This week is the eighth week in Ordinary Time (Counting Time). Sunday, May 30, Trinity Sunday takes precedence and hence replaces the Sunday in the ninth week in Ordinary Time.
In the New Zealand Anglican Church there is no requirement to use a creed at a Eucharist. My suggestion is that Trinity Sunday be one Sunday when the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed be said by all. Just to stir things along a bit, it might be said as per the original, ie, omitting the Filioque (”and the Son” – added at the non-ecumenical 3rd Council of Toledo, 589). Some provinces have restored the original. Others of us in communities that use the Filioque might find ourselves suddenly pausing for a breath at that point and so find ourselves proclaiming: “… who proceeds from the Father <sudden need to draw breath> with the Father and the Son…” Who knows, a majority in a community, may suddenly all find themselves needing to draw breath at this point…
Lambeth Conference 1978 passed “that all member Churches of the Anglican Communion should consider omitting the Filioque from the Nicene Creed, and that the Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission through the Anglican Consultative Council should assist them in presenting the theological issues to their appropriate synodical bodies and should be responsible for any necessary consultation with other Churches of the Western tradition.”
Lambeth Conference 1988 passed “that further thought be given to the Filioque clause, recognising it to be a major point of disagreement (with the Orthodox) … recommending to the provinces of the Anglican Communion that in future liturgical revisions the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed be printed without the Filioque clause.”
The General Convention of The Episcopal Church (USA) in 1985 recommended that the Filoque clause should be removed from the Nicene Creed, if this were endorsed by the 1988 Lambeth Conference. This has not been implemented. The Anglican Church of Canada conforms to the Lambeth resolution.
Some relate Trinity Sunday to the Athanasian Creed. This is not the most popular of creeds nowadays. From a liturgical perspective, it may be worth highlighting “the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship” – this is the universal Christian faith: worship. On Trinity Sunday, of course, it is worth continuing: “the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity”. Some other parts of the Athanasian Creed may be harder work to explain (not that explaining the Trinity will be particularly an easy task…).
The Church of England has used the Athanasian Creed as a source for:
We proclaim the Church’s faith in Jesus Christ.
All
We believe and declare that our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, is both divine and human.
God, of the being of the Father,
the only Son from before time began;
human from the being of his mother, born in the world;
All
fully God and fully human;
human in both mind and body.
As God he is equal to the Father,
as human he is less than the Father.
All
Although he is both divine and human
he is not two beings but one Christ.
One, not by turning God into flesh,
but by taking humanity into God;
All
truly one, not by mixing humanity with Godhead,
but by being one person.
For as mind and body form one human being
so the one Christ is both divine and human.
All
The Word became flesh and lived among us;
we have seen his glory,
the glory of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
I am not, however, suggesting that this replace the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Symbol/Creed, nor do I think it is helpful to have a second credal declaration in one service. One creed and a solid Eucharistic Prayer (our Christian Shema) I think is quite sufficient.
In with the comments, please also remember to feel free to add links and suggestions for hymns, prayers, etc. for Trinity Sunday. The week following Trinity Sunday, of course, is the ninth week in Ordinary Time. One, of course, does not use the collect for Trinity Sunday in the week following.
I was in a gift shop with a cafe, having a coffee, when I spotted the above Maria & Jesus salt & pepper grinders for sale. I went over to the counter with “Maria” and asked the young woman working there:
“Who is this?”
She paused, hesitated, looked at the box (”Maria”, it says). “Mary Magdalene?” she ventured. Immediately I sensed that her knowledge of Christianity clearly had one source: Dan Brown.
“Well, Mary Magdalene isn’t normally shown holding a crucifix, is she?” I suggested.
Blank look.
“Do you know the Christian story?” I asked with, I hope, a friendly smile.
She admitted, a little – translation: not much, not really.
It’s not her fault.
It’s illegal in New Zealand State primary schools to present religious instruction. Some primary state schools allow their premises to be used once a week for a half hour of religious education prior to the school being legally open, and parents give permission for their children to attend such classes. It’s run by volunteers – and you are lucky if your school has it.
In State secondary schools religious education is legal. But I only know of one school in the country that has it as an option.
Only about 15% of Kiwis receive their education in faith-based schools with religious education. So Jesus’ mum’s name can be as difficult a question for some people in NZ as Siddhartha Gautama’s mum’s name might be elsewhere.
And identifying the “Maria” statue above can be a real struggle.
Clearly it was for the creator of this grinder.
Faith and meaning aside, it must be such a struggle to make sense of Western art, history, religious allusions in literature, music, films, etc. When it comes to encountering the Christian story for the first time some might argue that such people arrive without prejudice, presumptions, or particular baggage. It’s another interesting option for a thesis research.
[ps. my closest guess - I think "Maria" looks like a poor representation of Thérèse of Lisieux - any better guesses?]
The Shroud of Turin has gone on display from April 10 to May 23. This is the the most examined artefact on the planet.
The shroud is a fascinating example of a dialogue between Science and Religion/Faith. The shroud cannot be used to prove the resurrection or faith. On the other hand, I am of the opinion that the 1988 carbon dating test (which resulted in dating the shroud to between 1260 and 1390) is not conclusive. From a scientific point of view, looking back on it, that test clearly does not stand up to appropriate rigour. A further issue is the inability of current technology to replicate anything like the shroud’s image.
I have purchased Ian Wilson’s new book, and started looking at it, but have not read far enough to make a proper review – but certainly I know it will be a quality read.
