinned against ChristABB.

9aybe the metaphor used by Hohn the @warf, captures Williams6 theology even better#
7.ou don6t built a house by starting with the roof and wor/ing down. .ou start with the foundation.8 hey said, 7What does that meanL8 :e said, 7 he foundation is our neighbor whom we must win. he neighbor is where we start. Every commandment of Christ depends on this8ABD.

his is the basis for our growth in the life of grace. After all, Christ wants to communicate with all. !o if I fail to bring someone in touch with :im, I bloc/ Christ6s urgent will. herefore, bringing the neighbor in touch with Christ, means the death of a particular sort of picture of myself. -ne of the most important bloc/ings, is pretending that you /now more about 0od than others. han your own vision is misty due to self-satisfaction or self-obsession. -n the contrary, when one is busy with his>her own faults or shortcomings, he>she does not have the time to Eudge those of others. %ot by showing your superiority, but by 3uiet personal e"posure of failure in such a way that we show the path for others to show the same truthfulness, we can win our neighbor. his, of course, is not the same as Eudging yourself too harshly. he goal of all this is to reconcile our brothers and sisters with 0od, through truth and mercy. And then, a harsh Eudgement can lead to despair. It is about healing by solidarity, and not by condemning someone AB). his is beautifully e"pressed by Abba 2oemen, who is confronted with a brother who has sinned and wants a penance of three years#
he old man said, hat6s a lot.8 he brother said, 7What about one yearL8 he old man said, 7 hat6s still 3uite a lot.8 !ome other people suggested forty daysK 2oemen said, 7 hat6s a lot too.8
340 341

4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. 'D?-'DA. !bid+, p. 'A). In 7A !ilent Action8 Williams write more e"plicitly that the church does not have to be turned into a !tate. 4ather the contrary# the end of the state should being worthy to become only the church. 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. ?D. :ere he draws his inspiration from# =. @-! -ES!K., The /rothers ;arama=ov, in Penguin Classics ', p. ),. 342 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. 'A*. 343 4. WI55IA9!, Where 3od )appens, Discovering Christ in #ne Another, 1oston, 9A, ?GGD, p. '?. 344 !bid+, p. 'A. -riginally published in W. 1E%E@IC A, The *ayings o( the Desert 'athers , Kalama$oo, 9I, ',(B, p. A. 345 4. WI55IA9!, Where 3od )appens, p. 'D. -riginally published in W. 1E%E@IC A, The *ayings o( the Desert 'athers, p. ,A. 346 4. WI55IA9!, Where 3od )appens, 'D-?G.

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And he said, 7What I thin/ is that if someone repents with all one6s heart and intends never to commit the sin again, perhaps 0od will be satisfied with only three days8 AB*.

-r, in the Words of Williams#

In the eyes of Christ we are all victims, since we are all sinners AB(.

:e also states sinning is victimi$ing. herefore we are victims, but we are also unforgiven for our victimi$ation. 1ecause the death do not forgive, forgiveness for our victimi$ation is impossible for us, but not for 0odAB,. In this regard, the dessert fathers show the Church what /ind of community she must be. his community, has to be a fearless community, which needs to develop a self-awareness and attention to each other. hese habits have to be grounded in the pervasive awareness of 0od. And this awareness, on its turn, comes from the constant e"posure to 0od in reading the 1ible and in praying. his is the reason why not Eudging is not Eust the easy way# receiving forgiveness in the way that our lives will be changed, is a wor/ that ta/es a lifetime and it re3uires the most relentless monitoring of our la$y and selfish habits, that lead to our thin/ing and reacting. We must be aware of our fragility, and this is something of which we never must stop weeping about. %evertheless 0od will heal and accept us with all our shortcomings. All of this e"plains the tenderness of these desert fathers towards sinners# moreover, /nowing that you yourself have sinned, but are surrendered by the loving grace of 0odADG. In ritual and language, far more than in its deeds, the Church e"presses what she believes she actually is# 7I5ove, actually6# this is where the eternal reality of selfless divine love and gift is to be identified in the world8AD'. What we see is heavenAD?, which means that#
he Church ma/es sense only when we see that it e"ists to get us acclimati$ed to peace and praise, to bring us now into the atmosphere where what pervades and shapes everything is the life of 0od the :oly rinityADA.

he right to forgive, 0od gained by the cross# 70od is the ultimate victim of all human cruelty, says the 0ospel# 0od bleeds for every human wound8ADB. 1ecause 0od has become the ultimate victim of human hatred on the cross, :e can forgive, for his love is infinite. Important for 4. Williams6 doctrine of the atonement, is the concept of suffering pain. 7In every e"tremity, every horror and pain, Hesus is accessible as the one who continued to ma/e 0od6s loving presence wholly present in the depth of his own anguish and abandonment8 ADD. :ell he e"plains as dereliction, abandonment, emptiness and poverty. Hesus holds the /eys of hell, because he dwelt there and is still living. About the healing, Williams writes# 7If there is a 0od whose will is for the healing of men and woman, he can heal only by acting in the worldliness of the world, in and through the vorte" of loss and death. :e must share the condition of our sic/ness, our damnation, so as to bring his life and his fullness into

347 348

!bid+, p. ',. -riginally published in W. 1E%E@IC A, The *ayings o( the Desert 'athers, p. '),. 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. ?D. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. '*. 349 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. ?D. 350 4. WI55IA9!, Where 3od )appens, p. ?(-AG. 351 !bid+, p. 'A*. =or the human selfless attentiveness, see 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. '(. 352 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. 'AD-'A(. 353 !bid+, p. 'A,. 354 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , p. ?D. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. )G. 355 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , p. ?). -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. ),.

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it8AD). =or Williams this life comes into our midst by the resurrection of Christ. his, he also interprets as a rescue from victimi$ationAD*#
In the resurrection we learn that victims are not lost# 0od ta/es their side, their 7perspective8 becomes one with 0od6s. 0od in raising the reviled and e"ecuted Hesus pronounces that there is an end to the perspective of the oppressor, and that history can move beyond victimage and slaughter. here is a future, a voice for the voicelessAD(. 0od6s blameless servant is the victim of a paradigmatic act of violence and reEection, but 0od 7returns8 him to the world as the ultimate and decisive symbol of undefeated compassion and ine"haustible creative resourceAD,.

