| James Alison is a Catholic priest, theologian and author. Born in London, he has spent much of his adult life in South America and currently lives in Madrid. While much of his work involves the interpretation of scripture and other Christian themes, he brings a sharp clarity to making sense of them in contemporary terms, linking them to lived experience. For him that experience includes being an openly gay Catholic priest, publicly upholding the integrity of his position in the face of persistent condemnation from within the church. Rowan Williams says of James Alison’s work that ‘it insists that true theology, truthful reflection on what God is and does, can’t be done without conversion to a new perspective on yourself and the world. God is not to be known unless we grasp the depth of our freedom and our unfreedom, unless we become committed to searching out those we exclude and suppress, creating with them the promised community of mutual gift.’ Videos, brief and longer articles and details of books can be found at jamesalison.com. Timothy Ashworth has written on Paul the apostle and is coming towards the end of a major work on early Christian experience. As one of Woodbrooke’s Learning and Research Team for many years, he has developed an approach to the Bible that draws widely on contemporary scholarship but which gives due weight to the descriptions of transformation that are claimed for the individuals and groups that created the texts. |
