Part 339. Faith and certainty

 In Hebrews 11:1 we read:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Revised Standard Edition.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, New International Version

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.  The Message

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. King James

So, what is it that is hoped for and how certain can we be that our hope will be realised?  Or not?  I will write only from my point of view.  My starting point is that I do not believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, metaphysical or anthropomorphic god. Nor do I believe in being consigned to heaven or hell when I die.  Therefore I do not need to conduct my life in such a way as to ensure I realise my hope, indeed the certainty, of reaching god in heaven.

I surmise that Jesus articulated a set of ideals to be acted upon and that evidence of this is to be found in the synoptic gospels. These documents are not to be taken literally but as an expression of a way of thinking and living.  They express the need for love, for helping the poor and marginalised in our society and the imperative of action to achieve change.  My hope is that by our deeds we shall see loving our neighbour in action, both in terms of assisting individuals at point of need and systemic change to achieve social justice.   

Part 338. Omnibus post.

This post gathers in one place three short articles setting out my current thinking on theological/faith matters.

Part One.

2023 was quite a year for me. I dispensed finally with the last vestiges of fundamentalist literalist conservative evangelicalism and embraced, for me, new ideas. What "my theology' is now I don't know or care but most certainly it is orientated in the progressive/liberal, maybe even the deconstructive, direction.

It has been so liberating to escape the clutches of detailed conservative evangelical biblical exposition and replace it with the broad principles of Jesus as reported in the synoptic gospels. The two Great Commandments fulfill all earlier teaching and asks of us to love God and love others. The teaching of Jesus, to follow him, to seek His kingdom on earth through love is a simple yet profound concept.

I have given up regularly attending bible study groups. Instead I look forward to attending groups seeking to discern what it means in practical terms to follow Jesus, to understand how love should show itself to to the marginalised and discriminated against in our society. The shift that has taken place in my thinking is one of moving from private piety to public proclamation of the need for systemic change in our society. I accept that showing love entails meeting present needs and many faith groups provide a wide range of loving support for people in straitened circumstances or on the receiving end of discrimination. But simply propping up the system is not enough. Followers of Jesus should campaign for change, to sweep away the rotten systems and attitudes causing so much hurt and misery. Jesus confronted religious, legal and political systems and so should we. But do we? Do we seek instead comfort in our church congregations and the feel-good factor of direct assistance to individuals. I believe we all do in varying degrees and I do not criticise for one second anyone for so doing. But in our heart at least we should pray for His kingdom to come and empowerment of individuals able to campaign for change.

Churches are very good at studying and preaching on the minutiae of bible passages. What is lacking is studying how the two Great Commandents are to be put into effect. How do we challenge those in power to effect systemic change? How do we empower individuals to rise up and campaign for change? Have the lessons of Liberation Theology been understood and applied? Sadly I have my doubts. Too many good people are enveloped in the comfort of churches rather than going into the world and challenging its assumptions and systems.

Part Two.

No longer do I claim to be a Christian. I describe myself as a follower of the teaching of Jesus. The recorded teaching is in the synoptic gospels, the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke. We have to be mindful that the texts of the three books probably are evidence of an oral tradition that developed following the death of Jesus, and also now lost earlier documents. What we do know is that the three books are not contemporary to the time of Jesus and are not verbatim reports of the words of Jesus. It is important to understand the historical context of the synoptic gospels and the underlying motivation of each author. We bring our own understanding to the words of literature and I acknowledge the contribution of postmodernists such as Jacques Derrida.

My understanding of the teaching of Jesus is not based on the myth of inerrancy nor on a literalist reading of texts. Rather, we should engage in seeking to ascertain the principles to be discerned from the reported actions and words of Jesus.

My starting point for this seeking is the two great commandments that may be summarised succinctly as Love God, love others. Simple yet profound.

