Unluckly or very lucky?

van crushed by fallen tree

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This morning we were called to a van which had been crushed by a fallen tree. We've been having some very stormy weather recently and the rainfall has probably weakened the root systems of many trees. All it takes is a gust of wind to bring them down. The driver of this vehicle was unlucky to have been driving by at the time but he was very lucky to walk away without so much as a scratch

Art as Revelation

National Gallery, London

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This afternoon I visited the wonderful exhibition of 17th century Spanish painting and sculpture at London's National Gallery. I found The Sacred Made Real very moving and inspiring, and it has made me think about art as revelation.

In the beginning, of course, God created the world 'very good' and he seems to delight in the beauty of it all. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that God 'has made everything beautiful in its time.' (3.11 ESV) Through Moses God instructed that the robes made for temple worship be made 'for glory and for beauty' (Ex 28.2) and he told Job "Clothe thyself with beauty" (Job 40.5 DRB). Clearly beauty has an important part to play in God's creation but can God disclose himself through what is beautiful, though art?

Paul's Letter to the Romans tells us that God has revealed himself through creation. 'For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.' (1.19,20 ESV)

Karl Barth wrote that 'God is thought and known when in His own freedom God makes Himself apprehensible.' (Dogmatics in Outline p.15) 'The act of creation as such is the revelation of the glory of God by which He gives to the creature meaning and necessity.' (Church Dogmatics III.1 p.230) We can only know God because he has chosen to reveal himself and God reveals something of himself to us through his creation. Therefore the world stands as a canvas on which God has 'shown' himself to the ones created in his image, to you and I.

John of Damascus, writing his treatise On the Divine Images in the 8th century, sought to defend icons and images. 'It is obvious that when you contemplate God becoming man, then you may depict him clothed in human form. When the invisible one becomes visible to flesh, then you may draw his likeness.'

In John of Damascus' time, and again during the Reformation (and the Commonwealth in England) there was a backlash against holy images. But for most of Christian history ordinary people have been stimulated in their worship of God through art. Through paintings and sculptures artists created things of beauty which raised our thoughts and our spirits to God, and in this sense art was, and is, worship.

God has revealed himself ultimately to humanity through his Son Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. However, art (like beautiful liturgy and music) is an echo of that revelation of God which reverberates down through the centuries.

When the veil of the Temple was torn in two at the time of Jesus' death on the cross at Calvary, the Holy of Holies was revealed for all of Jerusalem to see (Mark 15.38). No longer was the tabernacle screened off from public view. The divine became visible.

So I want to suggest that God can reveal himself through beautiful paintings and sculptures like those in the Spanish exhibition. God can so inspire the artists in their work that something of God himself is revealed to the beholder. When you stand before the work of Zurbaran you experience something much more than the work of the artist. Art becomes an echo, a reverberation, of the divine and that is definitely what I experienced today. This exhibition is more than art for art's sake, it is art of God's sake. It is a priceless collection of conduits of divine revelation.

The Sacred Made Real

The Sacred Made Real from Catholic Westminster on Vimeo.

Tomorrow I plan to visit The Sacred Made Real exhibition of Spanish art at the National Gallery in London. Here is a short meditation on three of the exhibits, including a beautiful sculpture of St Francis, by the Archbishop of Westminster.

Theology for Ministry 4

If you have been following this mini-series you will know that I have been very impressed by the incarnational theology of the late Dr Ray S Anderson. Here are a few more quotes from his essay Living in the World, which is included in the excellent book Theological Foundations for Ministry (T&T Clark/Eerdmans, 1979).

Christ demands that one live a life of solidarity with one's fellow-man in the world. To turn aside from one in the world, to show love only towards a fellow believer, is a violation of the integrity of Christ himself.

It is Christ himself who has taken our weaknesses upon himself, who has borne our sorrows and our sins, who has absorbed our pain and tasted our death. He is the diakonos, the servant who provided in his own person the ground and source of all such service.

The church is the place where Christ, clothed with his gospel, meets the Christ clothed with the desperate needs and the human hopes of the world.

How then could there exist boundaries around Christ which were smaller than the world itself?

Christ the King

Christ the King

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With today's Evening Prayer the Church begins its celebration of Christ the King. During this final week before the start of the Advent season we are reminded that, in Jesus Christ, God's reign in Heaven and on Earth has already begun.

