Struggling with God: Mental Health and Christian Spirituality: Foreword by Justin Welby

'Remarkably beautiful and pastoral' JUSTIN WELBY, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

'Brimming with wisdom and humanity' DAME SARAH MULLALLY, DBE, BISHOP OF LONDON

Struggling with God gets right to the heart of a great predicament for many Christians. When it feels as if our struggles are overwhelming - and our capacity for faith and hope and love is diminished - how is it possible to maintain, never mind nourish, our relationship with God?

The truth, as this deeply compassionate volume reminds us, is that Jesus came alongside people wrestling with mental health problems. Many familiar conditions, such as anxiety and depression, and more severe ones, including bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia, are addressed by the authors here. Dispelling common myths and misconceptions, they explore the impact such mental health disorders can have on individual Christians, Church and society..

Each chapter includes biblical reflections relevant to its theme, prayers, questions to facilitate individual/group study, and pointers to further reading. In short, the book presents a Christian vision of spiritual and mental wellbeing through prayerful struggling with God.

About the Author
Christopher C. H. Cook (Author)
Christopher C. H. Cook is Professor of Spirituality, Theology & Health at Durham University. He worked as a psychiatrist in the NHS for over 25 years before retiring from clinical practice, and was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2001. He ministers in a small rural parish in the Yorkshire Dales and is the author of several books.

Isabelle Hamley (Author)
Isabelle Hamley is Theological Adviser to the House of Bishops and was formerly Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Isabelle has written a number of recognised books on questions of justice, mercy and restoration, having been a probation officer before ordination and ministering subsequently amidst the diversity of parish life.

John Swinton (Author)
John Swinton is a Scottish theologian, academic, and Presbyterian minister. He is the Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies (University of Aberdeen) and the founder of the university's Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. John is a major figure in the development of disability theology and was awarded in 2016 the Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing for his book Dementia: Living in the Memories of God.