Religion and Public Life: Tom Butler's Thoughts for the Day - Softcover

This is an exploration of the Church's role of relating religious values and insights to public life, drawing on twenty years' contributions to "Thought for the Day". For more than twenty years, Bishop Tom Butler has related religious belief to the events of public life, both national and global, in regular contributions to BBC Radio 4's "Thought for the Day". Each 'Thought' is prompted by current events, without knowing how the news will develop, thereby illustrating how religion relates to contemporary life and how the insights it offers may develop over time. Here, Tom Butler explores themes ranging from The Gulf Wars and Terrorism via Science, Medical Ethics and Political Life to Religion itself. Drawing on (and incorporating) a selection of "Thought for the Day scripts" covering a twenty-year period, he charts the developing relationship between religion and public life and explores the Church's role of bringing religious values and insights to bear on topical issues and restating the public's hopes and fears in religious language.

Bishop Tom Butler has been a regular contributor to Thought for the Day since 1988. He was for eleven years Bishop of Southwark, and Co-Chair of the Interfaith Network of Britain and Ireland. Previously Bishop of Leicester and, before that, Bishop of Willesden, he was a member of the House of Lords for fourteen years, and chaired several of the Church of England's Councils and Boards.