By Rowan Williams

This is the last of the three books I started in 2021. Star Wars: Ronin took longer because the stilted English made me reach for more enjoyable reads. I Thought You Said This Would Work was a light Kindle read that I read while I was waiting. Looking East in Winter: Contemporary Thought and the Eastern Christian Tradition took longer to read because what I thought would be a simple summary, took a bit more side reading than I anticipated. Interweaving various theologians, metropolitans, monks, and academics, Williams shows how modern Orthodox thought has been developing. Often, by comparing their thoughts with those of Western writers from the same period. The last few chapters resonated most with me, which includes discussion of holy fools and how the call to love your neighbor is difficult.

My only observation is that there are a several passages less about the primary sources, and more about modern academic papers (in English) discussing them. Coming from a tradition that is layers of interpretation away from the Fathers, I am always skeptical of interpretations that need an academic interpretation in a language I don’t read. Having said that, it was a very good book.

266 Pages

4.75/5