Important for 4. Williams is the healing of who I am as a comple" web, which includes my past and memories, because who I am now, cannot be separated from who I was in the past. herefore we may not deny our past, it must be healed, for 7I am my history8 A)G. 7-ur memory is not to be abolished, but it is to be transformed to the point where Ieven its pains and traumas will spea/ to us of 0od68A)'. The contem%lative life- 'a heart inflamed with charit" for the entire creation( 789 he actual theology of Williams is 7;d<evotion to Christ as ascetic renunciation of fantasy8 A)A. he reason that Christ is strange to us, is because it is we who have become the strangers. We can only escape from being strangers, by holy livingA)B. his e"plains the necessarity of renunciation#
Communal disciplines and practices of renunciation are thus the means by which the self slowly gropes towards an awareness of its own displacement, an awareness that our labours of selfprotection are no longer necessary, since human freedom is found not in a posture of an"ious grasping but in receptivity and response. We find ourselves only as we begin to lose hold of ourselves, and so become free to receive ourselves as a gift. It is here, then, not in momentary epiphanies but in the habitual environment of holy living, that we discover human identity as the Isite6 of 0od6s identity;.< ;N< It is the holy life that crac/s open the hard shell of the ego Iby ma/ing for me in the world the room I thought I had to con3uer and possess6A)D.

Also for the summary of Williams theology, we would li/e to 3uote his impression of a painting of Hesus in a chapel of an orthodo" monastery#

356

0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams , p. ?). -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. ?'(. 357 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. ?D-?). 358 !bid+, p. ?). -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. ?B?. 359 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. ?)-?*. -riginally published in 4. WI55IA9!, Authority and the /ishop in the Church, in 9. !A% E4&ed.+, Their Lords and #urs, 5ondon, ',(?, p. ,B. 360 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. ?*. Also see 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. D(. 361 0. WI55IA9!, The Theology o( 0owan Williams, p. ?*. Also see 4. WI55IA9!, #pen to Judgement, p. 'G?. 362 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. A'. -riginally published in 2.ES@-KI9-S, The *truggle with 3od, p. ')*.',B 363 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ''A. 364 !bid+, p. ''B. !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, Divine Presence and Divine Action, 0e(lections in the Wa-e o( Nicholas Lash, an address written for a collo3uium at @urham Cniversity in Hune ?G'', http#>>www.archbishopofcanterbury.org>articles.php>?'A'>divine-presence-and-divine-action-reflections-in-thewa/e-of-nicholas-lash. 365 1. 9.E4!, Christ the *tranger, p. ''B. !ee also# 4. WI55IA9!, ;now Thysel(, What -ind o( !n9unction, in 9. 9C0:EE &ed.+, Philosophy" 0eligion and the *piritual Li(e, Cambridge, ',,?, p. ??).

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It was a place intensely full of the memory and reality of prayer. he mon/ showing me around pulled the curtain from in front of the sanctuary, and inside was a plain altar and one simple picture of Hesus, dar/ened and rather undistinguished. 1ut for some reason at that moment it was as if the veil of the temple was torn in two# I saw as I had never seen the simple fact of Hesus at the heart of all our words and worship, behind the curtain of our an"ieties and our theories, our struggles an our suspicion. !imply thereK nothing anyone can do about it, there he is as he has promised to be till the world6s end. %othing of value happens in the Church that does not start from seeing him simply there in our midst, suffering and transforming our human disaster A)).

his analyses of Williams6 theology has made clear that, according to Williams, 0od has to do with every aspect of who we are. he Christian 0od, is a 0od, Who can deal with all of it. 7And that also means that we should not be surprised if Christians are interested in things li/e politics or economics, art or sport, and have aw/ward 3uestions to as/ and contributions they want to ma/e. here are no areas that are essentially off-limits if 0od is truly the Creator of this world8A)*. his also becomes clear in the 0ospel according to 9atthew, where the poor are blessed. his story tells us about the sort of lives that show that 0od is in charge. hese are lives which are characteri$ed by a dependence on the goodness of 0od and 7show forgiveness, singlemindedness, longing for peace and Eustice, and patience under attac/. Williams writes that the people who live in such a way, already belong in the new world. his message is a social and political one, as well as one can never be captured by political or social reform alone A)(. 7 he changed life that these te"ts outline will challenge all sorts of things in our present world, but the change in 3uestion is one that can only begin in a personal yes to what Hesus is saying and offering8A),. If Williams6 reasoning has made one thing clear, than it is the fact that is 3uite difficult to understand Christ, Who most of the time remains a stranger. he 0ospel that tells :is story is far from easy to deal with, in other words# it is a difficult 0ospel, which narrates of Christ the stranger. .et it is not impossible to /now anything or to live a life in the 5ight that Christ is, for, in spite of M or better IEust because6 M :e is so unbearably close to us, we can /now a lot, by praying in a community of love, without fear for the truth, without our mas/s, without self-protection. It is the contemplative life that is to be preferred, but only 7as partners in dialogue with 0od8 A*G#
5i/e heaven itself, contemplation demands everything and gives everythingK it is about stripping and it is about letting yourself more and more be clothed with Christ, ta/en into his prayer and loveA*'. he poor man, the mon/ who possesses nothing, can share nothing but Ihis being, his Eucharistic flesh and blood,6 and is free to be the brother of allA*?.

It is now possible for the layperson too interiori$e the monastic state, and this is the vocation of every believerA*A. hen, we can be saved collegially, for 7he will be saved who saves others8A*B#

366 367

4. WI55IA9!, #n Christian Theology, p. AB. 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. DB. 368 !bid+, p. DB.D,. 369 !bid+, p. D,. 370 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. A'. 371 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. 'D). !ee also 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. ''-'?.?D-?*. 372 !bid+, p. ?*. In correspondence with =. @-! -ES!K., The /rothers ;arama=ov, p. '?A. 373 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. ?,-AG. 374 !bid+, p. A'. -riginally published in 2.ES@-KI9-S, The *truggle with 3od, p. 'A*.

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What they imply, finally, is a condition of receptivity to the :oly !pirit, the !pirit of ruth, who is ali/e the giver and the gift of authentic human being. 9onasticism is a universal epiclesis, an invocation of the !pirit upon all humanity and all creationK there must be no wea/ening of its demands by any such evasion as the traditional distinction between Icounsel6 and Iprecept6 in the 0ospel. he encounter of the mon/ with 0od is the same encounter to which all Christians are calledK and here, of course, we are reminded of 9erton6s constant insistence that contemplative prayer is the vocation of every believer, or, rather, that the Icontemplative dimension6 ;N< e"ists in everyone, and that the Christian is called upon to reali$e it as their true identity, their I identityin-3od6A*D.

