Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief sounds pretty straightforward, and, by Rowan Williams’ standards, it is. He basically explains the meanings of the Nicene and Apostle’s creeds. This gives the book a tight overall structure, which balances the conversational, often digressive writing (the book is based on a series of talks.)
There were two passages that I found especially interesting. In the final chapter, Williams offers a critique of contemporary culture.
One of the oddest things in our culture is that we seem to be tolerant of all sorts of behaviour, yet are deeply unforgiving. The popular media mercilessly display the failings of politicians and celebrities; attitudes to prisoners and ex-prisoners are often harsh; people demand legal redress for human errors and oversights. We shouldn’t be mislead by an easygoing atmosphere in manners and morals; under the surface there is a hardness that ought to worry us.1
It’s not uncommon to hear such criticism, especially from religious figures. But Williams offers something incisive and constructive. He’s not bemoaning the state of culture out of prudery or superiority, but diagnosing a serious, underlying problem. He goes on to say that the Church’s Creed (and, ideally, the Church itself) is countercultural, not because it’s more moral than the culture, but because it’s forgiving, rather than merely tolerant.
The other interesting passage concerns George Herbert’s poem, “Love (3).” Williams says it’s the “greatest Christian poem in the English language.”2 That’s bold, when many others would turn to T.S. Eliot (I would have picked Auden’s Horae Canonicae.) His judgment is influenced by theological as well as artistic considerations, but — after rereading it — I think I may agree.