Life is at once wonderful and appalling, beautiful and horrific. Although we can all give meaning to our lives by trying to live well, is there some given meaning to be discovered? Science cannot answer this question, and philosophical arguments leave the issue open. The monotheistic religions claim that the meaning has been revealed to us, and Christians see this is above all in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Described by Rowan Williams as ‘that rarity, a Christian public intellectual’, Richard Harries considers the Christian claim in the context of an in-depth discussion of the nature of evil and how this is to be reconciled with a just and loving God. Drawing on a wide range of modern literature, he argues that belief in the resurrection and hope in the face of death is fundamental to faith, and suggests that while there is no final intellectual answer to the problem of evil, we must all, believer and nonbeliever alike, protest against the world and seek to change it, rather than accept it as it is.
Richard Harries was serving as a soldier in Germany when he suddenly had an overwhelming sense that God was calling him to be ordained. He had virtually no religious background, but like Martin Luther, he could do no other. The Shaping of a Soul is the story of a man who has engaged in some of the major issues of our time and who, for fifty years, has been a much loved voice on 'Thought for the Day' in the Today programme. Bishop of Oxford from 1987 to 2006, Harries was made a Life Peer on his retirement and remains active in the House of Lords as Lord Harries of Pentregarth. In a life repeatedly taken by surprise, he tells how he is still able to retain his faith even in our present highly secular and sceptical society.
George Herbert is widely regarded as the greatest devotional poet the world has known. Here Richard Harries introduces the poet and reflects on 24 of his greatest poems, six for each of the four weeks of Advent. Each week focuses on a different theme. Week 1: Winning the Heart Week 2: Held by Christ Week 3: Welcome Week 4: All Praise After each poem Richard Harries reflects on the poet’s sense of the divine and draws out spiritual insights for the reader to think about as they prepare to celebrate Christ's appearing. The result is a book that readers will want to return to over and over again, whether during Advent or in any other season of the year.
W. H. Auden, T. S. Eliot, William Golding, Elizabeth Jennings, C. S. Lewis, Flannery O’Connor, Stevie Smith . . . These are some of the great poets and novelists whose struggles with faith find expression in their works, and who demonstrate the fascinatingly different forms that faith can take in different times and places. Richard Harries considers the work of twenty of these writers, painting vivid pictures of their lives and times. He also provides numerous critically sympathetic insights into the spiritual dimension of their writings. The result is a book for readers of all religious persuasions, especially those who are fascinated by the ways in which faith is refracted through the lens of great poetry and fiction. Also by Richard Harries: The Beauty and the Horror (SPCK, 2016) ‘A major new defence of Christianity that does not flinch from asking difficult questions about the kind of God who could have created our world.’ The Bookseller ‘A heartening book, confronting the hardest questions with wide knowledge and deep wisdom.’ John Carey, Chief Literary Reviewer, Sunday Times ‘An eloquent, honest and engaging case for Christian faith.’ The Tablet ‘A deeply interesting book.’ Mary Warnock
From Yehuda Amichai and W. H. Auden to Phyllis Wheatley and Walt Whitman, Hearing God in Poetry invites you to take a closer look at fifty great poems by some of the finest poets in the English language. Some are well known, some deserve to be better known, but all say something distinctive that will lift your spirit. This beautiful Lent book for 2022 offers six poems for every week from Ash Wednesday, leading up to Holy Week, with ten poems specially chosen for Easter. A short reflection from Richard Harries accompanies each poet and the poem, drawing out their spiritual insights and how they communicate God's presence. Hearing God in Poetry is an ideal Lent book for 2022 for poetry lovers and anyone interested in how some of the world's finest poets have expressed faith in their work. This book of daily readings will introduce you to some wonderful poetry for Lent and Easter, and give you a deeper understanding and appreciation of these brilliant works of literature. It will also help expand your spirituality to see God's presence in the world around you as you prepare for Easter. Full of riches, Hearing God in Poetry is a book that you will want to turn to time and time again - whether during Lent or in any other season of the year.
Over the centuries some of the world’s greatest painters have explored and expressed their faith in God through their art. Here, Richard Harries invites you to reflect with him on thirty such artists, and to see how their paintings illuminate important aspects of Christian faith and teaching. Encompassing masterpieces by Rembrandt, Leonardo, Titian and Caravaggio as well as modern works by Chagall, Spencer and Rouault, this book presents the essentials of the faith in a way that will move the reader to respond with heart as well as head.
The Image of Christ in Modern Art explores the challenges presented by the radical and rapid changes of artistic style in the 20th century to artists who wished to relate to traditional Christian imagery. In the 1930s David Jones said that he and his contemporaries were acutely conscious of ’the break’, by which he meant the fragmentation and loss of a once widely shared Christian narrative and set of images. In this highly illustrated book, Richard Harries looks at some of the artists associated with the birth of modernism such as Epstein and Rouault as well as those with a highly distinctive understanding of religion such as Chagall and Stanley Spencer. He discusses the revival of confidence associated with the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral after World War II and the commissioning of work by artists like Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland and John Piper before looking at the very testing last quarter of the 20th century. He shows how here, and even more in our own time, fresh and important visual interpretations of Christ have been created both by well known and less well known artists. In conclusion he suggests that the modern movement in art has turned out to be a friend, not a foe of Christian art.Through a wide and beautiful range of images and insightful text, Harries explores the continuing challenge, present from the beginning of Christian art, as to how that which is visual can in some way indicate the transcendent.
