Rowan WilliamsThe Edge of Words: God and the Habits of Language

A dense buti interersting series of lectures by the former archbishop of Canterbury

Very interesting but very challenging

Extraordinary.

This book is an expanded version of Rowan Williams' Gifford Lectures given, and discussed, in Edinburgh. There is a splendid review of these lectures, and so of the substance of the book, written by Orion Edgar and published online by the Oxonian Review, to be found at http://www.oxonianreview.org/wp/rowan-williams-returns/ (accessed 27/09/2014). The lectures themselves are available as online videos (You Tube). However, the book itself is a treasure that many will want to own and share and reread.

The wonderful thing about this book is the very question it poses about the nature, reason and consequence of our words about and with God. The more I think about it, the more I realise that what is unsaid speaks most. Just as what is unseen has most meaning for me, and that includes the words that cannot be seen. The form of communication that does not involve words. I believe in the maker of all things visible and invisible.In a way, the more words we use, the more tangled a web we weave. The paradox is that without the experience of God we rely on words to realise an experience for us.

RW is never easy to read, and some sentences are unnecessarily long. Now forget that, and get stuck in. The real reason why I read this book four times is not the difficulty of digesting the script, but the challenge and reward of discovering and absorbing original ideas from one of the few original thinkers. If N.T.Wright's comments in his brilliant book, "How God Became King" left you frustrated over a possible conflict between the enlightenment and religion, Edge of Words will carry you through. Yes we can be rational; yes we can be poetical; yes it all belongs in the creation of the same God. We are made to be originally, infinitely, physically, poetically, (and sometimes silently!) creative, and conversation is the model.

Rowan Williams, having resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury, is back in a familiar role as teacher and thinker. The Edge of Words is his Gifford Lectures, a very prestigious series which has produced major works since its inception in 1888 (see http://www.giffordlectures.org for more information). Like most of the other books that have come from these Lectures, this is no easy read. On the contrary, it is an advance in Williams's own thought; a powerful affirmation of the value of human thought as a pointer to the true and the real, always pointing beyond itself; a brilliant reply to the likes of Rorty and Dawkins; a profound reflection on poetic speech both in poetry and novels, and more. Neither believer nor unbeliever will be comforted: both will be challenged to keep going beyond, to transcend their thoughts.

This is a difficult book to read because of the weight of its content. It cannot be skim read as every word matters. At first it is like walking across shimmering sands, wondering if there is a sinking sand just ahead. Positing that the way language is used is a very unexpected puzzle challenges everything that has been taken for granted. By suggesting other ways of categorizing how words are used means the mind has to be prepared to be flexible and range over ideas never dreamed of before. When, eventually it is found that language is the most wonderful media by which humans can communicate and so progress the amazing ideas their brains seem to be able to create it is like a new sun shining on the sands and they become firm and beautiful.

I enjoy reading +Rowan's books; it is always a pleasure to spend time with his thoughts. He challenges us to think more deeply, and attempts to coax us gently away from accepting simple answers, in this case about language and the relation of words to meaning. Perhaps more philosophy (which I don't understand) than linguistics (which I do, a bit), but including both.

Meaning is complex. Good to see the boundaries marked out.