When we call to mind the glorious vision of our Saviour enthroned in Heaven, surrounded by choirs of angels (note the thuribles above) and the communion of those saints who have gone before us, we realise that the Church is a mere shadow of what it is called to be.

With this sobering thought I offer you these words of John Henry Newman:
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But in truth the whole course of Christianity from the first, when we come to examine it, is but one series of troubles and disorders. Every century is like every other, and to those who live in it seems worse than all times before it. The Church is ever ailing, and lingers on in weakness, "always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in her body." Religion seems ever expiring, schisms dominant, the light of Truth dim, its adherents scattered. The cause of Christ is ever in its last agony, as though it were but a question of time whether it fails finally this day or another. The Saints are ever all but failing from the earth, and Christ all but coming; and thus the Day of Judgment is literally ever at hand; and it is our duty ever to be looking out for it, not disappointed that we have so often said, "now is the moment," and that at the last, contrary to our expectation, Truth has somewhat rallied. Such is God's will, gathering in His elect, first one and then another, by little and little, in the intervals of sunshine between storm and storm, or snatching them from the surge of evil, even when the waters rage most furiously. Well may prophets cry out, "How long will it be, O Lord, to the end of these wonders?" how long will this mystery proceed? how long will this perishing world be sustained by the feeble lights which struggle for existence in its unhealthy atmosphere? God alone knows the day and the hour when that will at length be, which He is ever threatening; meanwhile, thus much of comfort do we gain from what has been hitherto,—not to despond, not to be dismayed, not to be anxious, at the troubles which encompass us. They have ever been; they ever shall be; they are our portion. "The floods are risen, the floods have lift up their voice, the floods lift up their waves. The waves of the sea are mighty, and rage horribly; but yet the Lord, who dwelleth on high, is mightier."

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John Henry Newman, On the Prophetical Office of the Church, 1837.

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Trouble is ever our portion but Jesus is our King and Saviour!

A tough night shift

Last night was a tough one for the local emergency services. It was a busy one anyway for us with various calls to fire alarms and small domestic fires. Then at 4am this morning we were called to a road traffic collision involving a car and a milk delivery truck. We were on scene for a long time extricating three of the casualties.
After this we went back to the station for a debrief followed by a trauma aftercare session. It has since been revealed that one of the casualties has died. A few hours later some of the same fire crews were sent to another fatal incident just a few miles away.
As a Christian I can only offer my prayers in memory of those who have died, for those who have lost loved ones or friends, and for all those women and men from the emergency services who dealt with these difficult incidents.

Merciful Father,
hear our prayers and comfort us;
renew our trust in your Son,
whom you raised from the dead;
strengthen our faith
that all who have died in the love of Christ
will share in his resurrection;
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

World Philosophy Day

Karl Marx

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Apparently today is World Philosophy Day, so here is one of my favourite quotes:

'The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.' (Karl Marx, 1818-1883)

Injustice in Uganda

Ekklesia has started a petition to encourage the leaders of the Anglican churches to condemn the proposed anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda. The petition reads thus:
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' We call on Christians around the world, and particularly Christian leaders, to oppose the extreme and violent “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” proposed in Uganda. We call on the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to end his silence on the matter, to condemn the bill in public and to urge Ugandan Christians to oppose it. In addition to life imprisonment for consensual sexual activity between people of the same sex, the bill would introduce the death penalty for anyone whose same-sex partner is disabled. It would introduce imprisonment for anyone in authority – such as a priest or minister - who knew of homosexual activity but failed to report it. Most Christians, who hold a range of views on sexual ethics, will be horrified by these measures. By speaking out, Christian leaders can expose the hollowness of the religious rhetoric used by the bill’s supporters. Given the place of Anglicanism in Uganda, it is important that Rowan Williams adds his voice to the opposition to the bill.'
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The death penalty for homosexuality! I cannot understand the silence of Christian leaders in respect of this injustice. Jesus calls us to love one another as he loved us, even as he gave himself up for us to die upon a cross.
Please sign the petition.

"Whom shall I send"

The Church of the Holy Ghost, Chilworth

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To this Holy place I come,

Knee bended to His light.

Before the cross, my prayer begun,

His body nailed up in the height.

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My stomach churns, my tears do well

At the thought of this misdeed,

The God of all descends to hell

For my faults and sins and greed.

