Part 521. Rethinking church social action.

The link is to an article by Jon Swales.  Well worth a read.

https://www.cruciformjustice.com/post/counter-christianity-and-koinonia-rethinking-church-social-action

Part 520. Well done Professor Helen King

Congratulations to Helen King on putting forward this Private Members' Motion.  The response from the conservative Evangelicals and their supporters is as might have been expected both in tone and in argument.  We  must hope this motion is carried by a substantial majority in each of the three Houses of General Synod.

From the Church of England Evangelical Council website:

'18 May 2026

In July this year, the Church of England will see the most significant Private Members’k Motion (PMM) on sex and marriage in the last 40 years being brought to General Synod.

It has been confirmed by the Business Committee that the July General Synod will debate the PMM proposed by Professor Helen King, which seeks to affirm the compatibility of intimate same sex relationships with Christian discipleship.

The controversial motion (in full below) is cleverly worded and designed to secure support for a revision of the Church of England’s sexual ethics, without explicitly asking for a change to Church of England doctrine.

Professor Helen King (Oxford) to move:

‘That this Synod affirm that there are no fundamental objections to being in a committed, faithful, intimate same-sex relationship, and that such a relationship can be entirely compatible with Christian discipleship.’

Private Members’ Motions function similarly to those in Parliament: once sufficient support is gathered, the Business Committee may schedule them for debate. While PMMs do not change doctrine or law, they can signal the theological and political ‘view’ of the Synod.

The last time General Synod expressed a view on marriage and sexual ethics in this way was in 1987. In that year, the ‘Higton Motion’ was passed by General Synod, which affirmed the Church’s traditional teaching on sexual ethics and marriage.

Revd John Dunnett, National Director, Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC), said: “This motion matters. While it might be viewed by some as committing General Synod to ‘nothing in particular’, this motion shows that the revisionists will find new and different ways to continually push their agenda – away from Scripture, away from our Church’s doctrine and towards liberal change – even when the House of Bishops is not doing so. And were the motion to find support it could be seen as paving the way for further change.

“The big question is how the bishops and indeed the new Archbishop will respond. Will the Archbishop see it as an opportunity to allow Synod to express its mind, or would she prefer the process to be steered by the House of Bishops, and therefore encourage her colleagues to vote against the motion?”

Around the Communion, Dunnett cautions, the overwhelming response would be one of both sadness and despair.

“News of this motion will evoke a sad and negative response from across the Communion”, Dunnett concluded. “The Global South Fellowship of Anglicans and GAFCON would undoubtedly be concerned by the motion, and its passing would increase the impaired nature of relationships between the majority Anglican Communion and the Church of England.”

The Evangelical Group on General Synod (EGGS) will be working to defeat the motion in as an effective way as possible.

The February 2026 General Synod motion has committed the House of Bishops to forming a group which will carry forward the LLF trajectory – an initiative which could be of even greater threat to the apostolic understanding of marriage and sexual ethics upon which the Church of England has always been built.'

I doubt if CEEC saw this coming.  Expect  more of this nonsense, of increased bluster and threats to withhold parish share, to press for a separate province, or for structured alternative oversight, or even schism.  Let us hope fundamentalism is dealt a blow.  What Dunnett calls revisionism is nothing of the sort.  

Part 519. The para-military wing of conservative evangelicalism

Many years ago I attended the annual dinner of the Sheffield area branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants held at the Cutlers Hall.  Formal dress.  The guest speaker was Fred Mulley, MP for the Sheffield Park constituency and a minster in the Labour government.  The 'star' of the evening was the humourist/comedian, who on surveying the huddle of penguins before him announced it was a pleasure to address the para-military wing of the Inland Revenue.  

I was reminded of this on receiving a communication from The Christian Institute containing this statement:

We believe that the Bible is the supreme authority all of life and we hold to the inerrancy of  Scripture.

There is this statement also:

....committed to to upholding the truths of the Bible.