The History Channel is showing a documentary and a download will be provided. I am looking forward to watching that.
Archbishop Poletto of Turin has said it well:
It is quite clear to all that our Christian faith is not based on the shroud but on the Gospel and the teaching of the Apostles. However, the displaying of the Shroud is an occasion to help the faithful meditate, pray and contemplate on the mystery and extraordinary suffering of Christ. There is no mathematical certainty that the Shroud is indeed the cloth in which Our Lord was wrapped. This can only come from scientists and historians, if it is possible at all. However, it is also true that all attempts to imitate or recreate it artificially have failed and it is certainly not something which was manufactured.
I think it not inappropriate that this blog-post is put up on the day when Christians, East and West, proclaim the gospel John 20:19-31. Further info at the Shroud of Turin website.
The Exsultet (Exultet) can be a good source of reflection during the Easter Season. The Exsultet originates from some time between the fifth and seventh centuries and is the traditional Western Rite hymn of praise intoned by the deacon during the Easter Vigil after the procession with the Paschal Candle.
Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God’s throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!
Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God’s people!
My dearest friends,
standing with me in this holy light,
join me in asking God for mercy,
that he may give his unworthy minister
grace to sing his Easter praises.
Deacon: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Deacon: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Deacon: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.
It is truly right
that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God, the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam’s sin to our eternal Father!
This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.
This is the night
when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.
This is the night
when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin!
This is the night
when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.
This is the night
when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.
What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?
Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave you gave away your Son.
O happy fault,
O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!
Most blessed of all nights,
chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!
Of this night scripture says:
“The night will be as clear as day:
it will become my light, my joy.”
The power of this holy night dispels all evil,
washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,
brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride.
Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth
and man is reconciled with God!
Therefore, heavenly Father,
in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your Church’s solemn offering.
Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.
(For it is fed by the melting wax,
which the mother bee brought forth
to make this precious candle.)
Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!
May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.
Exsúltet iam angélica turba cælórum:
exsúltent divína mystéria:
et pro tanti Regis victória tuba ínsonet salutáris.
Gáudeat et tellus, tantis irradiáta fulgóribus:
et ætérni Regis splendóre illustráta,
tótius orbis se séntiat amisísse calíginem.
Lætétur et mater Ecclésia,
tanti lúminis adornáta fulgóribus:
et magnis populórum vócibus hæc aula resúltet.
[Quaprópter astántes vos, fratres caríssimi,
ad tam miram huius sancti lúminis claritátem,
una mecum, quæso,
Dei omnipoténtis misericórdiam invocáte.
Ut, qui me non meis méritis
intra Levitárum númerum dignátus est aggregáre,
lúminis sui claritátem infúndens,
cérei huius laudem implére perfíciat.]
[Vers. Dóminus vobíscum.
Resp. Et cum spíritu tuo.]
Vers. Sursum corda.
Resp. Habémus ad Dóminum.
Vers. Grátias agámus Dómino Deo nostro.
Resp. Dignum et iustum est.
Vere dignum et iustum est,
invisíbilem Deum Patrem omnipoténtem
Filiúmque eius unigénitum,
Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum,
toto cordis ac mentis afféctu et vocis ministério personáre.
Qui pro nobis ætérno Patri Adæ débitum solvit,
et véteris piáculi cautiónem pio cruóre detérsit.
Hæc sunt enim festa paschália,
in quibus verus ille Agnus occíditur,
cuius sánguine postes fidélium consecrántur.
Hæc nox est,
in qua primum patres nostros, fílios Israel
edúctos de Ægypto,
Mare Rubrum sicco vestígio transíre fecísti.
Hæc ígitur nox est,
quæ peccatórum ténebras colúmnæ illuminatióne purgávit.
Hæc nox est,
quæ hódie per univérsum mundum in Christo credéntes,
a vítiis sæculi et calígine peccatórum segregátos,
reddit grátiæ, sóciat sanctitáti.
Hæc nox est,
in qua, destrúctis vínculis mortis,
Christus ab ínferis victor ascéndit.
Nihil enim nobis nasci prófuit,
nisi rédimi profuísset.
O mira circa nos tuæ pietátis dignátio!
O inæstimábilis diléctio caritátis:
ut servum redímeres, Fílium tradidísti!
O certe necessárium Adæ peccátum,
quod Christi morte delétum est!
O felix culpa,
quæ talem ac tantum méruit habére Redemptórem!
O vere beáta nox,
quæ sola méruit scire tempus et horam,
in qua Christus ab ínferis resurréxit!
Hæc nox est, de qua scriptum est:
Et nox sicut dies illuminábitur:
et nox illuminátio mea in delíciis meis.
Huius ígitur sanctificátio noctis fugat scélera, culpas lavat:
et reddit innocéntiam lapsis
et mæstis lætítiam.
Fugat ódia, concórdiam parat
et curvat impéria.
O vere beáta nox,
in qua terrénis cæléstia, humánis divína iungúntur!¹
In huius ígitur noctis grátia, súscipe, sancte Pater,
laudis huius sacrifícium vespertínum,
quod tibi in hac cérei oblatióne solémni,
per ministrórum manus
de opéribus apum, sacrosáncta reddit Ecclésia.
Sed iam colúmnæ huius præcónia nóvimus,
quam in honórem Dei rútilans ignis accéndit.
Qui, lícet sit divísus in partes,
mutuáti tamen lúminis detrimenta non novit.
