4th February 2010
(This follows a long conversation with Adriana about matters brought up in my Letters. She is as should be evident, a believer.)
Adriana. As we covered so much ground it may be useful for me to go through as many of the separate points as I can recall. This may help you. In no order. Just as they occur to me.
1. The 3 books I mentioned.
Francis Collins, The Language of God, Pocket Books, 2007 isbn-13:978-1-84739-092-9
Scientifically very imformative. Ditto too on the problems of the atheist/christian debate (if one can call it that: a lot of it is statement by each side of its beliefs without any or sufficient explanation – especially, it seems to me, by the atheist side – but I would say that, wouldn’t I according to our atheist brethren)
Fern Elsdon-Baker, The Selfish Genius, Icon Books 2009. isbn 978-184831-049-0 Have only read half of it, so agood deal of interesting pages yet to read through when get time.
Fascinating read. Again very informative scientifically anddebate-wise. By a woman very qualified to write about Darwin and how he is treated by Richard Dawkins. (As a male feminist, I couldn’t help thinking that it has taken a good woman to put the Professor in context.)How he does neither Darwinism (as opposed to his version of it) and scientific debate a disservice. As a side note. I found this book quite by accident in a local Waterstones. Some days before this event, the question had begun to roll round in my mind: Could Dawkins not be more accurately described as ‘Professor of the Chair for the Mis-understanding of Science?’ … I had wondered if this was not me being a bit negative to a celebrity (who certainly encourages negativity by his abrasive and intolerant style). It was a pleasant surprise to note that F E-B states that he has not been helpful to understanding science. She points out that he talks as if his way of understanding Science is the only – and correct – way.
Albert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions, Condor Book Souvenir Press london 1973reissued 2005 isbn 0 285 64725 3
Need hardly say that this makes fascinating readijng. Actually I was surprised to find that Albert E is so interesting in other fields – egsociety politics and religion. The man is impressive with a capital “I”. So broad. So committed to his three ideals: Kindness, Beauty, Truth. (cf p. 9) Isn’t that magnificent? His tolerance of individual national cultural differences.
Dawkins would benefit from reading him. The first 11 pages alone should be enough to show him how different a person Einstein was to himself. In fact, it seems to me that AE would find Dawkins’ intransigent, intolerant, arrogant approach (ably abetted by Daniel Dennett, now departed, Chris Hitchens and Sam Harris) deeply disturbing and distatasteful.
I was quite taken aback to see how Dawkins in The GOD Delusion has a sanitised version of the text (p. 11)he attributes to Einstein on page 19 of his book. This re-write of Einstein (where did he get it from? was it his own paraphrase? no reference given).
2…..Remember. In understanding the Bible, interpreting whether words are to be taken as from God, we start with Christ and work backwards. He is the perfect image of the God we cannot see. His teaching gives the truth. Anything in the Old Testament (or anywhere else for that matter) that contradicts what Christ taught is not from God.
In understanding the OT we also have to take the ethos, ideas of the times into serious account. Eg the behaviour of Joshuah and the captured towns. When I re-read the book of that name, as a result of the thinking the good Professor was making me do, I was totally shocked at the cruelty of his no quarter given methods. It took me some time to see how it was only understandable in light of the ethos of the time. You behaved that way or you went under then.
That is no longer how we can behave post Christ and his words to Peter in the Garden or, evenmore, his words on the cross. Any Christian who uses cruel passages in the OT as spur to his/her cruel behaviour is not following God’s s
Spirit. He/she is just showing what sort of a cruel heart they have.
3…What do we think of things like the Inquisition? We agree. Not on, a million times not on.
What was Christ’s definition of a Christian?
This: “By this shall men know that you are my disciples: that you love one another. Genuine love which is love in action. And what kind of love? Again our Saviour spelt it out: Love one another as I have loved you. Anyone who does not live that love is not a Christian even if they are Pope Chief Moderator Archbishop or whatever. That is the plain conclusion of Christ blindingly clear words.