The Institute is on the front line campaigning and lobbying to uphold conservative evangelical biblical teaching on issues including inter alia abortion, gay rights, marriage, assisted death and conversion therapy.  It also supports litigation involving individuals claiming wrongful religious discrimination and/or persecution in employment. 

The danger is that government bodies, the press, social media and the public may gain the impression from the Institute's activity that it is representing the Christian opinion on issues.  Of course it is not.  It needs to be challenged vigorously by both liberal and progressive christians.

 

Part 518. Position statement

This post sets out my current theological thinking.  It enables me to take stock.  Over time my theological 'stance' has changed from broadly liberal evangelical to, well, to what?

My current thinking has ingredients from inter alia, humanism, existentialism, postmodernism, radical, liberal, progressive, liberation and deconstructivist theology. I describe it as a melange (or should it read 'mess'?).  My ideas are influenced by non theological factors. Politically I subscribe to democratic socialism. I led a chaotic personal life many years ago: divorce, destitution, sofa-surfing homelessness, and unemployment: all concurrently.  These experiences deeply influence my actions and my political and theological opinions.  

We should escape from a theological silo mentality  by seeking to understand interactions between religion, politics, economics, sociology, ethics, law, environment etc.  Theology should not be about doctrine, dogma creeds and biblical interpretation to the exclusion of  understanding and application of said to the realities of life for individuals, a reality shaped by myriad factors.  We can apply  theological ideas without recourse, reliance, or reference to scripture interpretation, church doctrine, dogma or creeds.  We do not need guardians, sentries or gatekeepers of church or academia to understand and apply our theological ideas.  It is for us, and us alone, to determine the relationship of theological concepts to our own lives and how our lives affect our theology.  The relationship is symbiotic.  It must be remembered that our lives are shaped by our experience, reason, tradition, relationships, work, poverty, family, political opinions etc and these factors impinge of our thoughts and actions, theological and otherwise, in many instances being what Oliver Wendell Holmes called inarticulate major premises.

If there is an entity we name as 'God' it is beyond human imagination, incapable of definition or description or symbolism. Judaic and christian scripture perceives God as being transcendent, supernatural, metaphysical and anthropomorphic.  Human supposition is opinion, not fact.  The scriptures are not the divine outpourings of God.  Marcus J  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 understandings and affirmations, statements not 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.'

Colin Coward expresses brilliantly how the gospels came into being, how they are used by the Church of England and argues for fundamental change in attitude: 'Reflecting on the Holy Week and Easter stories over the past weekend, I have done so not thinking or believing that the Gospels are verbatim accounts given by, let alone written by those who witnessed these events. They are edited and re-edited stories based on oral accounts that had been told and retold and embroidered by the Jesus-followers, the first witnesses, the early Christian gatherings, and those who subsequently joined the Jesus-centred communities. To the oral accounts that formed the basis of the Gospels were added stories told to and re-told and experienced and embroidered by Paul (with the help of Luke).

Belief is a dilemma for me because I do not believe in what is rehearsed in church every Sunday and maintained by the authority of the institution as adequately representing an adequate vision of the Jesus who transforms life and culture. The Gospels and Acts and the history books of the Hebrew scriptures are not accurate, historical accounts of the events and lives they describe. History never is accurate but always a personal view and interpretation. The contemporary “traditional, orthodox, Biblical” ways of our religious systems do not, for me, embrace the essence and heart of Jesus’ life and teachings. We live with ideas about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit that are human interpretations of Jesus’ teachings and essence. All knowledge is developed and communicated through the medium of human understanding. Any distortion or misunderstanding of the teachings of Jesus is the result of human failure to comprehend. Throughout my life I have been trying to disentangle the ingredients of distortion and error from healthier wisdom and truth, trying to be more aware of and recapture and synthesise the essence of a holy, sacred, incarnated transformational wisdom that helps us embrace the essence of life in all its fulness.