When one ta/es his>her calling seriously, this will lead to a degree of solitary e"istence, even when he>she is a member of a community. his because of a refusal of falsehood and a search for the identity-in-0od. his solitude will often be e"perienced as abandonment or dereliction. %evertheless, a life in community is e3ually important for being a person A*). Conclusion- All "ou need is love Actually, love is all around us, or eyes Eust have to get used to the clarity of the 5ight, which we have to let it being itself in and for us. his will be no easy tas/, for 7we have to pass through midnight before it turns towards dawn8 A**, or in other words# 7When we pray N we put out our hands N into a dar/ness that is 0od6s welcoming touch8A*(. We conclude#
he Christian is bapti$ed into the death of Christ, into his descent to hell, into a condition of vulnerability to the suffering of the whole of humanityK so that the solitary who goes out to face the demons is e"ploring the conse3uences of his baptism, his being-in-Christ. 2arado"ically, his calling to be alone with Christ in the desert is made possible by his e"istence in the Church, in Icommunion6, because it is thus that he becomes sensitive and vulnerable to the presence of the demons afflicting man/indK in the desert he has to bear the weight not only of his own interior devils, but of the world6s suffering and bondage. he solitary is such because he is a member of Christ6s body, and so, ultimately, because he is a human being# and his way must, in some measure, be the way of all members of Christ6s body, and so of all human beings A*,.

375

4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. AG. !ee also# 2.ES@-KI9-S, The *truggle with 3od, 2aramus, %H, ',)), p. 'AG. 376 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. A(. 377 4. WI55IA9!, To-ens o( Trust, p. 'D*. Williams has ta/en this sentence from !t Hohn of the Cross. 378 !bid+, p. 'D,. 379 4. WI55IA9!, A *ilent Action, p. A'-A?.

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Appendi" 1

:avid Cameron;s s%eech in full

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I<TR :=CTI < ItPs great to be here in the !ymphony :all. 1ut itPs even better to /now that in this party, everyone# the !hadow Cabinet, the 9embers of 2arliament, the council leaders and all our candidates and colleagues. Everyone is playing the same tune.

TH$ 5I<A<CIAL CRI#I# oday the financial crisis means that all eyes are on the economy and the financial mar/ets and that is absolutely right. As I said yesterday, on this issue, we must put aside our differences and wor/ together with the government in the short-term to ensure financial stability. I am pleased that our proposal to increase the protection for depositors to [DG,GGG has been ta/en up. IPm pleased that the European regulators are loo/ing at our proposal to bring stability to the ban/ing system. I repeat# we will not allow what happened in America to happen here, we will wor/ with the government in the short term in order to protect our economy. 1ut as I also said yesterday, that must not stop us telling the truth about the mista/es that have been made. It is our political duty and if we had a written constitution I would say constitutional duty to hold the government to account, to e"plain where they went wrong, and how we would do things differently to rebuild our economy for the long-term. !o we must not hold bac/ from being critical of the decisions that over ten years have led us to this point. We need to learn the lessons, and to offer the 1ritish people a clear choice. It is our res%onsibilit" to ma&e sense of this crisis for them, and to show them the right wa" out of it0 We started to do that in 1irmingham this wee/. WePve had a good conference this wee/, an optimistic conference - but a sober one. We understand the gravity of the situation our country is in. And our response is measured, proportionate and responsible. he test of a political party is whether it can rise to the challenge of what the country re3uires and what the times demand. I believe we have passed that test this wee/ and I want to than/ 0eorge -sborne, William :ague, all my team in the !hadow Cabinet and all of you for ma/ing this conference a success. he reality of government is that difficulties come not in neat and predictable order, one by one and at regular intervals. @ifficulties come at you from all sides, one on top of the other, and youPve got to be able to handle them all. !o amidst this financial crisis let us not forget that we are also a nation at war.

A51HA<I#TA<

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In Afghanistan today, our armed forces are defending our freedom and our way of life as surely and as bravely as any soldiers in our nationPs history. 5et us be clear about why they are there# if we fail in our mission, the aliban will come bac/. And if the aliban come bac/, the terrorist training camps come bac/. hat would mean more terrorists, more bombs and more slaughter on our streets. hat is why we bac/ our troopsP mission in Afghanistan one hundred per cent. IPve been to visit them every year since IPve been doing this Eob. Earlier this month, up the :elmand 4iver in !angin I met a soldier in the 4oyal Irish 4egiment, 4anger 1laine 9iller. :ePd Eust turned eighteen years old. :e was the youngest soldier there. :ePs not much more than a boy and hePs there in the forty-five degree heat, fighting a ferocious enemy on the other side of the world. I told him that what he was doing was e"ceptional. :e told me he was Eust doing his Eob. Every politician says itPs the first duty of government is to protect our country, and of course thatPs right. But toda" we are not %rotecting the %eo%le, li&e Blaine, who %rotect us + and that is wrong0 In Afghanistan, the number of our troops has almost doubled but the number of helicopters has hardly increased at all. American soldiers start their rest and recuperation the day they arrive bac/ home, our troops have to count the days they spend getting home. WePve got troopsP families living in sub-standard homesK wePve got soldiers going into harmPs way without the e3uipment they need wePve got businesses in our country that instead of welcoming people in military uniform and honouring their service choose to turn them away and refuse them service. hat is all wrong and we are going to put it right. We are going to stop sending young men to war without the e3uipment they need, wePre going to stop treating our soldiers li/e second class citi$ens we will do all it ta/es to /eep our country safe and we will do all it ta/es to protect the heroes who ris/ everything for us.

1=R>HA# And today there are a particular group of heroes that I have in mind. hey fought for us in the slit trenches of 1urma the Eungles of 9alaya and the free$ing cold of the =al/lands. .esterday the courts ruled that 0ur/has who want to come and live in 1ritain should be able to. hey ris/ed their lives for us and now we must not turn our bac/s on them. I say to the government# I /now there are difficult 3uestions about pensions and housing but letPs find a way to ma/e it wor/. @o not appeal this ruling. 5etPs give those brave 0ur/ha soldiers who defended us the right to come and live in our country.

?AL=$# A<: CHARACT$R hese are times of great an"iety. he financial crisis. he economic downturn. he cost of living. 1ig social problems. I /now how worried people are. hey want to /now whether our politics, and letPs be fran/, whether our politicians - are up to it. In the end, thatPs not really about your policies and your plans. -f course your plans are important but itPs the une"pected and unpredicted events that can dominate a government. #o %eo%le want to &now what values "ou bring to big situations and big decisions that can cro% u% on "our watch0 And people want to /now about your character# the way you ma/e decisionsK the way that you operate.

