New book links Christian and Celtic themes

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, has welcomed a book by the former head of CYTUN, Churches Together in Wales, which draws parallels between the Gospel story of the transfiguration and the medieval Celtic tale of Bendigeidfran and Branwen in the Mabinogion.

Spirituality or Religion: do we have to choose? by Gethin Abraham-Williams, challenges the hide-your-head-in-the-sand attitude of many in today's churches to the issues that really trouble people.

"Too many Christians prefer to live in a state of institutional amnesia", says the author, "rather than open the door to reality and work through the problems, however painful."

Abraham-Williams makes a strong case for not separating the practice of religion and the exploration of contemporary spirituality.

His book, says the Archbishop, "will stretch our minds and imaginations and also move our hearts."

"Abraham-Williams' writings always have the capacity to surprise because his insights are always new and fresh on topics which one thought everything possible had already been said.

"His observations are never trite; he uses no cliches but touches on the things that really matter when one is trying to be a disciple of Jesus. Here is a book that will stretch our minds and imaginations and also move our hearts so that we might better serve God and his world."

The author brings to his perceptive analysis the insights he gained when he was formerly a member of the First Minister's Inter Faith Forum.

"Wales owes him an enormous debt," says Bible translator, John Henson. It is a book "addressed to a wide audience, despite the new experience for many of being invited into the dark passages of a Celtic myth," he adds.

Spirituality or Religion: do we have to choose? will be published on November 8, by O-Books, price £11.99.