Whether we are aware or not, all of us are dealing with myths and the development of human interpretations and teachings and corruptions of the divine human we worship as Son of God.

We continue to have great difficulty in distinguishing the unhealthy divine attributions that are fundamental corruptions of Jesus’ life and teachings from the Jesus’ essence that is the catalyst for healthy, creative consciousness that make life in all its fulness into real presence.'

It has been stated before on this blog that it really does not matter if Jesus was an actual person. What does matter is the principle of love and how we in the twenty-first century CE interpret that principle for the future. Of course the Sermon on the Mount and the parables assist us in our understanding and application of the corpus of statements attributed to Jesus. Borg puts it well: 'Properly understood the Bible is a potential ally to the progressive Christian passion for transformation of ourselves and the world. It is our great heritage. Along with Jesus, to whom it is subordinate, it is our greatest treasure.'

I published the following in 2025:

God it is beyond description, it is of our imagination and searching for explanation of how the universe came into existence, what it is and our place in it. Humanity's enquiry has elicited some understanding of the universe but can we comprehend its vastness? I cannot even begin to provide an answer to the God question. I know my mortality: soon enough I shall die,  and then what?  

So I turn from the unknown and direct my energies to consideration of and campaigning on concrete issues: combating poverty, deprivation, racism, misogyny, marginalisation, discrimination and exclusion, not only at point of need but also by campaigning for systemic change to achieve social justice. In this endeavour the way of life concepts attributed to Jesus in the synoptic gospels together with ideas developed by Liberation Theology theologians such as Gustavo Gutiérrez and Jurgen Moltmann have been the major influences on my thinking and action.

Christians do not have a monopoly of the principle 'love your neighbour'.  Worldwide similar expressions of desired behaviour are to be found in a broad range of faiths, as well as in the secular world. The principle known as the Golden Rule, promotes a high standard of ethical behaviour.  It is a consequence of my background, experience etc that I approach the Golden Rule from a Christian perspective.

In Matthew  7:12 we read:

     'In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.'

This principle may be construed in a number of ways:

It is a positive statement of how we should behave towards others and what we should hope for from them.

It is a negative statement of what we should not do to others as we would hope others would not do to us.

If we see our neighbour in need we should assist them as we hope they would help us.

If we perceive our neighbour is in poverty, discriminated against or excluded, then we would not accept this for ourselves and therefore should seeking systemic change to systems promoting or causing social Injustice.

The above are my opinions (except for the direct quotations) and are not the writings of a person who remotely considers themselves to be a theologian.  The author has been described as an outsider and a prophet but is not sure the epithets apply. The blog's posts do not seek to persuade any reader to change their faith/beliefs in God nor their understanding of the source of and interpretation of scripture.

Part 517. Quotations

Those of us of a progressive disposition, followers of the way of Jesus, doubtess will concur with the following quotations.

Jesus invites us to a life where faith is expressed in action and where love, compassion and justice become the language of our lives.  Kurt Struckmeyer

A Christianity that causes the hungry to go without food, the poor to be exploited, the stranger to be mistreated, and God's creation to be ravaged, all the while supporting the greedy and cruel as they satisfy every desire, is a Christianity that can no longer claim to follow Christ.  Benjamin Cremer

The eternal destiny of human beings will be measured by how much or how little solidarity we have displayed with the hungry, the thirsty, the naked and the oppressed.  In the end we will be judged in terms of love  Leonardo Boff

Believing in the resurrection does not just mean assenting to a dogma and noting a historical fact.  It means participating in this creative act of God.  Resurrection is not a consoling opium, soothing as with the promise of a better world in the hereafter.  It is the energy for a rebirth of this life.  The hope doesn't point to another world.  It is focussed on the redemption of this one.  Jurgen Moltmann

In the New Testament, in the First Letter of John, we are told that the words Love and God are convertible. You can't slip a knife between them  If you love your fellow human being, you know God and are in God, whereas if you don't love, you don't know God.  The word God doesn't designate a distinct metaphysical being; it is simply Love's name.  Don Cupitt