R$#P <#IBILIT@

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M" values are Conservative values0 Man" %eo%le wrongl" believe that the Conservative Part" is all about freedom0 -f course we care passionately about freedom from oppression and state control. hatPs why we stood up for 0eorgia and wasnPt it great to have the 0eorgian 2rime 9inister with us here, spea/ing todayL But freedom can too easil" turn into the idea that we all have the right to do whatever we want, regardless of the effect on others0 hat is libertarian, not Conservative - and it is certainly not me. 'or me" the most important word is responsibility+ Personal responsibility+ Pro(essional responsibility+ Civic responsibility+ Corporate responsibility+ #ur responsibility to our (amily" to our neighbourhood" our country+ #ur responsibility to behave in a decent and civilised way+ To help others+ That is what this Party is all about+ ,very big decisionH every big 9udgment ! ma-eD ! asmysel( some simple 2uestions+ Does this encourage responsibility and discourage irresponsibility> Does this ma-e us a more or less responsible society> *ocial responsibility" not state control+ /ecause we -now that we will only be a strong society i( we are a responsible society+

CHARACT$R 1ut when it comes to handling a crisis when it comes to really ma/ing a difference on the big issues itPs not Eust about your values. herePs something else people want to /now. When people as/# \will you ma/e a differenceL\ theyPre often as/ing will you M i.e. me M will you ma/e a differenceL .ou canPt prove youPre ready to be 2rime 9inister M and it would be arrogant to pretend you can. he best you can do is tell people who you are and the way you wor/K how you ma/e decisions and then live with them. IPm a forty-one year old father of three who thin/s that family is the most important thing there is. =or me. =or my country. I am deeply patriotic about this country and believe we have both a remar/able history and an incredible future. I believe in the Cnion of England, !cotland, Wales and %orthern Ireland, and I will never do anything to put it at ris/. I have a simple view that public service is a good way to channel your energy and try to ma/e a difference. I am not an ideologue. I /now that my party can get things wrong, and that other parties sometimes get things right. I hold to some sim%le %rinci%les0 hat strong defence, the rule of law and sound money are the foundations of good government 1ut I am also a child of my time. I want a clean environment as well as a safe one0 I believe that )ualit" of life matters as much as )uantit" of mone"0 I recognise that we;ll never be trul" rich while so much of the world is so %oor0 I believe in building a strong team M and really trusting them. heir success is to be celebrated M not seen as some /ind of threat. hin/ing before deciding is good. %ot deciding because you donPt li/e the conse3uences of a decision is bad. rust your principles, your Eudgment and your colleagues. 1o with "our conviction, not calculation0 The %o%ular thing ma" loo& good for a while0 The right thing will be right all the time0 ony 1lair used to Eustify endless short-term initiatives by saying \we live in a ?B hour media world.\ 1ut this is a country not a television station. A good government thin/s for the long term. If we win we will inherit a huge deficit and an economy in a mess. 2e will need to do difficult and un%o%ular things for the long term good of the countr"0 I /now that. IPm ready for that.

$AP$RI$<C$ And there is a big argument I want to ma/e M about the financial crisis and the economic downturn, yes but about the other issues facing the country too. ItPs an argument about e"perience. o

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do difficult things for the long-term or even to get us through the financial crisis in the short term what matters more than e"perience is character and Eudgment, and what "ou reall" believe needs to ha%%en to ma&e things right0 I believe that to rebuild our economy, itPs not more of the same we need, but change. To re%air our bro&en societ", it;s not more of the same we need, but change0 E"perience is the e"cuse of the incumbent over the ages. E"perience is what they always say when they try to stop change. In ',*,, Hames Callaghan had been :ome !ecretary, =oreign !ecretary and Chancellor before he became 2rime 9inister. :e had plenty of e"perience. 1ut than/ 0od we changed him for 9argaret hatcher. Hust thin/ about it# if we listened to this argument about e"perience, wePd never change a government, ever. WePd have 0ordon 1rown as 2rime 9inister M for ever. 0ordon 1rown tal/s about his economic e"perience. he problem is, we have actually e"perienced his e"perience. WePve e"perienced the massive increase in debt. We have e"perienced the huge rise in ta"es. We e"perienced the folly of pretending that boom and bust could be ended. his is the argument we will ma/e when the election comes. he ris/ is not in ma/ing a change. he ris/ is stic/ing with what youPve got and e"pecting a different result. here is a simple truth for times li/e this. When youPve ta/en the wrong road, you donPt Eust /eep going. .ou change direction M and that is what we need to do. !o letPs loo/ at how we got here M and how wePre going to get out.

H 2 2$ 1 T H$R$ At the heart of the financial crisis is a simple fact. he tap mar/ed PborrowingP was turned on and it was left running for too long. he debts we built up were too high. =ar too high. he authorities M on both sides of the Atlantic M thought it could go on for ever. hey thought the days of low inflation and low interest rates could go on for ever. hey thought the asset price bubble didnPt matter. 1ut itPs not Eust the authorities who were at fault. 9any ban/ers in the City were 3uite simply irresponsible. hey paid themselves vast rewards when it was all going well and the minute it went wrong, they came running to us to bail them out. here will be a day of rec/oning but today is not that day. oday we have to understand the long-term policy mista/es that were made. In this country, 0ordon 1rown made two big mista/es. :is first big mista/e M and his worst decision, sowing the seeds of the present financial crisis was actually contained within his best decision# to ma/e the 1an/ of England independent. 5et me e"plain. At the same time as giving the 1an/ of England the power to set interest rates he too/ away the 1an/ of EnglandPs power to regulate financial mar/ets. And he too/ away the 1an/ of EnglandPs power to blow the whistle on the total amount of debt in the economy. :e changed the rules of the game, but he too/ the referee off the pitch. Eddie 0eorge, who was the 1an/ of England 0overnor at the time, was only given a few hours notice of this massive decision. :e feared it would end in tears M and it has. 0ordon 1rownPs second big mista/e was on government borrowing. After a prudent start, when he stuc/ for two years to Conservative spending totals, he turned into a spendaholic. :is spending splurge left the government borrowing money in the good times when it should have been saving money. !o now that the bad times have hit, therePs no money to help. he cupboard is bare.

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H 2 2$;R$ 1 I<1 T

1$T

=T

!o the 3uestion is, how are we going to get through this crisisL :ow are we going to rebuild our economy for the long termL %ow IPve studied economics at a great university. IPve wor/ed in business alongside great entrepreneurs. And as 0ordon 1rown never stops reminding people, IPve been inside the reasury during a crisis. 1ut when it comes to handling the situation wePre in, none of that matters as much as some simple things I believe to be true.

