THE NARROW PATH: HOW THE SUBVERSIVE WAY OF JESUS SATISFIES OUR SOULS Rich Villodas (Hodder & Stoughton, 2024) 224pp, hardback
One can barely imagine the hoops a publisher must need to jump through to get a recommendation from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Yet among several at the front of Rich Villodas’s latest is one from Justin Welby, who tells us: ‘This book won’t just do you good, it will do the world good.’ Works on spirituality by American megachurch pastors are not, to be honest, my usual beat. Having read this one, though, I’m inclined to agree.
The Narrow Path is an extended meditation on the Sermon on the Mount, by theme rather than verse by verse. Justin Welby describes it as a ‘biography of Jesus’, and there’s certainly truth in that. Villodas has thought deeply about the text and relates it to the life of the disciple in a way that’s accessible without being shallow. His style is warm and conversational, but he has done his homework; there’s evidence of wide reading and much pastoral experience in what he writes. He writes with genuine humility, and is open about his own faults and failures in a way that illuminates the text rather than making himself look good. This is surprisingly hard to do; often when preachers speak or write about their sins and shortcomings, they end up looking better, but Villodas doesn’t do humblebrags.
I particularly enjoyed his chapter on anger, and his reflections on how in our society anger is nurtured and rewarded will stay with me. ‘Raca’, he tells us, is an attitude of mind and heart, not just a word. His sections on ‘hiddenness’, too, are very rich; fasting from social media is a practice I intend to start.
The next time I preach on the Sermon on the Mount, I will turn to this book as a companion. It is the fruit of much reading, thinking, experience and prayer, and I enjoyed it very much indeed. Mark Woods The Rev Mark Woods is Head of Communications for Bible Society
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED? Edited by Andy Bannister and Gavin Matthews (10publishing, 2024) 160pp, paperback
All of us have wondered about something at some time; such as ‘Are the Saints going to win their next match?’ or ‘What’s for tea?’ However, occasionally the wondering goes much deeper. Many years ago, my six-year-old had been reading the Lion Book of the Bible, and came up with the question: ‘If God made the world, who made God?’ He was always full of curiosity; always taking things apart to find out how they worked – not so good at putting them back together.
This book reignited my curiosity about my son’s question – perhaps this book could provide some answers. It consists of 29 short essays, each around 4 to 6 pages long, and written by one of ten writers. There are different questions, which range why we love happy endings, why mathematics works, what happens when you die, are you created for a purpose, where do you look for answers, and so on.
Each writer employs different styles and personal experiences to illustrate their essay, but each ends with a clear reference to the biblical/Christian view. For instance, in Chapter 25, David Nixon writes about whether Jesus really existed, and challenges us to read Mark’s Gospel critically. He reminds us that the story does not end at the end of the Gospel, and draws the conclusion that Mark is challenging us to answer the question Jesus posed: ‘Who do you say that I am?’