Alitur enim liquántibus ceris,
quas in substántiam pretiósæ huius lámpadis
apis mater edúxit.²
Orámus ergo te, Dómine,
ut céreus iste in honórem tui nóminis consecrátus,
ad noctis huius calíginem destruéndam,
indefíciens persevéret.
Et in odórem suavitátis accéptus,
supérnis lumináribus misceátur.
Flammas eius lúcifer matutínus invéniat:
ille, inquam, Lúcifer, qui nescit occásum.
Christus Fílius tuus,
qui, regréssus ab ínferis, humáno géneri serénus illúxit,
et vivit et regnat in sæcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Easter Vigil Exultet (cathedral of Nice in France, 2008)
Rejoice, all creation!
Let the heavenly chorus sing!
Jesus Christ, our light, is risen! Sound the trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendour, the light of Christ will warm our autumn night. Christ has conquered!
Glory fills you! Darkness will vanish for ever!
Rejoice, O church of God! Exult in glory! The risen Saviour shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy. Echoing the mighty song of all God’s people!
The Lord is here. God’s Spirit is with us.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to God. It is right to offer thanks and praise.
It is truly right that with full hearts and minds and voices we should praise you the eternal God, and your First-born, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
For Christ is the true passover lamb who at this feast has set your faithful people free.
This is the night when you saved the people of Israel from their slavery in Egypt and led them through the Red Sea on dry land.
This is the night, when the pillar of fire brought light to your wandering people.
This is the night when all who believe in Christ are delivered from gloom, and are restored to grace, and grow together in fullness of life.
This is the night when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave.
Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth and we are reconciled with God!
Therefore, Holy God, in the joy of this night, accept our evening sacrifice of praise, your church’s solemn offering.
Accept this Easter candle, a flame divided but undimmed, a pillar of fire that glows to your honour, O God.
Let it mingle with the lights of heaven and continue burning to lighten the darkness of this night!
May the Morning Star find this flame still burning among us. Christ is that Morning Star, who rises to shed your peaceful light on all creation.
Christ is now alive and glorified with you for ever and ever. Amen.
Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
O Universe, dance around God’s throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the victorious trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, O earth, in glory, revealing the splendour of your creation,
radiant in the brightness of your triumphant King!
Christ has conquered! Now his life and glory fill you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!
Rejoice,O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Saviour, our Lord of life, shines upon you!
Let all God’s people sing and shout for joy.
Or Alternatively, the Introduction could be sung by the whole congregation to a tune of the metre 10.10.10.10 using the following form. Note: not all tunes of 10.10.10.10 metre are suitable.
All Sing, choirs of heaven! Let saints and angels sing!
Around God’s throne exult in harmony!
Now Jesus Christ is risen from the grave!
Salute your King in glorious symphony!
Sing, choirs of earth! Behold, your light has come!
The glory of the Lord shines radiantly!
Lift up your hearts, for Christ has conquered death!
The night is past, the day of life is here!
Sing, Church of God! Exult with joy outpoured!
The gospel trumpets tell of victory won!
Your Saviour lives; he’s with you evermore!
Let all God’s people sound the long Amen!
The minister continues
The Lord be with you All and also with you.
Lift up your hearts. All We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. All It is right to give thanks and praise.
It is right and good that with hearts and minds and voices
we should praise you, Father almighty, the unseen God,
through your only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who has saved us by his death,
paid the price of Adam’s sin,
and reconciled us once again to you. All [Glory to you for ever.]
For this is the Passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb of God, is slain
whose blood consecrates the homes of all the faithful. All [Glory to you for ever.]
This is the night when you first saved our ancestors,
freeing Israel from her slavery
and leading her safely through the sea. All [Glory to you for ever.]
This is the night when Jesus Christ vanquished hell,
broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave. All [Glory to you for ever.]
This is the night when all who believe in him are freed from sin,
restored to grace and holiness,
and share the victory of Christ. All [Glory to you for ever.]
This is the night that gave us back what we had lost;
beyond our deepest dreams
you made even our sin a happy fault. All [Glory to you for ever.]
Most blessed of all nights!
Evil and hatred are put to flight and sin is washed away,
lost innocence regained, and mourning turned to joy. All [Glory to you for ever.]
Night truly blessed, when hatred is cast out,
peace and justice find a home, and heaven is joined to earth
and all creation reconciled to you. All [Glory to you for ever.]
Therefore, heavenly Father, in this our Easter joy
accept our sacrifice of praise, your Church’s solemn offering.
Grant that this Easter Candle may make our darkness light.
For Christ the morning star has risen in glory;
Christ is risen from the dead and his flame of love still burns within us!
Christ sheds his peaceful light on all the world!
Christ lives and reigns for ever and ever! All Amen.
15:1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus].
2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable:
11 [...]“There was a man who had two sons.
12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.
14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.
15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.
16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.
17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’
20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe–the best one–and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.
27 He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’
28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.
29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.
