From Monk to Modernity: The Challenge of Modern Thinking by Dominic Kirkham. SOF (Sea of Faith Network, Birmingham 2015). 162 pages. £10.
Many readers will have enjoyed and been stimulated by Dominic Kirkham’s articles and letters in Sofia. In this publication, Kirkham’s first book, the thoughts and experiences contained in those previous writings are woven together in a fully formed and, in places, beautiful patchwork. Here are the stories, both of the author’s own journey and of some key themes of modern – and post-modern – thought.
Some familiar themes are explored in the history of ideas but, for me at least, there were plenty of new insights. Kirkham’s writing is particularly impressive when he is pushing familiar ideas to a new level. Most of us acknowledge, for example, that there are times in life when we may need to change, but how about the idea that ‘changing once is not sufficient’? We may been keen to recognise responsibilities as well as rights, but why might it be important that we devise a new way of living based not on rights but on respect? And what difference is made by emphasising the ‘response’ part of the word ‘responsibility’? Or by the idea that ‘the universe is not just a collection of objects, but a communion of subjects’?
Kirkham blends key historical moments, personalities and movements into an intelligible story of (a) how we got to where we are today and (b) what a struggle it has been, and continues to be, to see what is there in plain sight right before us. And not only that, but to show where we might well be going and how we might come to terms with it.
Throughout we are treated to Kirkham’s take on some of the great thinkers of history and of some of the less well known innovators, such as the 18th century Welsh landscape painter, Thomas Jones. Jones painted ‘what he saw’ and in that simple act chimed in with another revolution taking place in geological understanding. There are echoes of Don Cupitt here, particularly in the promotion of the ‘ordinary’ as a means for provoking the outrage required for a changed understanding of the world.
Particular criticism is reserved for those who stand on the moralities whose foundations have long crumbled. By contrast, values ’embedded in humanity’ are identified that may yet aid our survival. The path of ‘critical honesty’ that Kirkham has attempted to portray here traces a path that many SOF members will recognise, from commitment to a particular religious tradition, through the challenges of ‘modernity’, to a broadly ‘human spirituality’.
All in all, this shortish book is a tour de force. It is a hopeful book, despite the ironic sideways glances and recognition of the downright tragedies of so many beliefs, political convictions and philosophies. We may now be living on the penumbra of the Enlightenment, but with the help of Dominic Kirkham and his like, we may yet arrive at a ‘good life’ in this world.
Dave Francis is Deputy Chair of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, Lead Consultant for RE: ONLINE, and Associate Adviser for RE in North Somerset and Bath & North East Somerset. He is a SOF trustee.
From Monk to Modernity can be ordered for £10 post-free from SOF Admin, 28 Frederick Road, Birmingham B15 1JN, from bookshops or online.