God is beyond our comprehension. God should not be anthropomorphised, not given human attributes. God is in all things including us. We should love: our world, all humanity. We should be in wonder of the universe: of all creation. God is the great unknown, filling the void our minds cannot comprehend. But God is not some great judge in the sky. Such a god is a human creation designed to coerce individuals to behave in ways specified by those with power to enforce their will. 

Let us consider God's kingdom of heaven as a human construct, as an ideal. Jesus calls on us to follow him and work to bring this ideal on earth: make an ideal a reality. This ideal is grounded in love for all humanity, for inclusiveness, for justice. Read the bible through the lens of love. His message incurred the wrath of the economic, political and religious establishments. He dared to upset the settled order, to call out oppressors, sentries and gatekeepers. He was a radical yet peaceful revolutionary. The fair society was to be achieved through love: not through violence.

The message is clear. Following Jesus requires us to challenge the causes of poverty, discrimination and marginalisation. It is essential to confront those wielding power and demand systemic change. Many who profess to be Christians have retreated into a private piety bubble chasing the chimera of Pauline theology rather than face up to the challenge set by Jesus. Many seek to have a foot in each camp. Who is to say one path is preferable to others? Certainly not me. Belief is a personal matter, not to be imposed by conditions set by others.

Part Three.

I seek to understand and promote what it means in a Christian context to campaign for systemic change in society to tackle the issues of poverty, discrimination and marginalisation. I have been influenced strongly by the writing

 of Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jnr, Desmond Tutu, Leonardo Boff and Gustavo Gutierrez et al. Reading their work is both humbling and exhilarating as they developed a theological basis for campaigning to change established political, economic and social orders. 

We really must go beyond acting as bringers of relief through such activities as foodbanks, debt advice, homelessness hostels etc, etc. I do not belittle any activity which brings relief at the point of need. It is essential activity done in love for humanity. However as Desmond Tutu said: we must stop pulling people out of the river and find out why they are falling in and put a stop to it. In other words, prevention is better than cure. But there is more to do than repair faults in existing structures. We need to promote wholesale root-and-branch change, a paradigm shift in attitudes and actions in society. As did Jesus.

Jesus was no armchair critic nor, as we describe it now 'a keyboard warrior'. He was out in the community: disputing, engaging, orating and doing. Love in action.

So how do we act? How do we overcome bigotry, hatred, destitution, misogyny, homophobia, discrimination and marginalisation? In my opinion we have to mount challenges to those holding the levers of political and economic power. We have to engage and campaign for systemic change which inevitably involves changing priorities and redistribution of resources.

We should welcome working with secular organisations in campaigning for a common cause.  

It is not easy. We have to be prepared for the long-haul, to hitting brick walls, to being abused and derided. Our faith, our belief in loving our neighbour, gives us the strength to continue. Following Jesus is not easy. He demanded we pick up our cross daily and follow him.

Part 337. My chains fell off...

The Charles Wesley hymn: And can it be that I should gain  has the following lines:

my chains fell off, my heart was free

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

When I was a visiting speaker at conservative  evangelical free chapels/churches this hymn, along with:

O for a thousand tongues to sing

and

Love divine, all loves excelling

were sung often. The tunes were liked, the words reflected the theology and doctrine of the fellowships/congregations.

As I moved away from conservative evangelical fundamentalism towards liberal, progressive, radical and deconstructivist theologies the words quoted above came to mind. Indeed I did feel that the stifling, restrictive chains of fundamentalist conservative evangelical doctrine and theology had fallen away: I had been released and was free to explore and articulate theological concepts based on the love of neighbour and social justice. 

Part 336. On God and scripture

In my opinion there is no anthropomorphic nor metaphysical god living in heaven. God is not an external entity 'out there'.  God is beyond description or definition. God is of and in our imagination and in this sense, to us, is real. In prayer we make supplications to the god of our imagination and respond as we deem appropriate.

Scripture is an human construct, no inerrancy, no literal word of God, no guiding Spirit. Scripture assists in our understanding the ideas of some of our forebears, and this may help in determining our ideas and actions.

