Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will step down later this year.
He is described as “Britain’s foremost theologian” in an article by Toby Helm and Julian Coman in the Guardian.
“In an incendiary book”, called Faith in the Public Square, the Archbishop is forthright in his views about such topics as the Big Society: “‘Big society’ rhetoric is all too often heard by many as aspirational waffle designed to conceal a deeply damaging withdrawal of the state from its responsibilities to the most vulnerable”.
Dr Williams also writes about consumerism; Muslims and citizenship; the meaning of economic growth; Christianity, politics and public life; criminalising incitement to religious hatred; ageing; and the secular misunderstanding of religion.
The book is to be published on 22 September.