Book Review: Telling Our Faith Stories

My story and your stories within the great story of the universe.

Kevin Treston

Dr Kevin Treston, OAM has been involved in educational ministry for over 60 years and worked in many countries. He is a member of the Association of Practical Theology Oceania.

Written in the context of a crisis in Western Christianity, a global pandemic that changed social mores and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kevin Treston has provided us with a great resource. It invites each of us to reflect on our own faith journey, note the steppingstones, share the accounts, and observe how they together form ‘the story of the universe…woven into a magnificent and mysterious narrative”.

Life is lived forwards but understood backwards Kierkegaard.

My observation of Kevin over a long period is of a person who has instinctive teaching skills. He is someone who lives every day as a learning experience to which he intentionally adds his own persona and gives witness to a driving force he calls the Divine Presence. But he warns of the limitations of language to describe the nature of all that is God and locking that into an orthodox doctrine.

Kevin takes a refreshingly rational approach, as an ‘insider’ of the faith, towards dogma and doctrine and the part they play in religions. He sees the limits they place on the ‘divine expanse of an inclusive God’ and how they lock out great possibilities for growing our consciousness away from bigotry and sectarianism. Clearly, our faith stories are enriched when we allow our consciousness to evolve as a result of our interaction with new perspectives.

The author has faced many faith challenges including from the Church itself but has refused to be distracted by negativity as he continues to seek after elusive truths and to encourage others to do the same. He unpacks many key doctrines and throws light on emerging questions about the universe and the ‘evolutionary progression of all things’ and how Jesus has bequeathed to us a new consciousness, ‘a prophetic dream’ of love and compassion across space and time in the face of much gloom and cultural pessimism.

This is a book to enjoy, to study, to share and discuss and to interact with. If it leads to personal reflection on one’s own journey it has served its purpose well. The author manages to take his own Catholic faith journey and demonstrate how anyone regardless of denomination or religion can benefit from pausing to consider where their journey has been and where it may be taking them. I was greatly moved by the depth of critical thinking in this book. A great read.

Dr Paul Inglis, UCFORUM, June 2022

Can be purchased directly from Kevin Treston. Contact Kevin at 07 385 1712 or kevintreston@gmail.com. Cost $25 plus postage.

oOo

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