30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’
31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”
Grant, most merciful Lord,
to your faithful people pardon and peace,
that they may be cleansed from all their sins,
and serve you with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
One of my followers on twitter, a university professor, in response to my recent post about Richard Dawkins pointed me to an article by Michael Ruse. Michael Ruse is an atheist. He is a philosopher of biology. Ruse is well known for his arguments against “Intelligent Design”. But Ruse holds that it is possible to reconcile the Christian faith with evolutionary theory. That, of course, is the position of Francis S. Collins, who led the Human Genome Project. If you haven’t read The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief I recommend this book very highly. In Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, Dawkins likens Ruse to the pusillanimous appeaser of Munich, Neville Chamberlain, because, although he has been fighting Creationists now for 40 years, he is not prepared to extend this fight to an all-out vitriolic attack on all Christians. So, here is part of what Ruse writes:
Richard Dawkins is a genius. The Selfish Gene, published in 1976, is one of the truly great books of the 20th century. … Which brings me to the supreme paradox. The God Delusion has been a smash-hit, best seller. And yet, you know, it is a very bad book. …
I think The God Delusion is badly written, but far worse … is the succession of half-baked, sophomoric arguments. Sophomoric not in the sense that the topics are unimportant but in the sense that you think that you uniquely have come upon these issues. As I have said elsewhere, after reading the book, for the first time in my life I was sorry for the ontological argument. And that is just the start. The tripe about causation leaves one aghast. The nonsense about Hitler and Christianity is simply pure ignorance. Putting the holocaust down to Hitler’s Catholic training is ludicrous. As an aside: The whole argument putting German anti-Semitism down to Christianity is about on a par with the trendy Creationist claim that German anti-Semitism is the fault of Charles Darwin and the Victorian sentiments expressed in the Descent of Man.
I have been puzzled as to why someone who, as I say, I regard as an author of genius, could be — not so much ignorant as — willfully contemptuous of the whole range of philosophy and theology and modern history and much more. It is not a question of conclusions. For what it is worth, I have no more religious belief than Dawkins and I too deplore the influences of American Evangelical Christianity, not to say the disgusting revelations of Catholic priests and sexual abuse (and the even more disgusting ways in which the hierarchy have too often tried to block inquiry).
I have been reading a short autobiography that Dawkins has penned for a book on behavioral biologists, and I think I may have found a clue. It lies in the British system of education. (Or, let me cover myself. It lies in the British system of education that held sway 50 years ago when Dawkins was being educated. I know whereof I speak, for I too went through the system at that time, although in nothing like as distinguished a fashion.)
In the 1950s, while at school around the age of 15 you started to specialize. You would drop the extraneous subjects and start to focus on what you were going to make a lifetime commitment. (Since I was going towards the physical sciences, I dropped geography, for instance.) Then the last couple of years at high school you really start to focus down on the sciences (physical or biological) or various humanities areas. In going to university, it is the departments that make the choices (at Oxford, Dawkins’s alma mater, it is the colleges) and as an undergraduate you really specialize. (I still remember that, at Bristol in my first year, we did eight hours of mathematics and nothing more. Not even a physics class. The other two years were different only in that we did 12 hours of mathematics and nothing more.) Graduate work is not a great deal different, because the English doctoral degree is based purely on the dissertation (at least it was back then). You didn’t even have to know about other areas of your subject.
I am not saying that Dawkins’s educational experiences were as narrow and awful as mine, but if you read his autobiography you will see that they are part of the same genus if not species. And of course the result is that you end very good at what you do and pig ignorant about everything else. If you are good at what you do, in a top institution, there is little wonder that you feel pretty good about yourself, and don’t feel the need to know a whole lot more. Why would you?
Speaking both as a historian of science and as an ardent biological evolutionist, I look to the past to make sense of the present. Nothing can explain genius completely. Believe me, I have spent a lifetime trying to understand Charles Darwin. But for me, Richard Dawkins’s background throws considerable light on both The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion.
7 [Jesus said] “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;
15 but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Grant to your people, Lord, grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh ad the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only True God; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
O God, the maker of heaven and earth, who gave to your venerable servant, the holy and gentle Polycarp, boldness to confess Jesus Christ as King and Saviour, and steadfastness to die for his faith: Give us grace, following his example, to share the cup of Christ and rise to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Some of my best friends are atheists. God is with them. God is present where God’s name is never heard, and God does not affirm all that is done where God’s name is regularly pronounced.
Some people tell me, “I do not believe in God.” My response often is, “tell me about this “God” you do not believe in.” And when they do, very often I find the “God” they describe I do not and could not believe in either!
So atheists can be prophets, they can challenge the idol we call “God”. I want to work in partnership with all of good will, Christians, those of other faiths, agnostics, atheists, to make this a better place. My atheist friends work in partnership with me. Many challenge me by their altruism and generosity. Some people see Christianity as being about great rewards for limited loving investment. Well orthodox Christianity is not about rewards – it is about love for its own sake and life (in its fullness) is always a gift – not a reward.
But there is, increasingly, a new style of atheist. They do not want to work in partnership with good people of faith – they proclaim faith itself as evil and the source of most of the world’s evils. These are not simply atheists – they are antitheists. Theirs is an obsessive belief-position that they incessantly have a need to impose upon others. Their mindset is most comparable to the fundamentalists they constantly berate – not surprisingly: our enemy is a mirror to ourselves was an insight from Jesus. They do not address middle, moderate, thinking, caring Christianity, but rather ask the same questions that fundamentalists do – they just come up with different answers. They do not appear to pause to examine whether the questions themselves are at issue. Fundamentalists ask questions of the Bible and find God scary. Antitheists ask the same questions of the Bible and find God silly. Atheists often struggle to live with metaphor. So do fundamentalists.
For more on the antitheist bus campaign click here. I generated the above advertisement incorporating the Biblical phrase “do not be afraid” which occurs at least 70 times in the Bible. My advertisement reworks the antitheist “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”. As a qualified Mathematics and Science teacher I base my “probability that God is” on the anthropic principle – the low probability that the universe we live in exists by chance.
