A Faith to Live By: Conversations about faith with twenty-five of the world’s leading spiritual teachers
By Roland Ashby
Anglican Media/Mosaic Press

A Faith to Live By has been shortlisted for Australian Christian Book of the Year in 2013. The winner will be announced this Thursday night. View the shortlist here.

As the editor of The Melbourne Anglican newspaper, Roland Ashby is in the enviable position of meeting and chatting with prominent Christians from around the globe. A Faith to Live By gathers together twenty-five interviews conducted by Mr. Ashby, all previously published in TMA.

These interviews showcase a broad church. We are privy to conversations with a wide-ranging number of Christians. These include the former Archbishop Rowan Williams; mathematician and apologist Professor John Lennox; Esther de Waal, author of many books on Christianity Spirituality; Shane Claiborne, who has worked with Mother Teresa and is part of a new monasticism in the US; Brother Ghislain, a member of the Taize community, and other brothers and sisters from monastic communities. Local luminaries such as the artist and writer Michael Leunig, and Dr Greg Clarke, CEO of Bible Society Australia, are also represented in the collection.

Topics of conversation range from prayer and meditation, to the relationship between science and faith. We discover thoughts on the wonder and beauty of the universe, the Christian’s role in speaking out for the marginalized, the place of doubt in faith, and true spirituality and community in the modern world. The role of scripture for meditative and teaching purposes is prominent, as well as a deep awareness of the miracle God’s engagement and commitment to this world, and to men and women made in his image.

Most interviews are documented in a simple question and answer format. A number of interviews are, however, written summaries of conversations. I found the latter representation much less engaging than the former, which is perhaps a testament to the power of human dialogue, as well as  Ashby’s gift as a sensitive interviewer. Almost all interviews filled me with curiosity to read further about each subject.

Naturally, interviews tend to reveal the interests of the interviewer, as much as the one being interviewed. While not shying away from contemporary affairs, there is a focus in theses conversations on the timeless spirituality of the faith, often from the rich meditative and mystical strand of our Christian tradition. The book’s opening two interviews with Archbishop Rowan Williams typify the strength of this book. With clarity and simplicity, Ashby discusses the role of prayer and theology in Williams’ life: prayer as much more than will, practice or even feelings, but of a habit of being. Christians are reminded by the Archbishop of the joy of theology (speaking of God, as all Christians do): it is not “a gloomy … duty-ridden thing, or … a problem solving exercise … It is being overtaken by a gift.”

Reflecting the rise of the New Atheist movement in recent years, the book also contains interviews with leading Christian scientists and apologists around the globe. These stand out among others as there is perhaps less engagement between interviewer and subject. A dichotomy, most certainly unintentional, is thus set up in the mind of the reader between Christians who have a “rational, intellectual faith” of an apologetic, public kind and those who have a more profound, “spirit filled” and internal faith. The reader is reminded that although they are holding a single volume, these twenty-five interviews began life as separate entities, conducted at different times and for different purposes. Readers should take heart that, as these interviews show, Christians can have rational certainty to the death and resurrection of Christ, all the while acknowledging that when we speak of our faith, we are entering into the beauty and ineffable mystery that is the Triune God. Surely we echo the words of scripture, that “the secret things belong to the Lord, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever (Deuteronomy 29:29).

The book provides enticing snap-shots into the world of well-known Christians, as they seek to live lives that are faithful. We catch a glimpse of their spiritual practices, their engagement with contemporary political and social issues, and their grappling with the eternal, agonizing questions of life. Issues such as suffering, death, the presence/absence of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, the resurrection, are spoken with great candour and vulnerability. Although these might be ‘famous people’, their conversations reveal everyday struggles and joys that all Christians can relate to. A Faith to Live By takes the reader on a rich and nourishing journey. It is a profoundly optimistic book.

The book is also a challenge for Christians to engage with brothers and sisters across the spectrum of the faith. Too often within the Church there are caricatures of theological and practical positions. To paraphrase the words of Archbishop Williams in the first interview, Reformed Evangelicals are unfairly characterized as simplistic  “tambourine banging” pietists, all singing Blessed Assurance, while Anglo-Catholic brothers and sisters are seen as being somewhat precious and elitist. The divide is linguistic as well as much as theological or practical. It is clear from these interviews that Christians from various traditions use a different vocabulary when speaking about their faith. The meaning behind the words might well be similar, but our languages of faith, ironically, throws up a barrier. A thoughtful deciphering is required. It will show, I suspect, that we have more in common than otherwise perceived, and more needs to be done to bridge the divide between factions. A Faith to Live By is a commendable start in such a translation and exchange.

Bei-en Zou is a Christian based in Melbourne, currently studying at Ridley Melbourne.

Other books shortlisted for the Australian Christian Literature Awards include:
Preach Like a Train Driver by Tim Hawkins; reviewed here.
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Dr Megan Best, who is interviewed here.
Driven By Purpose: Charities that make the difference by Stephen Judd, Anne Robinson and Felicity Errington; extract here.