Church should never be a form of escapism.  Following Jesus means embracing the reality of the world aroud us.  That means addressing racism, xenophobia, sexism, bigotry, sexual assault, nationalism, and many other forms of oppression and hate.  Stephen Mattson

The Gospel is a very dangerous idea. We have to see how much of that dangerous idea we can perform in our own lives. There is nothing innocuous or safe abaoaut the Gospel.  Jesus did not get crucified beacuse he was a nice man.  Walter Brueggemann

Part 516. A Guide to love: not a user manual

 Previous posts have emphasised that scripture is of human origin and not a manifestation of the thoughts of an anthropomorphic or supranatural being somewhere 'out there'.  In post 515 is the opinion of Colin Coward on the authorship and editing of scripture, an opinion I have no hesitation in sharing.

Marcus J Borg :

'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 understandings and affirmations, statements not 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.'

 

'Properly understood the Bible is a potential ally to the progressive Christian passion for transformation of ourselves and the world. It is our great heritage. Along with Jesus, to whom it is subordinate, it is our greatest treasure.'

The concepts, teaching, ideas attributed to the person named Jesus by the compilers of the synoptic gospels are not a set of rigid rules.  They do not collectively furnish us with an instruction manual to be followed to the letter, to be interpreted literally.  Rather they provide examples and ideas of what it is to love.  We should understand them as symbols and metaphor. The synoptic gospels are pointers to how we might act in respect of our personal  behaviour, our concern for the needs of others and in our quest for social justice to eliminate systemic failures that entrench racism, poverty, mysogeny and homophobia. 

Marcus J Borg tells us the bible:  Along with Jesus, to whom it is subordinate, it is our greatest treasure.'

Yes, the bible is a valuable resource, a useful guide, but the final word is with us.  It is not so much the case we should seek guidance by interpreting scripture: rather it is we should be guided by our intellect and power of reasoning to decide what it is in the twenty-first century to love and how to go beyond theory into action. Our understanding and action has to evolve if the Christain faith is not become a museum piece.

John Shelby Spong puts it well:

The Christian story does not drop from heaven fully written. It grew and developed over a period of forty-two to seventy years. This is not what most Christians have been taught to think, but it is factual. Christianity has always been an evolving story. It was never, even in the New Testament, a finished story.'

The Church of England Book of Common Prayer (BCP) contains the service of Evening Prayer.  Following the reading from the Old Testament the congregation say or sing Magnificat taken from Luke 1: 46-55.  

The BCP states verses 52-53 as follows:

He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.

Congregations say or sing these words, but do many understand the principles behind them?  How do we, of fail to, apply them in the present to individuals and society?  How do we understand them through the lens of love? We  should understand them as an illustration of love by applying our intelligence and power of reason, not by a rigid, literal, limiting interpretion of individual words.

  

Part 515. An outsider....and a prophet!

 I have been an outsider since I commenced my studies at secondary school and this  continued throughout my employment in education and local government, my involvement in local politics and my relationship with organised religion.  It is as though I have been looking in, participating, but distant.  This has nothing to do with shyness or ability to relate to people.  Rather, it is my reluctance to sign up unreservedly to the ethos of an  organisation, whether it be an education establishment, a council, a political party or a church.  

By now readers of this blog are well-versed in the theological ideas I embrace, they certainly do not accord with the creeds, doctrine and  dogma of the Church of England (CofE).  I know I am not alone in this.  However we are a minority and for this reason I have a sense of detachment from the CoE and my parish.  It shows in little ways: a refusal to publish my articles in the parish magazine, not being asked to deliver readings at services, not being part of small group chat.  

Recently I received this from an ordained priest in the CoE:

Outsiders like prophets have a powerful ministry, uncomfortable but powerful.

