Abstract
The intriguing title of this book incites curiosity: who or what is it that might be or is ‘being formed by the Spirit in Church and World’? The answer is twofold: the Church itself, with a particular focus on the Church of England; and individual Christians, with reference to the author’s own experience, which might be described as a conversion. Leith addresses the question of how Christians learn to live well. When she began her research, she assumed that the answer was by drawing on the rich resources and traditions of the Church. By the time she finished, she had not abandoned that position, but she had modified it, having come to see how the encounter with the Spirit outside the confines of the Church can reveal inadequacies, corruptions, distortions – in short, sins – within the Church that compromise its ability to teach people how to live well. Worse still, until these shortcomings are recognized, the Church can reinforce or even promote ethical malformation.
Leith proposes two dispositions to remedy this situation. The first is doubt as a ‘central discipline in Christian formation’; the second is a radical attentiveness to the presence and activity of the Spirit, most especially in strange and unexpected places. In commending ‘doubt’, Leith is calling for a humble and critical self-awareness that, towards the end of the book, comes into focus as a ‘self-directed scepticism’. In Part II, ‘Ecclesial formation’, she takes issue with those who hold to the assumption with which she began (crudely, that there was nothing wrong with the Church), in particular Graham Ward and Sam Wells. They might wish to question the extent to which her criticisms are justified, but the criticisms are balanced by her deep appreciation of elucidations by both authors of the ways in which the Church teaches positive lessons on how to live well. In Part III, ‘Formation through civic life’, Leith explores various forms of engagement in public life in which Christians can discern the activity of the Spirit in the world, then apply their learning to shape or reshape the Church.
One possible weakness of the book is that it is interlaced with so many cross-references – ‘As I have mentioned …’, ‘As we saw in Chapter Two …’ – followed by a recapitulation; every chapter has a conclusion that summarizes the preceding pages. Some readers may find this unnecessarily repetitive, though some may find it helpful. An undoubted strength is evident in the many passages of applied theology, for instance in her analysis of the extent to which the Church of England played a leading role in promoting imperialism, or her exposition of the power structures that marginalize and exclude women, LGBT people and people of colour, or of lower class. Leith provides a powerful case for the doubt and discernment that she commends. Anyone who engages with her thinking runs the risk of being converted.