Followers of the way of Jesus, progressive Christians, appropriate the statement 'love your neighbour' as the primary concept of faith. Prayers and actions perceive Jesus as God at work in all of us, in all creation.  it is this that drives progressive Christians  to campaign for social justice, for systemic change, for equality, for equity,  for an end to poverty, marginalisation, discrimination and exclusion.  In other words, nothing less than the heaven on earth of our imagination.

Part 335. I concur (2)

The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.

Soren Kierkegaard

Part 334. I concur (1)

I concur with the concepts set out in the following quotations.

The poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go out and build a new social order

Gustavo Gutiérrez 

His teachings and behaviour reflect an alternative social vision.  Jesus was not not talking about how to be good and how to behave within the framework of a domination system. He was a critic of the domination system itself.

Marcus Borg 

Christian theology needs to speak of social revolution, not reform; of liberation, not development; of socialism, not modernising the prevailing system.

Gustavo Gutiérrez.

Part 333. On following Jesus.

In my opinion we should promote the principle of loving our neighbour and campaign for inclusion and eradication of the causes of poverty. These objectives will only be achieved by collective action, by campaigning for systemic change, by challenging those with power to effect change so to do.  Expressions of hope, or assisting individuals at point of need, although necessary and worthy, will not trigger change.  To paraphrase Desmond Tutu: we should stop having to pull people out of the water, we should go upstream and prevent them from falling in.

There is no objective set of human rights. Declarations of human rights are of human origin, not of a divine nor of a natural law origin. Human rights are subjective concepts with no supernatural nor metaphysical basis.

Following the way of Jesus is not to place trust in a metaphysical entity.  Rather it is a determination to help those in need and to promote social justice by following concepts attributed to Jesus by the authors of the synoptic gospels.  They may be read as a manifesto. 

Part 332. Following Jesus: nothing more, nothing less.

Consider this remarkable fact: in the Sermon on the Mount there is not a single word about what to believe, only words about what to do 

and how to be.  By the time the Nicene Creed is written, only three centuries later, there is not a single word in it about what to do and how to be - only words about what to believe.

Robin Meyers

Sad, isn't it, developing myth and metaphysical concepts of God:  rather than following the way of Jesus. My theological journey has taken me from the former to the latter.

Marcus Borg expresses it thus:  

It is a way of being Christian in which beliefs are secondary, not primary.  Christianity is a "way" to be followed more than it is a set of beliefs to be believed. Practice is more important than "correct beliefs".  Beliefs are not irrelevant; they do matter.  But they are not the object of faith. God is the "object" of commitment - and for Christians, God is known as Jesus.

It is important to understand in reading the synoptic gospels that we are considering the concepts being advanced and should recognise the documents as being not infallible and/inerrant, but as a collection of myths, memories and other texts selectively edited by the authors.

I have argued before in this blog that the Bible is a human construct. Marcus Borg states it well:

I let go of the notion that the Bible is a divine product. I learned that it is a human cultural product, the product of two ancient communities, biblical Israel and early Christianity. As such, it contained their understanding and affirmations, not statements coming directly or somewhat directly from God...I realised that whatever "divine revelation" and the "inspiration of the Bible" meant (if they meant anything) they did not mean that the Bible was a divine product with divine authority.

Follow the way ofJesus, love your neighbour, campaign for social justice.

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£5.00 wager on Bishop of Dover being next ABC. 

Part 331. The Canterbury Stakes

The process for selecting the next Archbishop of Canterbury is underway as potential candidates parade ready for the off. It is fruitless to speculate who the runners will be and certainly foolhardy to name an anticipated 'winner'.

The declared runners are individuals selected for a shortlist. The process of selection is opaque. Those on the shortlist are interviewed by a committee and a choice is made. The person selected must receive at least a two-thirds majority. Herein lies a potential problem.  Currently the committee charged with selecting the next Bishop of Ely has failed to reach a decision as it is hopelessly divided. Could this be repeated in the selection of the next Archbishop?