This same person has described me as a prophet!  Along with others we seek to drag the CofE into  twenty-first century relevance.  Readers of this blog with its specific references to Colin Coward know exactly what I mean. Below are two pieces by Colin.

*

'The Archbishops’ Council’s over-dependence on the culture of Holy Trinity Brompton, the HTB networks and plants, the Church Revitalisation Trust, the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) and the Alliance plus its reliance of the combined wealth of these conservative charismatic evangelical tribes is disastrous. A dominant monoculture has developed across the Church of England, a culture that consumes money and on which the C of E is now pinning its hopes for growth and ultimately, it’s survival as the National Church.'

*

Reflecting on the Holy Week and Easter stories over the past weekend, I have done so not thinking or believing that the Gospels are verbatim accounts given by, let alone written by those who witnessed these events. They are edited and re-edited stories based on oral accounts that had been told and retold and embroidered by the Jesus-followers, the first witnesses, the early Christian gatherings, and those who subsequently joined the Jesus-centred communities. To the oral accounts that formed the basis of the Gospels were added stories told to and re-told and experienced and embroidered by Paul (with the help of Luke).

Belief is a dilemma for me because I do not believe in what is rehearsed in church every Sunday and maintained by the authority of the institution as adequately representing an adequate vision of the Jesus who transforms life and culture. The Gospels and Acts and the history books of the Hebrew scriptures are not accurate, historical accounts of the events and lives they describe. History never is accurate but always a personal view and interpretation. The contemporary “traditional, orthodox, Biblical” ways of our religious systems do not, for me, embrace the essence and heart of Jesus’ life and teachings. We live with ideas about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit that are human interpretations of Jesus’ teachings and essence. All knowledge is developed and communicated through the medium of human understanding. Any distortion or misunderstanding of the teachings of Jesus is the result of human failure to comprehend. Throughout my life I have been trying to disentangle the ingredients of distortion and error from healthier wisdom and truth, trying to be more aware of and recapture and synthesise the essence of a holy, sacred, incarnated transformational wisdom that helps us embrace the essence of life in all its fulness.

Whether we are aware or not, all of us are dealing with myths and the development of human interpretations and teachings and corruptions of the divine human we worship as Son of God.

We continue to have great difficulty in distinguishing the unhealthy divine attributions that are fundamental corruptions of Jesus’ life and teachings from the Jesus’ essence that is the catalyst for healthy, creative consciousness that make life in all its fulness into real presence.

Colin Coward is a retired priest in the CoE. To my mind he is a prophet and an outsider. I commend his blog to you:

https://www.unadulteratedlove.net

Part 514. An announcement

 My regular reader will not need to be reminded that this blog lays no claims to authority.  As it says on the tin the blog comprises my theological ramblings, my prejudices, my ideas (mostly copied from others, certainly not original thoughts), and my interests.

It does not seek to influence readers to think along particular lines.  Rather it exists as a record of my  interests, concerns and conclusions.  

Part 513: Two interesting articles

 

I commend the articles below for your consideration.  As stated in previous posts we need to consider the bible, not as a rulebook nor user manual, but as a valuable source/resource for thinking about and developing the principles/concepts/ideas that its authors articulate.  We should see them a a jumping off point: not the final, literal, unalterable divine word.  Our thinking should not be boxed in or constrained within the envelopes of biblical interpretation and church doctrine.  As the saying has it: think outside the box.

'What I respect most about Jesus and the Buddha is not simply what they taught, but the fact that they refused to live secondhand lives. Neither man inherited truth passively. Neither surrendered his authority to the systems around him. They arrived at their understanding through direct confrontation with existence itself. Their insight was not borrowed. It was earned.

Jesus emerged from within a deeply religious culture with established laws, traditions, authorities, and expectations that could have easily defined his life for him. Instead, he trusted something deeper than conformity. He spoke and acted from an authority that did not come from religious institutions, which is precisely why those institutions experienced him as dangerous.

