Barefoot Disciple: Walking the Way of Passionate Humility -- The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2011

by Stephen Cherry

Book by Cherry, Stephen

Genres: Theology

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 2, 2010

About the author

Stephen Cherry is the Dean of King's College, Cambridge.

Reviews

[Brian Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book worth a great deal of time & consideration.

Stephen Cherry discusses the extremely difficult subject of humility with great insight & clarity. making clear the huge gap between Uriah Heep style self-serving, under the guise of a parody of true humility: he gives a clear picture of "Passionate humility" with its many facets, as a strong & powerful force in the individuals life, & in the contributions that those individuals make to a the wider community.

Having finished the book, am poised to restart it, in order to develop some group study materials from it. Should make for very challenging discussions!

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most ABC's Lent books this is a meditation on a theme rather than a doctrinal thesis or Biblical exegesis. The theme in this case is that undervalued virtue of humility (completely absent from Aristotle's list of virtues). Cherry takes different angles on humility and humiliation drawing extensively on his travels in India and South America . A helpful reminder to grow in humility and follow the example of Christ.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Made me stop and think often, and often think about changing things I do and how to do that and why it would be a good idea. Great to read a book where you know the author has really had to work through all this stuff himself - I learnt a lot and really enjoyed the stories and author's willingness to expose his own experiences. Easy to read and enjoyable, and a bit life changing!

[Cathy Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thought provoking but very accessible. It has taken me a long time to get round to this book - I wish I had read it sooner. Will need rereading several times to unpick the truths within.

[Sasha Wolf · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found most of this dull and trite, the kind of thing anyone who has spent any significant time in a relatively middle-of-the-road Anglican parish will have heard in countless sermons. The one time my reaction rose to actual annoyance was when Cherry made the classic error of confusing “critique” with the destructive kind of criticism; the few times that I actually enjoyed any of it were when he was quoting other people, particularly Iris Murdoch in one of her more Buddhist moments: “Only rarely does one meet somebody in whom [humility] positively shines, in whom one apprehends with amazement the absence of the anxious avaricious tentacles of the self.”

[Knightgina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely good, challenging, inspirational. Loved it.