# =<: M <$@ =irst of all, I believe that governmentPs main economic duty is to ensure sound money and low ta"es. !ound money means controlling inflation, /eeping spending under control and getting debt down. !o we will rein in private borrowing by correcting that big mista/e made by 0ordon 1rown, and restoring the 1an/ of EnglandPs power to limit debt in the economy. hat will help give our economy the financial responsibility it needs. 1ut we need fiscal responsibility too. !o we will rein in government borrowing. .ou /now what that means. he country needs to /now what that means. And it has a lot clearer idea now, than/s to that fantastic speech by 0eorge -sborne on 9onday, one of the finest speeches made by any !hadow Chancellor. !ound money means saving in the good years so we can borrow in the bad. It means ending 5abourPs spendaholic culture it means clamping down on government waste and it means destroying all those useless 3uangos and initiatives. #o I will be as&ing all m" shadow ministers to review all over again ever" s%ending %rogramme to see if it is reall" necessar", reall" .ustifiable in these new economic circumstances0 1ut even that will not be enough. he really big savings will come from reforming inefficient public services, and dealing with the long-term social problems that cause government spending to rise. o help us stic/ to the right course, wePll have an independent -ffice of 1udget 4esponsibility. here will be no hiding place, no fiddling the figures M for all governments, forever. ItPs not e"perience that will bring about these longterm changes. E"perience means youPre implicated in the old system thatPs failed. .ou canPt admit that change is needed, because that would mean admitting youPd got it wrong. We propose a maEor sha/eup in the way the public finances are run and we have the character and the Eudgment to scrap the discredited fiscal rules and ma/e this vital long-term change.

L 2 TAA$# ItPs a change that will help us get ta"es down. I believe in low ta"es M and today, wor/ing people are crying out for relief. 5i/e the young couple I met in .or/ three wee/s ago, who both wor/ seven days a wee/ and still struggle to ma/e enough to pay the mortgage. 1ut I am a fiscal conservative. !o is 0eorge -sborne. We do not believe in ta" cuts paid for by rec/less borrowing. !o let me say this to the call centre wor/er whose mortgage has gone up by four hundred 3uid a month but his salaryPs gone down. o the hairdresser whoPs a single mum doing another Eob on the side to try and ma/e ends meet and pay for childcare. o the electrician whose fuel bill, rent bill and food bill have all gone up and hePs trying to wor/ out which one to pay when the ta" billPs gone up too.

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I /now itPs your money. I /now you want some of it bac/. And I want to give it to you. ItPs one of the reasons IPm doing this Eob. 1ut we will only cut ta"es once itPs responsible to do so once wePve made government live within its means. he test of whether wePre ready for government is not whether we can come up with e"citing shadow budgets. It is whether we have the grit and determination to impose discipline on government spending, /eep our nerve and say \no\ - even in the teeth of hostility and protest. hat is the responsible party we are and that is the responsible government I will lead.

$<T$RPRI#$ !ound moneyK low ta"es. !imple beliefs with profound implications. And herePs something else I believe about the economy. I believe that people create Eobs, not governments. I understand enterprise. I admire entrepreneurs. I should do M I go to bed with one every night. And today, 5abourPs ta"es and regulations are ma/ing life impossible for our entrepreneurs. Hust this wee/, the e"odus of business from 5abourPs 1ritain continued as W22 announced it was moving to Ireland. A man called !teven Ellis Cooper emailed me at the end of last month. .ou /now him, this conference heard his story on !unday. :ePs from Worcestershire M and with his wife and two daughters hePs been running his business for nearly twenty years. :e saw it grow into something he described as \magical\, employing five people and contributing to the economy. And then along came 5abour . %ow hePs down to his last employee and he says \I am sat at my des/ now in tears as IPm so sad that what I have spent such a long time trying to build up is being so systematically smashed into the floor and the 5abour 0overnment are to blame.\ 2hat an outrageous wa" for a government to treat someone who;s tr"ing to do their best, tr"ing to ma&e a living for their famil", tr"ing to create o%%ortunit" for others0 !o herePs what wePre going to do. WePll start by dealing with the nightmare comple"ity of our business ta"es. WePll get rid of those comple" reliefs and allowances and use the savings to cut corporation ta" by three pence.

B$@ <: 5I<A<C$ 1ut I donPt believe that the governmentPs role in the economy is Eust about ta" and spend and sound money and finance. I have never believed in Eust laisse$-faire. I believe the government should play an active part in helping business and industry. !o when our economy is overheating in the south east but still needs more investment in the north the right thing to do is not go ahead with a third runway at :eathrow but instead build a new high speed rail networ/ lin/ing 1irmingham, 9anchester, 5ondon, 5eeds letPs help rebalance 1ritainPs economy. 1ut the problems this country faces go far beyond financial crisis and economic downturn. In the end I want to be .udged not .ust on how well we handle crises, but on two things how we im%rove the %ublic institution in this countr" I care about most, the <H# and how we fulfil what will be the long+term mission of the ne!t Conservative government- to re%air our bro&en societ"0

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<

TIM$ 5 R M R$ #TAT$ C <TR L

%ow there is a dangerous argument doing the rounds about how we do that. .ou may have heard it. I have to tell you, 5abour are clutching at it as some sort of intellectual lifeline. It goes li/e this. In these times of difficulty, we need a bigger state. %ot Eust in a financial and economic sense, but in a social sense too. A 5abour minister said something really e"traordinary last wee/. It revealed a huge amount about them. :avid Miliband said that Bunless government is on "our side "ou end u% on "our own0B B n "our ownB + without the government0 I thought it was one of the most arrogant things I;ve heard a %olitician sa"0 'or Labour there is only the state and the individual" nothing in between+ No (amily to rely on" no (riend to depend on" no community to call on+ No neighbourhood to grow in" no (aith to share in" no charities to wor- in+ No-one but the %inister" nowhere but Whitehall" no such thing as society - 9ust them" and their laws" and their rules" and their arrogance+ :ou cannot run our country li-e this+ It is why, when we loo/ at whatPs happening to our country, we can see that the problem is not the leaderK itPs 5abour. hey end up treating people li/e children, with a total lac/ of trust in %eo%le;s common sense and decenc"0 his attitude, this whole health and safety, human rights act culture, has infected every part of our life. If youPre a police officer you now cannot pursue an armed criminal without first filling out a ris/ assessment form. eachers canPt put a plaster on a childPs gra$ed /nee without calling a first aid officer. Even foreign e"changes for studentsNyou canPt host a school e"change any more without parents going through an Enhanced Criminal 4ecord 1ureau Chec/. %o, when times are tough, itPs not a bigger state we need# itPs better, more efficient government. 1ut even more than that we need a stronger society. hat means trusting %eo%le0 And sharing res%onsibilit"0