More than half of atheists deny evolution
A recent article in the Melbourne Age again highlighted the intellectual weakness of many claiming atheism. “24 per cent of Australians firmly believe there is no God, and 6 per cent are pretty sure.” Here’s the crunch: “Only 12 per cent believe Darwin’s theory of natural selection”. I would like to think that there are a few Australian theists who accept (I do not like “belief” applied to Science – I think it confuses things) Darwin’s theory. But, for argument’s sake, let’s pretend ALL Australian theists do not accept evolution. So: that would mean only half of Australia’s atheists accept evolution!
I agree with atheist, Guy Rundle, former editor of Arena magazine. He states the antitheist Dawkins-Hitchens version of atheism is ”the most shatteringly empty creed to come along for many a year”. It misses the point, he says, goes out of its way to hurl insults, misunderstands how belief systems work, uses straw man arguments and is boring because it ”takes the least sophisticated form of theism and beats it around the head”. It also fails to grapple with sophisticated theologians such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth; and it is blind to the fact that, when science (quantum physics and cosmology) try to explain the origins of the universe, its materialist, atheist account is as mysterious and improbable as that of any religion. New atheism also, he says, refuses to concede that many people have feelings of transcendence that must be expressed.
”All that Dawkins can offer is a revival of old-fashioned secular humanism, whose hopes and aspirations are summarised in John Lennon’s insipid 1971 composition Imagine,” theology professor Tom Frame wrote last year. Melbourne Catholic auxiliary archbishop Peter J. Elliott says the new atheism should be respected, and welcomed into dialogue, and could even play an important role in ”correcting religious fanaticism”, on which score ”many religious people would agree with them”. But he echoed the concerns of a number of religious people that this movement was in danger of becoming a faith in its own right. ”It’s when they slide into a kind of fundamentalism themselves, and become dogmatic, that’s when we have a problem with them.”
New Zealand is following other countries in having an “atheist bus campaign”. Atheists are raising $NZ10,000 to mimic the UK campaign and place “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life” on several buses in major New Zealand cities. Approximately 12 buses in Auckland, 8 in Wellington and 4 in Christchurch will feature the ads for 4 weeks. Television presenter Mike Hosking caught organiser Simon Fisher on the hop with his first question “why bother?” Hosking, who thinks there probably is no God, cannot see the motivation or purpose for the campaign – and Fisher reacted as if he had never thought of this most obvious of questions. That was soon followed by Jo Kelly-Moore, the Vicar of St Aidans, in Remuera, clearly running circles around Fisher’s weak points.
Rather than fear, or tut-tut, this campaign, I welcome the opportunity for some serious dialogue. One of my followers on twitter interestingly pointed out that Fisher’s language echoed the Alpha course. Alpha may be OK for introducing people who have no idea about Christianity to it – but please can we not stay at the level of alpha – please can we move on towards kappa or further. The website of the NZ Atheist Bus Campaign, over which (rather than the soundbite TV debate) they have full control – does not appear to give an adequate definition for “God” which the site is dedicated to stating “probably does not exist”. The discussions, which I am welcoming, may help Christians to move beyond rather simplistic definitions of God (alpha) towards the classical definitions in which God is not merely “a supernatural being” alongside other beings (”supernatural” or “natural”) – as if adding God to this coffee cup results in now having two “objects”. And with the rather regularly trite comment that atheists believe in merely one less god than Christians do… Hence, Christians and other theists, may be enriched by this discussion into deepening the expression of their faith, revisiting the apophatic tradition (alongside the more common kataphatic approach) of Christianity, emphasising the transcendent nature of God (alongside God’s at-Christmas-time-particularly-appropriate immanent nature).
Let’s have some nuanced discussion, rather than the popular Richard Dawkins approach of pitting the best of science against the most simplistic, childish, flat-earth theism, where every few sentences Dawkins drops a clanger demonstrating his lack of reading of any theist up to beta, let alone kappa! Let’s acknowledge the great damage that bad religion and bad theology and bad spirituality have done. But I don’t see Dawkins giving up sex or money just because of the great damage that sex and money have done in human history! And let’s not pretend that Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao Zedong are particularly good exemplars of the USA version of this campaign which had the slogan: “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake.” Are those atheists an explanation of what “good” means in a world without a god? Can you be good for goodness sake? Or do we need help to be good? And might being good (for goodness sake) be a sign of God – rather than a denial? Fisher’s slight of hand without any explanation, that “atheism” means “humanism” certainly needs justification. It seems to me that it is belief in God and the sacredness of God’s creation that leads to valuing human life – it will take a lot more than a tweet-length bus slogan to convince me that atheism naturally leads to people caring for others as a consequence.
There’s also a need to tidy other definitions:
Theist – believes in God
Atheist – believes there is no God
Agnostic (type A) – believes it is not possible to know
Agnostic (type B) – “I don’t know…”
Also the word “belief” can do with some clarification. Belief in God as a solely cerebral affirmation is a relatively new usage. “I believe in God” is originally more about trust, about commitment – in the sense of I believe in democracy, I believe in the All Blacks. Certainly “I believe in Jesus” has nothing to do with the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth which is accepted by all but the most extreme of scholars – yet popularly, and amongst some young people, they equate belief in Jesus alongside belief in the tooth-fairy, or at this time, Santa.