And the corollary is that any person who lives lovingly, caringly, even if they are not a Christian, be they atheist, Hindu, Rastafarian or whatever – that person lives in God and God in him/her. (Read the wonderful first letter of John on this. He couldn’t be clearer.) Those who think that God or Christ love only Christians have a defective understanding of Christ or the Gospels, never mind the rest of the New Testament. If God went in for such favouritism, He would indeed by repulsive. He doesn’t. In the prophet Malachi (last book of the Old Testament) there is the line, “God has no favourites.” Could our God, speaking through his prophet Malachi, put it more clearly?
4…In your Bible reading start with the Gospels, then the rest of the New Testament. (Revelations is a unique book. If you find it helpful, read on. It’s great stuff. But if it’s a problem for you, leave it. The time will come when you can get back to it.
Start with Gospel of John beginning at chapter 13: the wonderful washing of the feet. It so shows the humility of Christ.
The astounding thing, the most astounding thing in the whole wide universe of reality is this: it deserves to be in letters 100 meteres high and in blazing lights: THE HUMILITY OF GOD. Think on that till you see it, not just in your mind, but in your heart: the inmost depth of yourself where intellectual truths come alive as life and vitality and nourishment for your psyche.
Then, when you’ve read the Gospels and letters, move to the OT. With Christ’s teaching under your belt and remembering the criterion of ”ideas of the times” you’ll be able to sort out for yourself, hopefully, what is of God and what is of the ignorance, the blindness, the vanity or cultural conditioning of men (mainly – as they had the whip hand in society – sometimes literally where the women are concerned!)
ONe exception to this is this. If you have a Scripture with gives you references to similar passages in the OT, and you feel like doing so, follow them up. Useful. But don’t do too much of this. The main task is to get to know the teachihng and actions of Christ our Saviour and Brother.
5…And, KEY to the life of being a Christian: RELY ON THE HOLY SPIRIT. Written too in letters as tall as you can make them. He has been given us – Christ had to go through everything that life can throw at us to win us the Spirit of God. He is given us as our Counsellor. Personal one-to-one tuition fromGod’s very own Spirit. The Spirit who is the power and the love of God. (This sort of talk makes some people a bit anxious. It sounds to them like a recipe for becoming an enthusiastic over-the-top Christian who thinks he/she knows it all and will buck all authority. Not so. We must never lose contact with our tradition back as far as Christ. Respect all that sincere committed Christians of all brands have learnt/been taught by God’s Spirit over the centuries.
Authoritarian Christian leaders do not like this doctrine. It cuts at their desire to run things their way, impose their will. Power lust, all too present even in churches.
6… The two Creation stories are wonderful sacred stories – but not history. And Christians do great harm by hanging on to the outdated view that they are.
The greatest truth in the 7 day story is that God made us in his own image. That is the astonishing revelation there.
In the other story – so real. That incorporates awarning to all: the temptation to a power struggle with God. We all do it. Want to go our way. God knows all too well. He knows of what we are made. He should; He made us. If we are basically sincere, He will lead us to a better, wiser, more productive life-style than wrestling with him.
Finally the point about the unity of Christians and belief in Christ.
Look towards the end of Jesus’s talk with the Apostles at the Last Supper. There he prays to his Father. (Quote from memory) ”Father, may they [those who believe in me] be one as You and I Father are one, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
See the logic here? Our unity is the sign (the proof?) to the world – non-believers – that Jesus was sent by God. If we are not united – and we are not – though moves have been made – thank God – to change this – if we are not united the world will not believe that God sent Jesus.
In other words we Christians are the main/crucial reason for the world’s unbelief. Not them!
Isn’t that horrendous? How many Chrsitian leaders do you hear telling that to their people and urging them to change things – being themselves the first to give the example of this change. To lead the way. Words without personal example are useless.
Have to stop here. Sorry/. Not even time to go over and correct. St Teresa of Avila wrote reams of letters. She said that she simply had not the energy to correct them. She wisely said. “They can see what I mean anyway!” If ever you get her life written by Marcelle Auclair - and have the time – read it. Great stuff. Com;prehensively documented all the way through. An eye opener. Teresa of Avila is one of the great women of history.
With love,
John
PS Remember, to speed things up you can put comments, ask questions on this web page. The fastest way to get things to me. Sorry it took so long for me to publish this letter here! It is now 8th February. When I tried to publish after writing it, for some reasonthe computer would not do what it was told. Probably something I’d done upset it!
