Rowan’s Rule

He's freer to express his opinions than when he was as the Archibishop of Canterbury.

In an updated version of his biography, Rowan's Rule, to be released next week, Lord Williams is asked by the author Rupert Shortt whether the church's current position needs to change . . . The biography also reveals that Lord Wililams, who is now master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, feared that his opposition to gay rights while in office could jeopardise his attempts at securing work afterwards . . . The extent of the despair Lord Williams felt in office is revealed in Rowan's Rule, including his telling a colleague after a bishops' meeting: 'I can't tell you how much I hate this job.'

In his own defence of theism, Williams appeals to the imagination as putting human life in a fresh perspective.

It's an interesting 580-page book, especially for those with a curiosity about theology.

The job of Archbishop of Canterbury - pope-like in its trappings, but without the commensurate authority to impose doctrine - is simply undoable. Which is, by and large what this thorough, readable biography demonstrates - undoable certainly by a man of Rowan Williams' gifts and character. Short, the religion editor of the TLS, and no slouch himself as a theologian, is unashamedly as fan of his subject and of Williams' efforts 'to evoke the transcendent in a secular climate' . . . Shortt gives us much to admire about Williams . . . This, though is no hagiography, and so weaknesses as well as strengths are confronted unflinchingly. Overall, it provides an intriguing picture of a complex man.

The lasting memory of Williams may be of a great public intellectual who made Christianity sound exciting and credible

With the fully revised and updated edition Rupert Shortt should be commended for his work in writing a biography of the complex, thoughtful and deeply spiritual man that is Rowan Williams.

He's freer to express his opinions than when he was as the Archibishop of Canterbury.

In an updated version of his biography, Rowan's Rule, to be released next week, Lord Williams is asked by the author Rupert Shortt whether the church's current position needs to change . . . The biography also reveals that Lord Wililams, who is now master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, feared that his opposition to gay rights while in office could jeopardise his attempts at securing work afterwards . . . The extent of the despair Lord Williams felt in office is revealed in Rowan's Rule, including his telling a colleague after a bishops' meeting: 'I can't tell you how much I hate this job.'

In his own defence of theism, Williams appeals to the imagination as putting human life in a fresh perspective.

It's an interesting 580-page book, especially for those with a curiosity about theology.

The job of Archbishop of Canterbury - pope-like in its trappings, but without the commensurate authority to impose doctrine - is simply undoable. Which is, by and large what this thorough, readable biography demonstrates - undoable certainly by a man of Rowan Williams' gifts and character. Short, the religion editor of the TLS, and no slouch himself as a theologian, is unashamedly as fan of his subject and of Williams' efforts 'to evoke the transcendent in a secular climate' . . . Shortt gives us much to admire about Williams . . . This, though is no hagiography, and so weaknesses as well as strengths are confronted unflinchingly. Overall, it provides an intriguing picture of a complex man.

The lasting memory of Williams may be of a great public intellectual who made Christianity sound exciting and credible

With the fully revised and updated edition Rupert Shortt should be commended for his work in writing a biography of the complex, thoughtful and deeply spiritual man that is Rowan Williams.