Alongside the atrocities of religion, let’s also list off some of the positives: art, music, science, technology, literature, genetics (Dawkins take note), the concept of the Big Bang (a real shock originally mocked by atheists), Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Dante, Shakespeare, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven,…
Alongside the need to clarify the definition of “God”, we are invited to clarify the nature of “God”. “Now stop worrying and enjoy your life” is based on an impression of an almighty punishing ogre in the sky. As Kelly-Moore made crystal clear in the TV interview, nothing could (should!) be further from a Christian perspective of God, a God who is love.
So, in summary, let’s not react against these ads – they are a wonderful opportunity not only to deepen our own reflection, but to clarify the misunderstandings between us. Atheists can be prophets, challenging the idols that Christians present. And just as God does not agree with all done in God’s name – however frequently and fervently God’s name is repeated – so God is not absent from atheists’ lives – however frequently and fervently denied.
If you like the image above, you can drag and drop it into your own blog post
or use the following HTML
You can also produce your own (you can give your version in the comments below)
In passing, spend four minutes listening to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring
Jesu, joy of man’s desiring
Holy wisdom, love most bright
Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring
Soar to uncreated light
Word of God, our flesh that fashioned
With the fire of life impassioned
Striving still to truth unknown
Soaring, dying round Thy throne
Through the way where hope is guiding
Hark, what peaceful music rings
Where the flock, in Thee confiding
Drink of joy from deathless springs
Theirs is beauty’s fairest pleasure
Theirs is wisdom’s holiest treasure
Thou dost ever lead Thine own
In the love of joys unknown
Blog Action Day blog post
There is increasing realisation (or probably better said re-realisation) that the pendulum had swung too far towards bringing earth into heaven, and we are (thankfully) swinging back more towards drawing heaven into earth. From a tendency to be so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly use – or worse: devastating this planet in order to encourage Christ’s return (!) churches, and Christian individuals are increasingly realising our responsibility towards God’s creation. In this we can join in positive partnership with people of other faiths, and people of goodwill of no faith, and even anti-faith (an increasing, fascinating phenomenon, in my opinion).
Christians can understand the activity of God’s Spirit to be present in this movement. Christians can and need to repent of our neglect of our responsibility and our blindness to it. It was relatively late, only at the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in 1990 that a fifth mark of mission was added to the other four: “To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth.”
In the context of this being a liturgical site, I will list off some of the prayers in relation to creation from the New Zealand Prayer Book (1989). These highlight the shift I am talking about in the formally recognised prayers of NZ Anglicans (officially understood as binding formularies). You might like to add official prayers from your tradition in the comments section below.
Awaken in us a sense of wonder for the earth and all that is in it. Teach us to care creatively for its resources.
We remember with gratitude your many gifts to us in creation and the rich heritage of these islands. Help us and people everywhere to share with justice and peace the resources of the earth. Give wisdom to those in authority among us and to all leaders of the nations.
Caring God,
we thank you for your gifts in creation:
for our world, the heavens tell of your glory;
for our land, its beauty and its resources, for the rich heritage we enjoy.
We pray:
for those who make decisions about the resources of the earth, that we may use your gifts responsibly;
for those who work on the land and sea, in city and in industry, that all may enjoy the fruits of their labours
and marvel at your creation;
for artists, scientists and visionaries, that through their work we may see creation afresh.
1 O give thanks to our God who is good: whose love endures for ever.
2 You sun and moon, you stars of the southern sky: give to our God your thanks and praise.
3 Sunrise and sunset, night and day: give to our God your thanks and praise.
4 All mountains and valleys, grassland and scree,
glacier, avalanche, mist and snow: give to our God your thanks and praise.
5 You kauri and pine, rata and kowhai, mosses and ferns: give to our God your thanks and praise.
6 Dolphins and kahawai, sealion and crab,
coral, anemone, pipi and shrimp: give to our God your thanks and praise.
7 Rabbits and cattle, moths and dogs,
kiwi and sparrow and tui and hawk: give to our God your thanks and praise.
8 You māori and pākehā, women and men,
all who inhabit the long white cloud: give to our God your thanks and praise.
9 All you saints and martyrs of the South Pacific: give to our God your thanks and praise.
[10 All prophets and priests, all cleaners and clerks,
professors, shop workers, typists and teachers,
job-seekers, invalids, ' drivers • and ' doctors:
give to our ' God your ' thanks and ' praise.
11 All sweepers and diplomats, writers and artists,
grocers, carpenters, students and stock-agents,
seafarers, farmers, ' bakers • and ' mystics:
give to our ' God your ' thanks and ' praise.
12 All children and infants, all ' people • who ' play:
give to our ' God your ' thanks and ' praise.]
As well as the Roman Catholic Church, many Anglican churches celebrate St John Vianney on August 4. This year it is 150 years since the death of the priest who is known more commonly by his title “Curé d’Ars” (the parish priest of the village of Ars-sur-Formans). He is the patron saint of parish priests, and the Pope has announced this year as a Year for Priests in honour of “the 150th anniversary of the death of the Holy Curé d’Ars, Jean-Marie Vianney, a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ’s flock”.
Some points worth reflecting on:
the concept of vocation – so quickly (too quickly in my opinion) the word vocation is applied to priesthood and “religious life”. Should not vocation be primarily applied to our baptismal calling to holiness and after that to discernment of our particular way of living out our baptismal vocation to love?
the understanding of God’s will – the impression is too quickly given in my opinion that God has a particular pathway planned out for us and should we deviate from this in any way our present happiness, let alone our eternal salvation, is in jeopardy unless and until we return to where we branched off God’s determined pathway and get back onto the correct path. This would have God intending you to marry Sarah and should you marry Martha instead, then you will be unhappy in this life not to mention the next… God intended you to be a Franciscan, but you misheard the call and became a Dominican – not until you leave the Dominicans and join the Franciscans will you be following God’s will for this life (and the next)… Possibly God’s will is more general than that – possibly it is more about searching out the deepest God-given yearnings of our God-given heart?
