Richard Holloway (1) (1933–)

This was either great or awful timing, we're currently dealing with his mother as she approaches her end.
Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh, has seen a lot of both life and death in his years as a parish priest and as a man who is now in his 9th decade. He reflects on how we live and what happens to us, and those left behind, when we die. He admits to not having the answers; while he is in the Christian tradition, he is human enough to admit to doubts and to allow for a continuum of belief, no polarised debate here, it is nuanced and measured. He freely admits that he is nor scared of death, but also accepts that in other people that may play a role - he uses the analogy of dealing the hand of cards we have been dealt by fate through life. It is a broad ranging set of thoughts as well. The chapters on dying explores the near death experience, that on grief looks at spiritualism and attempts to contact the dead. The attitude to the medical profession and the end of life chimes with my own - life should be for living, not just an avoidance of death. Putting off death is only of use if life itself has value - the language of battling death and illness dominates but is possibly not helpful.
I was intrigued to hear that some of my views are not so very different from his, even thought we come at life from quite different angles. All in all, I think this was the right book at the right time, some of this will do me good and I will try and take some of it to heart.… (más)

A very interesting book read by the author, who has the perfect voice for the content. The book looks at the many ways humanity has made sense of the world through the stories we tell ourselves. While other cultures and countries are touched upon the majority of the book is given over to discussing the principal story behind western Europe, that of the Bible. Mr Holloway dives eloquently into the reasons why these stories have been preserved for generations and continue to resonate up to the present day. This is not however a book preaching any specific religion or indeed the concept of religion at all, instead it looks to why these stories are important to remember. The author, in the last chapter, clarifies his own position describing himself as a Christian without God, following the teachings of Jesus but acting "as if God did not exist". A position I found intriguing, as I had not considered this even an option.

As I am reading the Bible in a year long cultural project I found this book very helpful to dive behind some of the main stories, the parables and sayings of Jesus, and why some have been used for good and others ill. There is so much to take in that this book is going straight to a re-read list but perhaps once I have finished the Bible reading. I particularly appreciated how Mr Holloway does not just rely on religious writers but draws in quotes from poets, philosophers, and writers to illustrate his points. Of course this perfectly highlights the enduring cultural legacy of this single book.

The main dialogue is about how as human beings we are continually searching for a sense of meaning in a universe which is vast and seemingly ever expanding. Science has on the one hand disproved absolutely a literal reading of the various creation stories, but that was never their purpose for they are about a deeper story than just how we came to be. They are a way of trying to answer the great questions of life: why am I here, what is the purpose for my existence? I appreciated that we are not provided with any definitive answer, rather the onus is on us to find a story which helps us to find meaning. That could be the purely intellectual, atheistic perspective, or perhaps we might turn to traditional stories from the cultures which surround us. I like how it is clear there is no one right answer, instead the author explains why he has decided that the story of the New Testament is the one for him, even if he can't believe in God. I suspect Mr Holloway might be an old hippie at heart, for he hints that Jesus's very revolutionary teaching is still every bit as radical now as it was two thousand years ago. Until reading this book I would have described Christianity as conventional, staid, and at least in England the epitome of the establishment, but this should not be the case. Has Mr Holloway made a case, for me at least, to reconsider Christianity as a solution to my quest for meaning? I am not sure, but it has certainly made me re-think my views on Christianity versus the Church of England, and to consider them potentially two distinct entities which may only nominally be related.

Definately worth reading for anyone interested in the history of some of the ways in which humanity has tried to find meaning.… (más)