By Sarah Mac Donald - 05 February, 2020
Bishop Rowan Williams. Image: ACNS/Scott Gunn
The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop Rowan Williams, will give a lecture later this month titled ‘Faith in Democracy’ in Dublin.
Bishop Williams served as 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2003 until 2012. He is acknowledged internationally as an outstanding theological writer and academic.
As well as serving as a priest and a bishop, he is a scholar in philosophy and theology, and has taught at Oxford and Cambridge, as well as penning over thirty books, including a poetry collection, a biography of Dostoyevsky, and a reflection on the nature of art and love.
The Rt Revd Lord Williams of Oystermouth was previously Archbishop of Wales (2000–2002) and Bishop of Monmouth (1992–2002), in the Church in Wales.
He will deliver his lecture at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in Dublin on Tuesday, 18th February. He is due to consider whether global politics at the moment is exhibiting a deep confusion about the nature of democracy, and what Christian theology and practice has to say on the subject.
Dr Williams has been involved in many theological, ecumenical and educational commissions.
A scholar of early and patristic Christianity, spirituality and religious aesthetics, in 1983, he wrote that orthodoxy should be seen “as a tool rather than an end in itself…” It is not something which stands still but part of a constant dialogue.
He has written extensively on moral, ethical and social topics as well as contemporary cultural and interfaith issues.
The Church of Ireland is marking 150 years since it was disestablished from the Church of England. Last November, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Rt Rev Justin Welby preached at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin as part of the #D150 programme.