Priesthood as primarily a call to enable the baptismal life of the Christian community. The NZ Prayer Book ordinal says it well, in my opinion,
By the Holy Spirit all who believe and are baptised
receive a ministry to proclaim Jesus as Saviour and Lord,
and to love and serve the people with whom they live and work.
In Christ they are to bring redemption,
to reconcile and to make whole
They are to be salt for the earth; they are to be light to the world.
After his resurrection and ascension
Christ gave gifts abundantly to the Church
Some he made apostles, some prophets. some evangelists.
some pastors and teachers; to equip God’s people
for their work of ministry and to build up the body of Christ.
We stand within a tradition
in which there are deacons priests and bishops They are called and empowered to fulfil an ordained ministry
and to enable the whole mission of the Church.
This might also be a year in which we can discuss more deeply what priesthood means, what diaconate, and laity, and episcopate means, and whether people should be ordained directly to the order to which God calls them (per saltum)?
John Vianney lived and ministered in the aftermath of the French Revolution. He struggled with the academic formation required for priesthood. He greatly stressed the love and mercy of God and also the value of personal discipline. His popularity grew so that Lyons railway station had a separate booking office for trains to Ars. Close to 100,000 individuals came to hear him preach in the last year of his life.
Once, when he was arguing with a Protestant peasant woman in his village, he asked her, “Where was your Church before the Reformation?” She promptly replied, “In the hearts of people like you.”
Heavenly Father,
Shepherd of your people,
we thank you for your Servant John,
who was faithful in the care and nurture of your flock;
and we pray that,
following his example and the teaching of his holy life,
we may by your grace grow into the stature of the fullness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Everliving God,
you gave to your servant John Vianney gifts of discernment and wise counsel;
grant to all pastors a full measure of your wisdom and your love,
that through their ministry your truth may be revealed;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Good shepherd,
yours was the strength which kept Jean, Curé d’Ars,
praying and reconciling year after year;
protect us too, we pray, from fatigue which shrivels up compassion;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
The post “What is a Christian” got a huge response, in public comments, on the Facebook page, as well as in emailed observations. I undertook I would produce this follow-up post.
I certainly do not regard this post as in any way a definitive response – not even as my own final opinion. Hopefully this will be read as yet another contribution to an ongoing dialogue.
Many comments focus on the appalling experiences people have had in and through the church. We can all rattle off scandals, abuse, and hypocrisy of Christians, and of Christian communities. On the one hand such horrific evils highlight that church is a significant reality. It is not just the church that is the source of such scandals.
Money, sex, and power are significant realities in our human experience. They can be sources of great good when appropriately used, and sources of great evil when abused. The church is a similar reality – the church is a source of great good when appropriately used, a source of great evil when abused.
Furthermore, although there is some truth in church (the Christian community, the body of Christ) being a goal, that has to be balanced by the greater tradition that the church is a means – God and union with God being the goal. Getting means and ends (goals) confused always leads to confusion on the (spiritual) journey.
As well as responses from people who have been members of a church community that has hurt them significantly, or who look at the unattractive reality of abuse, there are others who have written to me expressing their struggle to find a church community that allows any discussion or dissent.
A different issue worthy of note was an example of a person coming to faith later in life, realising the significance of church/Christian community as part of that, but not having any opinions favouring one Christian tradition over another. This person is finding the experience one of “listening to all of the disparate he said she said voices shouting out like barkers at a carnival trying to tell you that their booth is the right one for you.”
I could easily list off my own list of things I would look for in a Christian community or tradition – but I would just degenerate to being merely another barker at the carnival.
We still mostly organise our communities of Christian communities “denominationally.” In my opinion, however, this increasingly reflects less and less the reality of people’s experience. Most Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, many Anglicans/Episcopalians, and possibly others may still exhibit denominational loyalties – so that they would look primarily for a church community within their denominational allegiance. But increasingly, if one images these denominational lines vertically – people find support and adherence in groupings that may be imaged horizontally. People will look for a community that has great programmes for young families, or that has a strong teaching and preaching ministry, or that has vibrant contemporary music, or that has a strong commitment to justice, contemplative prayer, and so on and so on (far more than the denominational flavour of the community). Some communities, of course, will have different combinations of these.
The divisions within Christianity clearly are a tragic scandal. Part of my perspective is that we need to learn to see that the differences being argued about are minor minorminor – in comparison to the unity at the heart, if we can just learn to listen to each other (that includes really learning to listen also between religions and to those who claim to have no faith). I think our unity needs to be found elsewhere than in lists of things we mentally agree on, and all the boxes needing to be filled in correctly.
In looking for a Christian community I am assuming you would seek one that you perceive to be orthodox, however you understand that (including in teaching and practice in relation to baptism and eucharist). But alongside this I would place some of the following, not necessarily in any order:
Is the community outward looking?
Does it care for people beyond its own faith-community (including poor people overseas) – and not just seeing such care as bait and switch to get them into the pews of the community (and contributing financially)?
Is there a primarily “Godward” focus – a community celebrating itself is wonderful – but is there a significant focus on God?
