A Silent Action: Engagements with Thomas Merton by Rowan Williams

Description: SynopsisThe life of Thomas Merton was, to a great extent, one of dialogue with people who were either distant or dead. While forging just such a relationship with him, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams explores the mind and influence of Thomas Merton through essays on such topics as the connection Merton had with Paul Evdokimov, the Orthodox theologian, and Karl Barth, the Reformed theologian. Rowan also takes note of the impact of books on Merton's thought, spanning from Fyodor Dostoevsky and Dietrich Bonhoeffer to St. John of the Cross. Through his essays, Williams shows that he and Merton share the regard that Christian life without a contemplative dimension is incomplete and, furthermore, that a contemplative life is accessible not only to those living in monasteries but to anyone who seeks an "interiorized" monasticism. The mystery of friendship--an enduring relationship held together not only by affinity, shared questions, and common interests but also by the awareness that each can help the other in pilgrimage--is worthy of inclusion in the long list of additions to the Orthodox sacraments. As the bond between Rowan Williams and Thomas Merton bears witness, not all friendships depend on being of the same generation.Thomas Merton's life, especially once he had become a monk, was to a great extent one of dialogue with people who were either distant or dead (many saints and writers of past centuries). Rowan Williams looks closely at two such relationships in Merton's life-first with the Orthodox theologian, Paul Evdokimov, and then with Karl Barth, the Reformed theologian who, by a surprising providence, died on the same day as Merton. Rowan also takes note of the impact on Merton's thought of books by Hannah Arendt, Dostoevsky, Vladimir Lossky, Olivier Cl�ment, Bonhoeffer, Boris Pasternak, and St. John of the Cross. Not the least of the many meeting points for Merton and Rowan is their Orwell-like awareness of the abuse of language, so easily used for magical (that is to say, manipulative) ends. Thus war is described and justified in words that mask its actual purposes, dehumanize the adversary, and cloak its actual cost in human agony. The problem extends to religious words as well-ways of speaking about God that flatten rather than unveil. As the bond between Rowan Williams and Thomas Merton bears witness, not all friendships depend on being of the same generation or even being simultaneously alive.Product IdentifiersISBN-101891785788ISBN-139781891785788eBay Product ID (ePID)109077560Key DetailsAuthorRowan WilliamsNumber Of Pages112 pagesFormatHardcoverPublication Date2011-09-01LanguageEnglishPublisherFons Vitae of Kentucky, IncorporatedPublication Year2011Additional DetailsCopyright Date2011IllustratedYesDimensionsWeight10.1 OzHeight0.5 In.Width6 In.Length9 In.Target AudienceGroupScholarly & ProfessionalClassification MethodLC Classification NumberBL410Dewey Decimal248.22Dewey Edition23Reviews"Following a brief Author's Foreword by the Archbishop of Canterbury in which he acknowledges his indebtedness to Merton over the years 'studying for my doctorate with Merton's friend, A.M. Allchin, proved a doorway into still more of his mind and spirit. A few years later The Asian Journal gave me my first sense that inter-religious dialogue could be (and had to be) a matter of spiritual encounter, and still more doors opened.' Rowan Williams arranged these 'engagements' into five chapters, beginning with a paradoxical tribute to Thomas Merton in 'a person that nobody knows.' He concludes this short chapter with words of wisdom: 'The great Christian is the man or woman who can make me more interested in God than in him or her. A paradoxical tribute, but the highest that can be paid.'" --Patrick Hart, Louisville Courier-Journal (October 15, 2011)

Price: 16.98 USD

Location: Richmond, Virginia

End Time: 2024-10-21T21:58:45.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD