Keeping Alive the Rumor of God
When Most People Are Looking the Other Way
Foreword by David R. Peel
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
"Can't you hear those little bells tinkling? Down on your knees! They're bringing the sacraments to a dying God," wrote Heinrich Heine in 1834. It took a while but today it is happening. Across the Western world the traditional picture of God is dying, and institutional religion collapsing. Today we are trying something never done before, living with no agreed narrative that tells us who we are and with a materialist view of life.
It isn't enough. An idea of God may have died but the mystery of our human life is of an inner depth which is not simply physical or material. Marvel, mystery, wonder, beauty, love, the numinous, the mysterium tremendum, remain the essence of who we are. What I am trying to do is describe this experience in such a way that those who have not had it can get a glimpse of it from inside and understand how it can give a life meaning and purpose. This is explored through a liberal Christian tradition committed to social justice and honest exploration. Scripture is vital to this but so are art, poetry, music, and beauty. When most people are looking the other way, we must keep the rumor of God alive.
Martin Camroux is a United Reformed Church minister and chair of Free to Believe, the URC Liberal Network. He served in local ecumenical partnerships for nearly thirty years and was the London Times “Preacher of the Year” in 2001. He is author of Ecumenism in Retreat: How the URC Failed to Break the Mould (2016).
“In this book Martin Camroux provides a clear and sincere exposition of those close twins, liberal and mystical theology. It is born of personal experience in pastoral and preaching ministry and richly supported by telling quotations garnered from a lifetime of wide reading and deep reflection.”
—Ian Bradley, author of Grace, Order, Openness and Diversity: Reclaiming Liberal Theology
“This is an honest, brave, and forthright account of a preacher’s life and convictions. It is an exposition of liberal theology which shows both its apologetic potential and the sustaining power of its attendant spirituality for churches in ‘post-Christendom.’ Moving and provocative, it deserves respect and scrutiny in equal measure.”
—David Cornick, University of Cambridge
“Martin Camroux’s erudite and well-reasoned defense of his profoundly felt and deeply sincere, life-long liberal Christian faith makes compelling reading. Dr. Camroux’s theological and literary knowledge, his understanding of church and political history and current affairs, and his reasoned arguments and rigorous scholarship (not to mention his blunt honesty) are enviable.”
—Richard D. Jurd, Senior Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, 1975–2011, and URC lay preacher
“Camroux offers us a thought-provoking and reflective account of the Christian faith in the light of the current challenging circumstances of the church. It emerges from a lifetime of learning, worn with the lightness of touch of a preacher. Rooted in the classical liberal tradition, this is reflection on the reality of God as encountered in human experience. He offers an account of the faith which, even where I might disagree, always makes me think more deeply.”
—John Bradbury, General-Secretary of the United Reformed Church
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