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The Lord suspended, cross most high,

Is bestowed with kingly crown,

Now He reigns in heaven and sky

Enclothed with priestly gown.

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My eyes do fall to icon there,

Pantocrator, waxed and gold,

His face shines out on me with care,

Hand beckoning me behold.

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The kindly God with halo bright,

His face is of a friend,

With a gaze to set all things right

Asking "Whom shall I send?"

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These words of Scripture in my ears,

They set Isaiah free,

Come to me transcending years,

I reply "Here send me."

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I feel that call so strong again,

The words come loud and clear,

To help Him heal a world of pain,

To help bring His kingdom near.

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I offer up my gift of praise

In words our Master taught.

Eyes again up to the cross I raise,

Through faith my sins are nought.

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Almighty God was truly here

In this house of prayer today,

This sanctuary I hold most dear

To return again one day, I pray.

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This is a poem I wrote for Epiphany a few years ago after a very moving and significant visit to the beautiful church at Chilworth Friary in Surrey. I just thought I'd share it with you as we approach our celebration of Christ our King.

Work and rest

Aylesford Priory

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I've just returned from a ministerial training residential weekend, held at Aylesford Priory near Maidstone. Although I enjoy meeting with my fellow students in more informal surroundings than the mad Tuesday evening lectures, I always enjoy coming home again.

This weekend the theme has been work and rest, and how we balance the two. We have also been exploring a Christian understanding of work which is highly relevant in a world of increasing separation between what we do on a Sunday and what we do the rest of the week. This separation is almost Gnostic in its dichotomy of work and faith, secular and sacred (see I was listening). But a Christian understanding of God fully active and alive in the world must surely inform the way we think about work.

We have now been given our final project which is to put together a presentation on how we can encourage Christians to think more theologically about the time they spend in the workplace. This will be given next Easter during our final residential week, along with an essay on the theology of work.

The theme for worship this weekend was right up my street - anglo-catholic. There was lots of quiet time for contemplation and this morning we had a proper mass. We had clouds of incense, wonderful liturgy and an excellent sermon. To top it all we finished with the Angelus, and it was all just heavenly!

There was an amusing incident though. We were using one of the chapels near the Shrine of Our Lady and during the mass, with clouds of incense, a young Catholic family walked in and they must have had quite a shock on seeing a woman (our vice-principal) celebrating at the altar! Anyway, they didn't stay very long.

It was a good weekend but hard work. Now I've got to get stuck into Paul and Justification as I turn my attention back to biblical studies.

Which Bible version?

But which version?

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My current reading of Romans and Galatians has led me to consider the different Bibles versions that I use. Our Biblical Studies session last week raised a minor but quite interesting issue of translation. Take your Bible and turn to Luke 21.25. Does your sentence start with "There" as I know that most of the English translations do e.g. NRSV and NIV.

But apparently there is a connective in the original Greek, so the first word of verse 25 should be "And" (also see verses 5, 29 and many others). This could be very important. For example, for establishing whether there are any time lapses between the scenes in the narrative.

So I've checked the versions of the Bible that I have and I've decided to use the English Standard Version (ESV) for my current module. Although this modern version is not fully gender inclusive it does explain that the Greek word adelphoi means siblings and can be translated as 'brothers and sisters' and not just 'brothers'.

And just because I'm feeling especially naughty I'm going to use the old Catholic Douay-Rheims (Challoner) version for my own private devotional reading. This version is interesting in that it is a translation of St. Jerome's fourth century Latin Vulgate and therefore the text has mostly been unaffected by the critical scholarship that has occurred since then. It is also based on copies of the Hebrew and Greek texts which are no longer available.

The Douay-Rheims version dates from the sixteenth century although it was updated by Bishop Challoner in the eighteenth. It has the sound of a slightly modernised version of the King James.

Anyway, I was wondering which Bible versions visitors to this blog use.

Who do you wish to be?

'Amid the complexities of life, we find ourselves time and again in situations in which we must decide who we wish to be. We leave the sphere of the merely thinkable; we must take a stand, assume responsibility; we cannot avoid turning from a possibility person, who can consider everything, into a reality person, who from the thinkable selects that which binds him [her] in internal and external action.'

Rudiger Safranski Martin Heidegger: Between Good and Evil (Harvard, 1998)