Theology for Pilgrims

If God is a stranger in our house then it is quite certain that our house is not our home for we are made to be at home with God. That we are not yet at home is not in itself occasion for surprise. For we are travellers pilgrim people. . . . from Among Strangers and Friends: Thinking of God in Our Current Confusion Theologian Nicholas Lashs new collection of essays exposes a crisis in our thinking about God a crisis at the root of our misunderstandings about science and politics ethics and economics life and death. Opening with a critique of Richard Dawkinss The God Delusion Lash discusses the impossibility of atheism and argues that faith and reason are not at odds for Christians. From there he proceeds to retrieve the legacy of the Second Vatican Council consider the ministry of women within the Catholic Church andamong other delightsgive insights into the works of Diderot. Of primary importance to Lash is theology as a process. He insists that doing theology is integral to practicing Catholicism thoughtfully: To be quite blunt: those who refuse to do theologyto read think hard discusssimply do not in fact care about the truth of Christianity or at the very least do not care sufficiently to seek some understanding of that Word through whom all things are made into whose light we have been called and which will set us free. (from On Learning to Be Wise) Theology for Pilgrims exhibits Nicholas Lashs characteristic intelligence honesty and wit while displaying again his unrivalled ability to make the reader come to see the point about Jesus. Nicholas Lash has a very good claim to being the most influential British theologian of his generation. The Tablet