<$2 P LITIC# 1ut no-one will ever ta/e lectures from politicians about responsibility unless we put our own house in order. hat means sorting out our bro&en %olitics0 2eople are sic/ of it. !ic/ of the slea$e, sic/ of the cynicism. Copper-bottomed pensions. 2lasma screen Ss on the ta"payer. E"penses and allowances that wouldnPt stand for one second in the private sector. his isnPt a Conservative problem, a 5abour problem or a 5iberal @emocrat problem. It is a Westminster problem, and wePve all got to sort it out. In the end, this is about the Eudgment to see how important this issue is for the credibility of politics and politicians. And itPs about having the character to ta/e on vested interests inside your own party. hatPs what I have done. he first to say# 92s voting on their pay, open-ended final salary pension schemes, the Hohn 5ewis list M they have all got to go. And itPs no different in Europe. WePve drawn up a hard-hitting code of conduct for our 9E2s. With European elections ne"t year, the message to them is simple# If you donPt sign, you wonPt stand. And while we;re on this sub.ect, there;s one other thing that destro"s trust in %olitics0 And that;s %arties %utting things in their manifesto and then doing the com%lete o%%osite0 %e"t year in those European elections we will campaign with all our energy for that referendum on the European constitution that 5abour promised but never delivered. Ta&ing res%onsibilit" is how we will mend our bro&en %olitics0 And sharing res%onsibilit" and giving it bac& to %rofessionals is how we will im%rove our %ublic services0

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<H# 5etPs be straight about whatPs happened to our %:!. 9oney has been poured in but maternity wards and AOE departments are closing. 2roductivity is down. he nurses and doctors are disillusioned, frustrated, angry and demoralised. I /now from personal e"perience Eust how brilliant and dedicated the people who wor/ in the %:! are. 1ut they have been terribly, terribly let down. Instead of a serious long-term reform plan for the %:! wor/ing out how we can deliver a free national health service in an age of rising e"pectations and rising healthcare costs, never mind the roc/eting costs of social care, wePve had eleven years of superficial, short-term tin/ering. op-down target after top-down target, with another thirty seven targets added last year. Endless bureaucratic reorganisations, some of them contradictory, others abandoned after Eust a few months. Labour have ta&en our most treasured national institution, ri%%ed out its soul and re%laced it with targets, directives, management consultants and com%uters0 In August, I got a letter from one of m" constituents, *ohn 2oods0 :is wife was ta/en to hospital. !he caught 94!A and she died. !ome of the incidents described are so dreadful, and so degrading, that I canPt read you most of the letter. :e says the treatment his wife received \was li/e something out of a '*th century asylum not a ?'st century [,G billion health service.\ And then, as his wife;s life was coming to end, he remembers her Bsitting on the edge of her bed in distress and sa"ing ;I never thought it would be li&e this;0B I sent the letter to Alan *ohnson, the Health #ecretar"0 his was his reply.\A complaints procedure has been established for the %:! to resolve concernsN\Each hospital and 2rimary Care rust has a 2atient Advice and 5iaison !ervice to support people who wish to ma/e a complaintN\ here is also an Independent Complaints Advocacy !erviceN\If, when 9r Woods has received a response, he remains dissatisfied, it is open to him to approach the :ealthcare Commission and see/ an independent review of his complaint and local organisationPs responseN\-nce the :ealth Care Commission has investigated the case he can approach the :ealth !ervice -mbudsman if he remains dissatisfiedN.\ A Healthcare Commission0 A Health #ervice mbudsman0 A Patient Advice and Liaison #ervice0 An Inde%endent Com%laints Advocac" #ervice0 5our wa"s to ma&e a com%laint but not one wa" for m" constituent;s wife to die with dignit"0 2e need to change all that0 1ut here is the plain truth. We will not bring about long-term change if we thin/ that all we have to do is stic/ with what 5abour leave us and Eust pump some more money in. Instead of those targets and directives that interfere with clinical Eudgments wePll publish the information about what actually happens in the %:!. WePll give patients an informed choice about where to go for their care so doctors stop answering to Whitehall, and start answering to patients. his way, the health service can at last become e"actly that# a service not a ta/e it or leave it bureaucracy. IPm afraid 5abour have had their chance to show they can be trusted with the %:!, and they have failed. We are the party of the %:! in 1ritain today and under my leadership that is how itPs going to stay.

# CIAL R$5 RM 1ut if you want to /now what I really hope we will achieve in government. If you want to /now where the change will be greatest from what has gone before. It is our plan for social reform. he central tas/ I have set myself and this 2arty is to be as radical in social reform as 9argaret hatcher was in economic reform. hatPs how we plan to repair our bro/en society.

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BR >$< # CI$T@ I &now this is a controversial argument0 #ome sa" our societ" isn;t bro&en0 I wonder what world the" live in0 Leave aside that almost two million children are brought u% in households where no one wor&s0 r that there are housing estates in Britain where %eo%le have a lower life e!%ectanc" than in the 1a/a #tri%0 *ust consider the senseless, barbaric violence on our streets0 Children &illing children0 Twent"+seven &ids murdered on the streets of London this "ear0 A gun crime ever" hour0 A serious &nife crime ever" half hour0 A million victims from alcohol related+ attac&s0 1ut itPs not Eust the crimeK not even the anti-social behaviour. ItPs the angry, harsh culture of incivility that seems to be all around us. 2hen in one generation we seem to have abandoned the habits of all human histor" that in a civilised societ", adults have a %ro%er role + a res%onsibilit" + to u%hold rules and order in the %ublic realm not .ust for their own children but for other %eo%le;s too0 :elen %ewlove spo/e to us yesterday. I canPt tell you how much IPve been moved by wor/ing with :elen over the past year. his woman, whose husband 0arry was brutally /ic/ed to death on her own doorstep his woman, who had to e"plain to her beautiful children that their father was not coming home from the hospital, not ever, because he had dared to be a good, responsible citi$en. :elen %ewlove /nows our society is bro/en. 1ut she believes we can repair it M and so do I. he big 3uestion is how. And here is where we need some very plain spea/ing. here are those who say M and there are many in this hall M that what is re3uired is tough punishment, longer sentences and more prison places. And to a degree, theyPre right. 2e;ll never mend the bro&en societ" without a clear barrier between right and wrong, and harsh %enalties when "ou cross the line0 1ut letPs recognise, once and for all, that such an approach only deals with the symptoms, pic/ing up the pieces of failure that has gone before. Come with me to Wandsworth prison and meet the inmates. .es you meet the mugger, the robber and the burglar. 1ut you also meet the boy who canPt read and never could. he teenager hoo/ed on heroin. he young man who never /new the love of a father. he middle aged failure where no-one in the family has /nown what itPs li/e to go out and wor/ for two generations or maybe more. Miss the conte!t, miss the cause, miss the bac&ground and "ou;ll never get the true %icture of wh" crime is so high in our countr"0 here are those who say that all of this M mending the bro/en society - will re3uire state action, state programmes and state money. And to a degree, they are right too. We are not an anti-state party. In the twentieth century, state-run social programmes had real success in fighting poverty and ma/ing our society stronger. 2ensions, sic/ness benefits, state education# I honour those men and women of all parties and none who created these safety nets and springboards. 1ut today, the returns from endless big state intervention are not Eust diminishing, they are disappearing. hatPs because too often, state intervention deals with the symptoms of the problem. I want us to be different# to deal with the longterm causes. hat will be the test of our character and Eudgment.

