The Spiritual City

“A quite exceptionally original and timely book, which combines deep knowledge of the Christian tradition with sensitivity to the issues of urban life today, and offers fresh insight into what the sacramental community of Christian faith brings to our current anxieties about social cohesion, justice and inclusion.” Dr Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury and now Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge

"This is an extraordinarily thoughtful book. In carefully tracing the history of Christian thought on the city, Philip Sheldrake shows how a sense of the sacred can replenish the urban aesthetic and lives led today largely in environments that push belonging, community and fulfilment to the very edge of togetherness. A compelling and beautifully written book." Ash Amin, University of Cambridge

More than half of the world’s population now live in cities, and the balance between town and country changes day by day. Christian understandings of the city have often been negative, but Sheldrake shows that there is a rich tradition of thinking about the city throughout Christian history. This tradition can contribute to the moral and spiritual vision which is essential if cities are to continue to be humanising and hopeful places, spaces of reconciliation rather than alienation. In dialogue with geographers, philosophers as well as social theorists Sheldrake sets out a rich and complex vision of how Christian thinking can contribute to a world wide debate. Tim Gorringe, University of Exeter