“Many will warm to him who think that theological language and concepts grown stale and fusty will benefit from being thrown up in the air so that we can be excited by seeing where they land. And they often do land in interesting places, thus yielding a wealth of striking aphorisms and insights.Others, however, who value plodding virtues such as accuracy and attention to what the scriptures and teachers of the tradition have actually said, will find difficulty with the sweeping generalisations, questionable assertions, and Aunt Sallys that Rohr frequently sets up, so as then to be able, triumphantly, to knock them down.”
In a review of the same book George Sumner,
the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, claims that “to say that Rohr is outside the bounds of the
mainstream Christian theological tradition is not a harsh attack on him. Rather
it is to simply take him seriously.”
I have friends who like Rohr’s writings and commended them to
me. I read much of Falling Upward: A Spirituality For The Two Halves Of Life
(London: SPCK, 2012) but I did not get on with the implied author who came
across to me as pompous and patronising. All this makes me hesitant to spend
time with another Richard Rohr book. But for various reasons I think it might
be useful for me tor reflect on my response to Things Hidden: Scripture as
Spirituality (London: SPCK, 2016).
Not interested in writing a critical, detached review, I want to
explore possibilities for learning (recognition, retrieval) as well as note
where and maybe why Rohr rubs me up the wrong way.
