Book Review: DESMOND TUTU: A Spiritual Biography of South Africa’s Confessor by Michael Battle
This dense book has an introduction by the Dali Lama and an Afterward by Archbishop Tutu himself. The author Michael Battle lived with and was ordained by Tutu.
Battle maintains that Archbishop Tutu is not only a presence on the South African and world stages but also a Confessor (a person who put Jesus and his message foremost in all he said and did) and a living Saint. Though he often faced the threat of martyrdom, he has lived to become one of the world’s most prominent religious figures.The book is divided according to the three stages of the traditional definition of the Christian spiritual life: Purgative, Illuminative, and Unitive Ways. With these as organizational guideposts, Battle walks us through Tutu’s life. Or better yet the book walks us through the development of his spiritual life as it unfolds in his often embattled public life. It definitely is not your standard biography. Rather it gives one an insight into a person we might call a “great Christian soul.” A saint indeed.
Reviewed by Jay Wright, St. John’s Cathedral
This book is available in the Cathedral Bookstore & Gift Shop.