Issue 38 Hidden Treasures in the Minor ProphetsBlog | Book Reviews
Book Reviews
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 31.03.24
SUNDAY: A History of Religious Affairs through 50 Years of Conversations and Controversies Edward Stourton and Amanda Hancox (SPCK, 2023)
404pp, hardback, RRP £29.99
BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme has been on the air, covering either religious news or news from a religious angle, for fifty years. Tucked away early on a Sunday morning (and the time slot has been put back in recent years), it has nevertheless won awards and become a ‘must-hear’ for those who want to know more than the normal radio bulletins provide. Faith is bound up in so many of the stories that dominate the news cycle: we have only to consider the current situation in Israel and Gaza, or the way it matters in US elections. Both those subjects get a chapter each in this well-written and interesting book.
As do a whole host of other stories. Drawing on the archive of recordings, there are many, many voices here – from Enoch Powell putting forward his own take on the New Testament, to Rowan Williams talking about attacks on Anglican churches by the thugs of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. The book starts with a chapter entitled ‘Speaking truth to power’ which covers a few of the occasions when religious leaders criticised government policy, including the Falklands, the Miners’ strike and the current government’s immigration policy. The revelations of child sexual abuse that have so damaged the Catholic Church in Ireland are also given their own chapter, showing how the story gradually built and built, as more people came forward and more secrets were revealed. The Catholic church and its changes are also featured heavily.
