What is the Point of Being a Christian? - Softcover

Radcliffe OP, Cardinal Timothy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0860123693 ISBN 13: 9780860123699

Publisher: Continuum / Burns & Oates, 2005

Synopsis

WINNER OF THE MICHAEL RAMSEY PRIZE FOR THE BEST IN THEOLOGICAL WRITING

What is the Point of being a Christian? One is pointed to God, who is the point of everything. If one thinks of religion as just 'useful' then one has reduced it to another consumer product. But if we are pointed to God, then this should make a difference to how we live. This is not a moral superiority. Christians are usually no better than anyone else. But the lives of Christians should be marked by some form of hope, freedom, happiness and courage. If they are not then why should anyone believe a word they say?

In this new book, Timothy Radcliffe is at his best, writing with a prophetic edge. His argument for Christian belief is profoundly Catholic and profoundly human. But what is just as remarkable, Radcliffe's argument for and interpretation of Christian Gospel is couched in a deep understanding of human nature and the problems and anxieties of modern men and women.

Radcliffe is far distant from the theologian's ivory tower and yet his understanding of the Gospel is profoundly theological. The frame of reference for this book is wide, and it is based amongst other things on Fr Radcliffe's pastoral experience of dealing with people with problematic marriages, those struggling with celibacy, those trying to understand the nature of religious authority and those trying to remain loyal to the Church which finds their sexual orientation 'irregular'.

About this title

About the Author

Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe has been long been one of the most popular preachers across the globe, speaking in retreats which he gives in English or in his equally fluent French.

He has spent most of his life as a Dominican based at the order's Blackfriars base in Oxford, apart from his nine years as master of the order in Rome, but has always travelled widely, being in huge demand as a speaker. He was elevated to the rank of Cardinal by Pope Francis in December 2024.

His books have been bestsellers, particularly I Call You Friends, Seven Last Words and What Is the Point of Being a Christian?, which won the 2007 Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing.

His appeal is ecumenical too, and he has lectured in Westminster Abbey, while his book Why Go to Church? included a foreword by Rowan Williams, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury.

Edition details

• Publisher: Continuum / Burns & Oates
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0860123693
• ISBN 13: 9780860123699
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 218