Why have you forsaken me?

In this powerful book on the experience of desolation John Colwell focuses on Psalm 22, read in the light of his own struggle with bi-polar disorder and the Christian belief that God the Son suffered in his humanity, to offer existential-theological reflections on the experience of God-forsakenness. Colwell writes, "My concern in writing this book and in reading this psalm is to reflect on the felt experience of God-forsakenness, my own and that of Christ, in the light of this psalm; to explore the theological and spiritual significance of this felt experience for myself, for Christ, for Christians generally. If this exploration proves to be helpful to me or to others then I am glad, but I am not writing this book to be helpful but rather to be truthful (and perhaps hopeful)."