5AMILI$# 5irst, families0 If we sincerel" care about children;s futures, then all families, however organised, need our hel% and su%%ort0 !o I donPt have some idealised, rose-tinted view of the family. I /now families can be imperfect. I get the modern world. But I thin& that in our modern world, in these times of stress and an!iet" the famil" is the best welfare s"stem there is0 hatPs why I want to scrap 5abourPs plans for a new army of untrained

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outreach wor/ers so we can have over B,GGG e"tra health visitors and guarantees of family visits before and after your child is born. o those who say this is some sort of nanny state I say# nonsense. Remember what it was li&e the first few nights after "our first child is born, the worr", the uncertainl", the )uestions0 Health visitors are a lifeline C and I want more of them0 It;s because I want to strengthen families that I su%%ort fle!ible wor&ing0 o those who say this is some intolerable burden on business, I say \wrong\. Business %a"s the costs of famil" brea&down in ta!es C and isn;t it right that ever"one, including business, should %la" their %art in ma&ing Britain a more famil"+friendl" countr"6 @o you /now what, if we donPt change these anti3uated business practices then women half the talent of the country are Eust put off from Eoining the wor/force. 2e will also bac& marriage in the ta! s"stem0 o those who sayNwhy pic/ out marriage why do you persist in aggravating people who for whatever reason choose not to get married I say I donPt want to aggravate anyone, but I believe in commitment and man" of us, me included, will alwa"s remember that moment when "ou sa", u% there in front of others, it;s not .ust me an"more, it;s us, together, and that hel%s to ta&e "ou through the tough times and that;s something we should cherish as a societ"0 #CH L#

2hen families fail, school is the wa" we can give children a second chance0 M" %assion about this is both %olitical and %ersonal0 After the ?GGD election, shadow education secretary was the Eob I as/ed for in the !hadow Cabinet and 9ichael :oward /indly let me have it. IPm not sure my reshuffles wor/ 3uite li/e that, but there we are. :ePs a very /ind man and was a great leader of our party. 1ut itPs personal because IPm the father of three young children M and I worry about finding good schools for them more than anything else. There;s nothing )uite li&e that feeling when "ou watch "our children wandering across the %la"ground, school bag in one hand, %ac&ed lunch in the other, &nowing the";re safe, the";re ha%%", the";ve got a great teacher in a good school0 1ut the straightforward truth is that there arenPt enough good schools, particularly secondary schools, particularly in some of our bigger towns and cities. Any government I lead will not go on e"cusing this failure. hatPs why 9ichael 0ove has such radical plans to establish ',GGG %ew Academies, with real freedoms, li/e grant maintained schools used to have. And thatPs why, together, we will brea/ open the state monopoly and allow new schools to be set up. And to those who say we cannot wait for structural reform and competition to raise standards I say - yes, youPre right, and we will not wait. he election of a Conservative government will bring M and I mean this almost literally - a declaration of war against those parts of the educational establishment who still cling to the cruelty of the \all must win pri$es\ philosophy and the dangerous practice of dumbing down. 5isten to this. ItPs the 2resident of the !pelling !ociety. :e said, and I 3uote, \people should be able to use whichever spelling they prefer.\ :ePs the 2resident of the !pelling !ociety. Well, hePs wrong. And by the way, thatPs spelt with a PW.P And then therePs the Rualifications and Curriculum Authority. hese are the people who are officially supposed to maintain standards in our school system. .ou pay their wages. And do you /now what you get in returnL hey let a child get mar/s for writing \= off\ as an answer in an e"am. As 2rime 9inister IPd have my own two words for people li/e that, and yes, one of them does begin with an P=P. .ouPre fired.

2$L5AR$

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If strengthening families is the first line of defence against social brea&down, and school reform is the second C then welfare reform is the full, %itched battle0 his problem goes very deep M and dealing with it will be very tough. here are almost five million people in 1ritain of wor/ing age who are out of wor/ and on benefits. hatPs bad for them. ItPs bad for our society. And itPs bad for our economy. @ecades ago, when we had a universal collective culture of respect for wor/, a system of unconditional benefits was good and right and effective. 1ut if wePre going to tal/ straight wePve got to admit something. hat culture doesnPt e"ist any more. In fact, worse than that, the benefit system itself encourages a benefit culture, and sends some pretty perverse messages. ItPs not even that itPs pic/ing up the pieces and treating the symptoms, rather than providing a cure. oday, it is actively ma/ing the problem worse. !o we will end the something for nothing culture. If you donPt ta/e a reasonable offer of a Eob, you lose benefits. 0o on doing it, youPll /eep losing benefits. !tay on benefits and youPll have to wor/ for them. I spent some time recently sitting with a benefit officer in a Hob Centre plus. In came a young couple. !he was pregnant. :e was the dad. hey were out of wor/ and trying to get somewhere to live. he benefit officer didnPt really have much choice but to e"plain that they would be better off if she lived on her own. What on earth are we doing with a system li/e thatL 2ith the mone" we save b" ending the something for nothing welfare culture we will sa" to that cou%le in that benefit office#ta" together, bring u% "our &id, build "our famil", we;re on "our side and we will end that cou%le %enalt"0

