It is only a small exaggeration to say that Desmond Tutu is as well known as the pope or the Dalai Lama as a spiritual leader. The first black archbishop of Cape Town, this African of the Anglican tradition was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the anti-apartheid campaign in South Africa. Tutu, as a Christian minister, has won himself a place on the world stage as someone who can draw attention to an issue, such as racism, violence or the need for forgiveness.

The selection of writings here shows how he has sought to interpret his pastoral duty in the light of the Gospel. The title essay, God Is Clearly Not a Christian , offers some reflections (and warnings) on God and how religions try to claim Him exclusively for themselves. “God has no enemies, ultimately,” he writes, “for all, all – the atheist, the sinner, every one of those whom we have tended in our respectabilities to push outside – are God’s children.”

Review first published May 4, 2013 in the Irish Times

Posted Jun 5, 2011 by Kelly Bowlin – Digital Journal

Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu’s recent new book shows why this man is a religious giant in the world today. “God is Not A Christian” is a Christian message to behold.

A new release by 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu titled “God is Not A Christian” is a joyous and wonderful look at the principles and philosophy of the famous South African Archbishop who gained world recognition with his stand against apartheid and then his benevolent reconciliation with those whom he opposed.

“God is Not A Christian” is one of the most moving, Christian works you will ever read. It ranks with the great speeches by Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela.

President Obama wrote: “For decades (Tutu) has been a moral titan, a voice of principle, an unrelenting champion of justice, and a dedicated peacemaker…an outspoken voice for freedom and justice in countries across the globe; a staunch defender of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.”

A recent article in the Huffington Post included a brief excerpt from the book. In the excerpt, the archbishop is speaking on a mission to Birmingham, England in 1989:

They tell the story of a drunk who crossed the street and accosted a pedestrian, asking him, “I shay, which ish the other shide of the shtreet?” The pedestrian, somewhat nonplussed, replied, “That side, of course!” The drunk said, “Shtrange. When I wash on that shide, they shaid it wash thish shide.” Where the other side of the street is depends on where we are. Our perspective differs with our context, the things that have helped to form us; and religion is one of the most potent of these formative influences, helping to determine how and what we apprehend of reality and how we operate in our own specific context. My first point seems overwhelmingly simple: that the accidents of birth and geography determine to a very large extent to what faith we belong. The chances are very great that if you were born in Pakistan you are a Muslim, or a Hindu if you happened to be born in India, or a Shintoist if it is Japan, and a Christian if you were born in Italy. I don’t know what significant fact can be drawn from this — perhaps that we should not succumb too easily to the temptation to exclusiveness and dogmatic claims to a monopoly of the truth of our particular faith. You could so easily have been an adherent of the faith that you are now denigrating, but for the fact that you were born here rather than there. My second point is this: not to insult the adherents of other faiths by suggesting, as sometimes has happened, that for instance when you are a Christian the adherents of other faiths are really Christians without knowing it. We must acknowledge them for who they are in all their integrity, with their conscientiously held beliefs; we must welcome them and respect them as who they are and walk reverently on what is their holy ground, taking off our shoes, metaphorically and literally. We must hold to our particular and peculiar beliefs tenaciously, not pretending that all religions are the same, for they are patently not the same. We must be ready to learn from one another, not claiming that we alone possess all truth and that somehow we have a corner on God.

God Transcends Man’s Religions

In a world full of strife, angst, hatred and prejudice, the kindly Archbishop reminds us that we all are, and always have been, one under God. We are finite and God is infinite. Instead of fighting about what makes our own religious perspective the unequivocal voice of God, we should have empathy and love for all people and seek the common basis of faith and perspective that all mankind shares.

Tutu goes on to say: We should in humility and joyfulness acknowledge that the supernatural and divine reality we all worship in some form or other transcends all our particular categories of thought and imagining, and that because the divine — however named, however apprehended or conceived — is infinite and we are forever finite, we shall never comprehend the divine completely.

The essence of what Tutu says is that in all matters of prayer, meditation, and mysticism, we find similarities at the very core of all religions, such as forgiveness, love, generosity, and peace and that we should celebrate those similarities and unite what we share in common.

We should spend less time pointing fingers and attempting to prove why our religion, our Christianity, and our beliefs are right and spend more time accepting and promoting God’s inherent, eternal love. Yes, in Tutu’s eyes, God is not a Christian, he’s so much more.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/print/article/307615#ixzz1SNdqU2OW

Op-Ed: ‘Tutu’s ‘God is not a Christian’ is as Christian as it gets!

“Without us, God has no eyes; without us, God has no ears; without us, God has no arms or hands. God relies on us. Won’t you join other people of faith in becoming God’s partners in the world?” This is the essential question posed by Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu in this collection of sermons, speeches, and writings about his advocacy of faith-based social justice and religious tolerance.

Tutu’s courage and creativity in dealing with the scourge of apartheid in South Africa is well known, along with his formative role in the healing work of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. Likewise his openness to interfaith cooperation in a world of severe need. But what has surprised many is his zeal for the precious virtue of freedom that stands behind both his controversial identification with the Palestinians and his fierce defense of gays and lesbians.

Covering 40 years in his ministry, this book is divided into sections on his impact as “Advocate of Tolerance and Respect,” “International Campaigner for Justice,” “Voice of South Africa’s Voiceless, ” and “South Africa’s Conscience.” Whether talking about restorative justice, human rights, celebrating differences, democracy in South Africa, or the price of freedom, Desmond Tutu speaks as a prophet whose message is not condemnation but a spiritual prodding from the heart. He invites us to join with believers from all religious traditions to begin together on the Great Work as God’s partners.

Spirituality and Practice

July 15, 2011
By Mary Wood

This book is a series of exerpts from speeches and sermons by Archbishop Tutu, the South African cleric who was one of the  courageous  blacks who helped overthrow Apartheid.

There is a chapter quoting him on the nature of human community, and one outlining a Radical Program for Reconciliation.

He was severely criticized for advocating forgiveness of those who have caused suffering, Nazis,and the Dutch Reformed church, which advocated Apartheid and preached that Jews and Palestinians must forgive each other.

Tutu was head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as the liberated country of South African struggled to free itself from the rule of white supremacy.

Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, Tutu visited churches throughout Africa supporting “the continent’s churches as they campaigned for human rights”  — Sudan, Angola, Zaire and Ethopia.

In 1989 he joined other heads of the Anglican churches, visiting and preaching in Central America, and two years later in Ireland.

The book ends on a sad note with Tutu commenting on the fact that having won their great victory, South African leaders have in many areas become as corrupt and dictatorial as their former oppressors.

What courage this scrappy Bishop shows the world.

[Published 2011]
This Scrappy Bishop

Archbishop Desmond Tutu remains one of the Christian Church’s most high-profile and best-loved figures. He has not lost his controversial edge with the passing years and in God is Not a Christian (Rider Books) his biographer, the South African journalist, John Allen, has collected his recent speeches, addresses and articles.

Barack Obama, Kofi Annan, and the Dalai Lama are all quoted on the cover commending the book.

Subjects dealt with include, restorative justice, the place of gays and lesbians in the church, interfaith tolerance, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, black theology and why Christians must be involved in politics. Archbishop Tutu is never afraid to be controversial.

Church of England Newspaper
Book review: God is not a Christian