Michael Ramsey Prize




The Michael Ramsey Prize is awarded every two years for a work of theology.  Set up by Archbishop Rowan Williams it has been won by some great books, and the shortlists contain some excellent theologians.

This year, I saved up my pennies and have bought the whole shortlist.  I plan to read them all before the winner is announced at Greenbelt at the end of August.

This year, the shortlist is:

  • Benigno Beltran, Faith & Struggle on Smokey Mountain (Orbis)
  • Stephen Cherry, Healing Agony: Re-imagining Forgiveness (Continuum)
  • Anne Richards, Children in the Bible (SPCK)
  • Francis Spufford, Unapologetic (Faber & Faber)
  • John Swinton, Dementia: Living in the memories of God (SCM)
  • Frances Young, God’s Presence: a contemporary recapitulation of early Christianity (Cambridge University Press)

My initial reaction is to note that I have only read one of these prior to the shortlist being announced (Spufford’s Unapologetic).  One more (Richards’ Children in the Bible) was on our bookshelves waiting to be read. The others are a broad range, and I’m particularly interested in reading Faith and Struggle on Smokey Mountain as it comes from a completely different context.

I hope to blog as I go, so reviews in the next few months will largely be from the shortlist.

Once I have read them all, I will give my verdict (not so much a prediction as an opinion) on who should win.

I’m looking forward to this!

Comments

The Revd Canon Dr Andrew Bishop said…
Having just done a couple of talks and quiet days recently I have book tokens and am ready to spend! I love this idea of using the Michael Ramsey prize shortlist as a reading list. I've read 'God's Presence' and it was excellent. Everything I've ever by John Swinton has been similarly outstanding. Looking forward to the others. Many thanks.
8:23 pm
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