PR 1R$##I?$ $<:#, C <#$R?ATI?$ M$A<# In all these wa"s, and with the ins%iring hel% of Iain :uncan #mith, we have made the modern Conservative Part" the %art" of social .ustice0 he party that says yes# we can build a society where anyone can rise from the bottom to the top with nothing in their way but only if we put in place radical Conservative school reform to do it. @es- we can build a societ" where we end the scandal of child %overt" and give ever" child the decent start the" deserve but onl" if we have radical Conservative welfare reform to achieve it0 his is the big argument in 1ritish politics today, an argument through which we show that in this century as we have shown in the centuries that went before with 2eel, with !haftesbury, with @israeli, when the call comes for a %olitics of dignit" and as%iration for the %oor and the marginalised , for the people whom @avid @avis so vividly described as the victims of state failure, when the call comes to e!%and ho%e and broaden hori/ons it is this Part", the Conservative Part" it is our means, Conservative means that will achieve those great and noble %rogressive ends of fighting %overt", e!tending o%%ortunit", and re%airing our bro&en societ"0

R$A:@ 5 R CHA<1$

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Progressive endsH Conservative means+ That is a big argument about the (uture+ That is a big change+ And it is because we had the courage to change that we are able to ma-e it+ We changed because -new we had to ma-e ourselves relevant to the twenty-(irst century+ :ou didnIt pic- more women candidates to try and loo- good you did it so we wouldnIt loc- out talent and (ail to come up with the policies that modern (amilies need+ :ou didnIt champion green politics as greenwash but because climate change is devastating our environment because the energy gap is a real and growing threat to our security and because J5??-a-barrel oil is hitting (amilies every time they (ill up their car and pay their heating bills+ :ou didnIt ta-e international development seriously because it was (ashionable but because it is a true re(lection o( the country we live in" a /ritain that is outward-loo-ing" internationalist and generous and because this Party that has always believed in one nation must in this century be a Party o( one world+ This is who we are today and those who say the Tories havenIt changed totally underestimate the capacity this Party has always had to pic- itsel( up" turn itsel( around and ma-e itsel( relevant to the challenges o( the hour+ Those who say we havenIt changed 9ust show how little they have changed+

A =<IT$: PART@ We are a changed party and we are a united party. We are ma/ing progress in the north in the south in the east and in the west. he first Conservative by-election gain from 5abour in thirty years. he first Conservative metropolitan council in the %orth East in thirty four years. And the first Conservative 9ayor of 5ondon, 1oris Hohnson. We are a united party, united in spirit and united in purpose. And we /now that our tas/ is to ta/e people with us. 4ebuilding our battered economy. 4enewing our bureaucratised %:!. 4epairing our bro/en society. hat is our plan for change. 1ut in these difficult times we promise no new dawns, no overnight transformations. IPm a man with a plan, not a miracle cure.

A =<IT$: C =<TR@ hese difficult times need leadership, yes. hey need character and Eudgment. he leadership to unite your party and build a strong team. he character to stic/ to your guns and not bottle it when times get tough. he Eudgment to understand the mista/es that have been made and to offer the country change. 5eadership, character, Eudgment. hatPs what 1ritain needs at a time li/e this and thatPs what this party now offers. I /now we are living in difficult times but I am still optimistic because I have faith in human nature in our remar/able capacity to innovate, to e"periment, to overcome obstacles and to find a way through difficulties whether those problems are created by man or nature. We can and will come through. We always do. %ot because of our government. 1ut because of the people of 1ritain. 1ecause of what you do M because of the wor/ you do, the families you raise, the Eobs you create because of your attitude, your confidence and your determination. !o because we are unitedN 1ecause we have had the courage to change. 1ecause we have the fresh answers to the challenges of our age. I believe we now have the o%%ortunit", and more than that the res%onsibilit", to bring our countr" together0 ogether in the face of this financial crisis. ogether in determination that we will come through it. ogether in the hope, the belief that better times will lie ahead.

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Appendi" C 9ilban/
With regard to social reasoning 5iberal secularism -ntology of violence

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!ociology =alse humility 1ecoming the voice of finite idols heology as 3ueen of the sciences Christian sociology Cni3ue community !ociological reading of religion 7counter8-terminology W ecclesial self-criti3ue W narrative relation to Hesus O 0ospels ]^ metanarrative

] nihilistic voice

With regard to politics !ecular reason wo city6s Civitas terrena Siolence as obEect of worship !in

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4egulation Compromising between competing wills %on-violence as a s/ill %ew ethics W new /ind of community# ecclesia hird dimension %o priority for peace and forgiveness Interpersonal perspective Sirtue of charity Coercion Civitas @ei Words and images in line with stories of Hesus 4econciliation of virtue with difference Asylum

0arry Williams
2ost-modern society Widespread suspicion of power :uman e"perience Catholic tradition Confidence in the revealed truth 4evealed public truth

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%. . Wright
Caesar6s /ingdom ruth as relative to power Hustice through punitive destruction Hesus6 Kingdom %ot of this world Hustice through restoration

0od doesn6t want anarchy 4escue the world from evil ransformative and healing power of suffering love 1ringing signs of hopeful truth and healing to the present time :olding up a mirror to power

Chaplin
2olitical theology =orm practice Christian political wisdom consensus democratic debate

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common good establishing institutions W priority of Eusticeto meet human needs 2olitical principle W how concretely appliedL W tested by fresh biblical scrutiny 4epresentative of Citi$ens Identifying the common 0ood safeguarding people6s liberty

Corporate responsibility Creation fall 0overnment intervention corrective Eustice

2ursue moral purpose Conviction politicians W communities of constructive dissent

4owan Williams
he line in \=aith in the 2ublic !3uare\ !ecularism

2rocedural secularism

%egative liberty

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5aw-governed society W @emocracy &%ational interest+ 5awful democracy 2luralism 2luralism !ubsidiarity !ubsidiarity %eutrality 9oral interest !elf-creation 2olitical liberalism %ovel Alternative citi$enship Endless self-reflection W loosing of monopoly Interactive pluralism 4eligious freedom 4eligious freedom &Individualistic spirituality+ Interpersonal imagery &%o fundamental criti3ue+ he enEoyment of the real

2rogrammatic secularism 2ositive liberty @emocracy

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Welby
Church 0etting on with own business rusting in fallible human leaders rust in systems 2lacing Hesus at the centre of society Changing the Church 4enewal in prayer W reconciliation W confident declaration of the 0ood news ransformed society Cnified by love for Christ rusting 0od 1eing in touch with the communities you serve Changing the world government @uty to protect rusting in fallible human leaders rust in systems

Anglican !ocial eaching

Heroen Hans

?D>GB>?G'A

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