Is it inclusive? Of dissent – or is only one viewpoint permitted? Is there room to grow? Is the primary leadership at least stage 5 of Fowler’s Faith Development scale (having a strong personal position as well as being open to different ways of authentically being Christian)?
Is there appropriate oversight and accountability, and transparency – particularly about leadership and finances?
Is there a good variety ages and stages?
Is there support, in teaching and action, to support people through hard times - not just affirming solely our happy experiences?
Is there support, in teaching and action, to carry people through joyful times – not just presenting a burdensome spirituality?
Is the community open and welcoming to new people as well as healthy in retaining those who have been there a long time?
Does the community have a holistic spirituality – with a healthy positive attitude to God’s creation including sex, music, medicine,…
Peter Carrell is an Anglican priest in New Zealand who usually has a very good grasp on what is happening within our province. He writes in an interesting post on Anglican Down Under that he cannot think of a single congregation that follows our official liturgy that is either growing, or thriving with a good mixture of ages (especially including younger people). This, of course, is a dire claim (Peter repeats it on his site Preaching and Worship). What is more, there has only been a single Kiwi disputing his claim in a comment. Whether I can think of a congregation that conflicts with Peter’s claim is not significant. What I want to do is attempt to analyse this situation and what we might be able to learn from this and move forward. I believe that this analysis and my proposals will be just as relevant beyond New Zealand – so please don’t tune out of this thread you non-Kiwis ☺
Peter’s strong assertion comes with little analysis. The conclusion that liturgy cannot sustain a thriving community within our culture he shows to be false through highlighting (in a comment) that Roman Catholics in this country would not dream of departing from liturgy in the way that Kiwi Anglican churches do, yet Roman Catholic communities are not only more than three times as committed in worship attendance, Peter highlights that Roman Catholic communities do not exhibit the problems with lack of flourishing whilst being liturgically faithful.
I contend that liturgy is integral to Anglican identity. The danger of Peter’s barely-hidden subtext is that a community can only thrive here by abandoning Anglican identity.
Peter maintains (again in a comment) that his observation has been perceptible for at least fifteen to twenty years. In that, already, I think, is a clue to analysis. In this series I will look at the way we learn and use language and from that develop a model that I believe is pertinent.
For the Day of Pentecost, (the end of the great 50 days of the Season of Easter, during which the Easter/Paschal candle had been burning at every service) I suggested a formal way of concluding the Easter Season and mirroring the lighting of candles at the Easter Vigil that began the season (here):
Everyone carried a candle lit from the Paschal Candle during the Easter vigil, symbolically sharing the light of the risen Christ. Perhaps on the Day of Pentecost, during the period of reflection after receiving communion, these candles could be relit from the Paschal Candle. The Pentecostal fire is thereby visibly divided and shared by everyone (cf. Acts 2:1-4; first reading for the Day of Pentecost, Three Year Series). The Paschal Candle can then be extinguished, vividly concluding the Fifty Days. The risen and ascended Christ, gone from our sight, is still present by the Spirit and we are commissioned to go out into the world to spread the light of Christ. (This might be symbolised by all processing out with the lit candles).
I regularly receive feedback about suggestions on this site, and was particularly encouraged by a parish that tried the above suggestion:
I recently came across your website researching Pentecost liturgy and was delighted by your suggestions for ways to keep the Day of Pentecost connected to the Easter season. This year, we incorporated your suggestions: individual candles were lit from the Paschal candle as the people return to their seats after receiving communion. We decided to reverse the flow of communion, so that the people went up the side aisles to receive, then returned to their seats down the chancel aisle, lighting a candle off the Paschal Candle as they returned to their seats. While it did slow things down a little bit, it didn’t seem to matter, as the people who had already returned to their seats could watch the candle-lighting and see the Church–the Body of Christ–receiving the flame. In a way, this action became an icon. The energy in the room and the contemplative and peaceful looks on faces indicated a deep impression made.
We then launched straight into the retiring procession, with myself, the rector and assisting priest stopping in the aisle for the Threefold Pentecost Blessing, after which the Paschal Candle was blown out and the people dismissed. Feedback from the congregation was positive, with many appreciating the formal ending of Eastertide. We will definitely be incorporating this permanently into our Pentecost liturgy.
Thank you so much for your elegant suggestions. The ministry team here is very excited about your liturgical innovation and believes it teaches the faith in a very effective way.
Some relate Trinity Sunday to the Athanasian Creed. This is not the most popular of creeds nowadays. From a liturgical perspective, it may be worth highlighting “the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship” – this is the universal Christian faith: worship. On Trinity Sunday, of course, it is worth continuing: “the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity”. Some other parts of the Athanasian Creed may be harder work to explain (not that explaining the Trinity will be particularly an easy task…).
The Shroud of Turin has gone on display from April 10 to May 23. This is the the most examined artefact on the planet. 
I recommend this book very highly. In Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, Dawkins likens Ruse to the pusillanimous appeaser of Munich, Neville Chamberlain, because, although he has been fighting Creationists now for 40 years, he is not prepared to extend this fight to an all-out vitriolic attack on all Christians. So, here is part of what 
As well as the Roman Catholic Church, many Anglican churches celebrate St John Vianney on August 4. This year it is 150 years since the death of the priest who is known more commonly by his title “Curé d’Ars” (the parish priest of the village of Ars-sur-Formans). He is the patron saint of parish priests, and the Pope has announced this year as a Year for Priests in honour of “the 150th anniversary of the death of the Holy Curé d’Ars, Jean-Marie Vianney, a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ’s flock”.
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