God's Favourite Colour is Tartan

Based on a lifetime of reading and reflection, this thoughtful and erudite book draws on the author's experience as a Catholic priest and human resources manager who is now active in interfaith work. In the introduction, he explains that he arrived in Rome around the time of Vatican II, and reflects on how this legacy has been set back over the last 25 years. His own crisis of faith in the 1980s has led him to a much more inclusive view, which he sets out in this book: a mind-set of both/and rather than either/or or us/them. In a parable at the beginning of the book he likens the Catholic Church to a castle, which he eventually leaves to wander in the woods with greater freedom and uncertainty. Individual religions are refractions of the relationship between human and divine, which are also rooted in culture. He describes his relationship with Cardinal Basil Hume, who gave the good advice: 'Don't take yourself too seriously. Take life seriously. Take God seriously.'

The first part of the book sets out the both/and way, making the point that we are both one and different, and that there are different ways of approaching this issue. At the end of each chapter, he provides a useful summary of implications pointing in a constructive both/and direction and away from the exclusiveness of either/or. This may involve paradox, as he points out in his observations on Meister Eckhart. He works out his argument in terms of belief, prayer, art, myths and symbols. I think he is right in arguing that there is a paradigm shift in religious thinking towards a both/and approach, which is also reflected in the life of Bede Griffiths.

The second part sets religion in a wider context, showing how they are particular interpretations of a more universal revelation. These become vehicles and frameworks designed to nourish our spirituality, but they are inevitably limited by culture. He explains the twin dangers of divinisation and secularisation, advocating a path of wisdom that includes but transcends reason and a literal approach to spirituality. Many readers will recognise the converging of awareness identified by the author that is reflected in Interfaith and ecumenical work and stands in stark contrast to the dogmatism of fundamentalists. Perhaps the key word in this book is reconciliation, and the author has made a very valuable contribution in articulating his carefully worked out both/and approach.