The Church of England currently is riven with disunity over the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process. Conservative Evangelicals are pressing for a new province within the Church and threatening to depart if it is not forthcoming. How will this affect the selection process both in terms of shortlisting and choice of the committee's preferred candidate?

Will all the shortlisted candidates be current diocesan bishops? Will any suffragen, area or flying bishops, or bishops outside the CofE make the list?

Will consideration be given to individuals outside the broader episcopacy such as university theologians, deans, canons, parish priests etc?

Will ethnicity or sex be a significant factor in the selection process?  Should the Church seek to move away from a managerialism emphasis by seeking an individual with extensive pastoral experience particularly in areas of deprivation?

So many imponderables. Speculation will be rife, suggestions for 'suitable' candidates promoted and negative publicity for 'unsuitable' individuals.  Whoever does become the next Archbishop will face seemingly intractable issues to deal with. It could be a poisoned chalice and it may be the daunting nature of the tasks ahead will deter some, if invited, from engaging in the selection circus.

Part 330. What a week that was!

On 5th November Donald Trump was elected to be the next President of the USA.  The Republican Party gained control of the Senate and looks likely to retain control of the House of Representatives.  The Supreme Court has a majority of judges of a conservative disposition.  So much for 'checks and balances'.  Faith groups are worried that the new administration will target deliberately and adversely deprived and marginalised individuals including migrants, LBGTQ, the ill, those seeking abortions and the poor.  Instead of supporting what Galbraith defined as the underclass they will be in the firing line for attack. Say goodbye to achieving social justice through systemic change.

Thursday saw the publication of the Makin Report.  It is an analysis of the shocking lack of action and disregard by the leadership of the Church of England into complaints, accusations and allegations concerning abuse of individuals.  The utter failure of the safeguarding system is exposed as is lack of meaningful response by the higher echelon of the church.  There is a petition circulating calling on the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign.

Finally some good news.  I attended my first meeting of Radical Pilgrims Kent and Sussex. A thoughtful, loving and caring group of individuals.  I 'discovered' this group through the Progressive Christian Network GB.

Part 329. Jurgen Moltmann and Gustavo Gutiérrez

This year has witnessed the death of two of the leading theologians in the field of social justice: Jurgen Moltmann and Gustavo Gutiérrez. 

In Part 286 I published the following:

In the 1990s I read Theology of Hope (1964) by Jurgen Moltmann. It was a major influence on my thinking as at the time I was studying for a diploma in theology.

His obituary published in The Daily Telegraph on10th June 2024 had this to say:

"Jurgen Moltmann was the most significant Protestant theologian of the 20th century.  

"The basis of Moltmann's work was his conviction that true theology must always be related to concrete human situations and that the teaching of Jesus about the Kingdom of God requires of his followers commitment to the overthrowing of everything in the social order that is contrary to its demands. This led him to personal involvement in peace and other demonstrations.....and close association with the Liberation Theology movement in Latin America, where his work was specially valued by Catholic theologians.

"The message was of a God whose coming in the world lay not in some distant future but was a present reality, thus offering both hope and challenge."

The news of Martin Luther King Jnr's assassination propelled Moltmann into an interest in black theology and becoming a strong supporter of the USA civil rights movement. Moltmann's wife, Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendell was a prominent supporter of feminist theology.  

I published an obituary and appreciation of the theology of Gustavo Gutierrez in Part 327.

The theology of Moltmann and of Gutiérrez had a profound effect on my thinking at a time I was studying for a diploma in theology.  It led to my being active in secular and faith organisations promoting social justice  and also those providing support  individuals at point of need. 

Jesus told us to follow him and to love our neighbour. Action, not mere intellectual assent. We are called to action.

The poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go and build a different social order.

Gustavo Gutiérrez