For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life. A role-model of reconciliation and forgiveness, he stretched out his hands in love, acceptance and healing.' The Queen's Christmas Broadcast, December 2014 An inspiring and collectible volume to mark the first anniversary of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Majesty is a beautifully presented anthology of Christian artworks and wisdom, interlaced with quotes from the Queen's Christmas broadcasts. Images and text are brought together by the expert commentary of former Bishop of Oxford and House of Lords life peer Richard Harries. Written with a deep sense of respect and gratitude to Her Majesty, this book celebrates the Queen's spiritual legacy, spanning over eight decades. In a life given over to service, her steadfast faithfulness was rooted in her Christian faith, the beating heart of her spiritual life and reign as monarch. From Caravaggio to Van Gogh, Raphael to Rembrandt, Majesty features high-quality images of 50 iconic paintings, from both the Royal Collection and museums around the globe, including The Met and MOMA in New York, the National Gallery and V&A in London, Vatican Museums in Rome, the Hermitage in St Petersburg, and many more. The artworks illustrate key scenes from the life of Christ, accompanied by the words and teachings of Jesus that are found in the Gospels. With these, Richard Harries juxtaposes words from Her Majesty's Christmas broadcasts, relating her faith to the life of Christ and his wisdom, while simultaneously reflecting on how the artists have depicted the scenes. The perfect gift for admirers of the Queen throughout the world, and especially those who share her faith and admiration for the life of Jesus, Majesty brings together the inspiring words of Queen Elizabeth II with the beauty of Christian art and teachings from the Gospels.
The work of Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford from 1987 to 2006, has been highly distinctive for the consistency of its engagement with contemporary society. Taking Richard Harries' contributions as their inspiration, key figures, each of them major commentators on areas of pressing contemporary concern, probe important questions which people are asking about a range of social issues, including arms and violence, the role of the media in public life, spirituality, multifaith Britain, sex, capitalism, the second chamber, and medical ethics, and make suggestive comments about the part which the Church might play.
This book, by a major author in this area, throws light on key Life and Death issues such as fertility research and treatment, and assisted suicide. Richard Harries, as a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority from 2003-9, and chair of its Ethics and Law Advisory Committee, has been at the heart of thinking about issues include cloning, human-animal hybrids and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. He shows that the Western Christian tradition is compatible with work in this area. In the House of Lords he was involved in debates on euthanasia, and is critical of much current thinking on the subject.
The evil of the holocaust demands a radical rethink of the traditional Christian understanding of Judaism. This does not mean jettisoning Christianity's deepest convictions in order to make it conform to Judaism. Rather, Richard Harries develops the work of recent Jewish scholarship to discern resonances between central Christian and Jewish beliefs. This thought-provoking book offers fresh approaches to contentious and sensitive issues. A key chapter on the nature of forgiveness is sympathetic to the Jewish charge that Christians talk much too easily about forgiveness. Another chapter on suffering in Judaism and Christianity rejects the usual stereotypes and argues for important common ground, for example in the idea that God suffers in the suffering of his people. There are also chapters on the state of Israel and the place of Jerusalem in Christian and Jewish thought. Richard Harries argues that the basic covenant is not with either Judaism or Christianity but with humanity. These, like other religions, are different, distinctive voices in response to God's primal affirmation of human life, which for Christians is achieved and given in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the light of this the author maintains - controversially - that Christians should not be trying to convert Jews to Christianity. Rather Jews and Christians should stand together and build on the great amount they have in common to work together for a better world.
Jesus was not depicted on the cross until the early fifth century. Since then this scene has been painted or carved in sharply differing ways. With the aid of over thirty full-page plates, The Passion in Art explores the historical contexts and theologies that led to such differing depictions. Because the first Christians saw the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus as different aspects of a unified victory over sin and death, scenes of the Passion are juxtaposed with some of the Resurrection, which again are highly varied in what they do and do not show. This is the first book to consider the Passion as portrayed in the whole sweep of Christian history. Each picture is considered both from the point of view of its context and its theological standpoint. Spanning the centuries, the images reproduced and discussed include: scenes from the Passion of Christ in the Catacombs of Domitilla, mosaics in Ravenna, the Rabbula Crucifixion and Resurrection, the Crucifixion Plaque from Metz, the Gero Crucifix, Cimabue's Crucifix, Giotto's Noli me Tangere, Piero della Francesca's Resurrection, the Isenheim altarpiece, Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus, Rembrandt's Christ on the Cross, Chagall's White Crucifixion, contemporary paintings by Stanley Spencer, Graham Sutherland, Nicholas Mynheer, and many more works of great acclaim.
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* http://dartonlongmanandtodd.blogspot.co.uk/ *In 2004 a public attitudes survey suggested that 31 per cent of British people believed that all or most MPs told the truth. In 2012 this had dropped to 20 per cent.In 2004 50 per cent of respondents believed that all or most MPs did not use their power for personal gain. In 2012 this had dropped to 33 per cent.Over the whole period from 2004–2012 the average level of trust in judges was over 80 per cent, that of MPs less than 30 per cent.The report also showed that 40 per cent of respondents were disconnected or alienated from the political system – seeing no party that could sufficiently express their political views or represent their interests – and they were overwhelmingly sceptical or deeply sceptical about public life.Richard Harries argues that it is essential for the health of our society that we recover confidence in our political values. These values, such as the rule of law, democracy and human rights, are deeply grounded in a Christian understanding of what it is to be a human being in society.This is a new edition with a substantial new introduction of the book first published in 2010, reflecting not only the Scottish Referendum and the rise of UKIP but some important recent writing on the subject.
Richard Harries has brought together his own prayers and those of others to help deepen and enrich individual experience of the Eucharist. This collection will help all who attend the Eucharist, whether lifetime communicants or those who have recently been admitted to communion or confirmed.
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