The Buddha undertook a different but equally radical journey. He subjected himself to disciplines, teachers, renunciations, and extreme practices in search of an answer to human suffering, only to discover that none of them reached deeply enough. What stands out is not perfection, but resolve. Both men were willing to continue searching long after inherited answers failed them.

What they discovered placed them in direct tension with the dominant assumptions of their time. They trusted lived reality over social agreement. They trusted direct insight over inherited certainty. Neither softened what they saw in order to remain acceptable. They were misunderstood, resisted, dismissed, and threatened because genuine truth has a way of destabilizing systems built upon illusion, fear, hierarchy, or dependency. Yet neither retreated. They embodied what they discovered so fully that their lives themselves became inseparable from their teaching.

This is why reducing them to religious mascots completely misses the point. The Buddha was not interested in creating Buddhists. Jesus was not interested in creating Christians. Neither man was asking for worship. They were pointing toward transformation. They were demonstrating what a human being becomes when illusion falls away, when fear loosens its grip, when one comes into direct relationship with reality itself. Their significance lies not only in the truths they articulated, but in the courage, honesty, and existential seriousness through which they arrived at them.

Somewhere along the way, people replaced the challenge of embodiment with the safety of devotion. It became easier to worship Jesus than to live as he lived. Easier to admire the Buddha than to undergo the kind of inner confrontation his path required. Religion turned living revelations into systems of belief, and in doing so often protected people from the very transformation these figures represented.

The deeper invitation was never imitation in the shallow sense, nor obedience to a religious structure built around their memory. It was awakening. To become “a Jesus” or “a Buddha” is not to become supernatural. It is to become radically awake to reality, deeply responsible for one’s life, grounded in compassion, liberated from illusion, and unwilling to betray what one sees to be true. It is to stop living mechanically inside inherited frameworks and begin living consciously, courageously, and honestly.

That path cannot be walked for you. No religion can hand it to you fully formed. At some point, every person has to decide whether they will continue living from borrowed truth or risk discovering what is real for themselves.'

Jim Palmer

'There’s a strange kind of ache that comes when you realize you spent years loving a book you were never fully allowed to understand. For me, the Bible was that book. I was handed it like a contract — sign here, agree here, don’t ask too many questions. But over the decades, something in me kept tugging toward a wider, deeper truth. Foster and Willard taught me to listen beneath the noise. Rohr taught me to trust the widening. Giles taught me to question the frame itself. And somewhere along the way, Scripture stopped feeling like a rulebook and started feeling like a living conversation.

Every translation I picked up became another doorway. The NIV helped me breathe. The Rainbow Bible helped me see. And The Inclusive Bible helped me hear, really hear, the voices that had always been there but were muted by the limits of older language. Suddenly Sarah stood beside Abraham, Wisdom spoke in her own voice, and God was no longer trapped inside the narrow pronouns I inherited.

In this translation, God is never reduced to “He,” but named with titles like the Most High, the Holy One, or Adonai. Christ is spoken of without gender when referring to the universal, cosmic presence, while Jesus is honored in his historical maleness. And the Spirit moves freely without pronouns at all — Breath, Advocate, Presence — letting the Trinity breathe in its full, unbounded life.

And of course, in honor of and respect for the many who hold this view: some people insist the Spirit is female because the Hebrew word ruach is grammatically feminine, and because the Spirit’s movements — comforting, birthing, hovering, indwelling — echo traditionally feminine imagery. Others point out that Greek uses a neuter word for Spirit, and Latin uses a masculine one. The languages of Scripture never agree on a single gender for the Spirit. And maybe that’s the point: the Spirit has always slipped past our categories.

Which is why the best translation isn’t the one we defend — it’s the one that transforms us, the one that opens something in us we didn’t know was closed. And in this season of Eastertide — when resurrection keeps unfolding in quieter, deeper ways — it feels right that the words themselves are rising into new life too.

The text didn’t shrink; it expanded. And so do we. Perhaps a little less certain now, and ever more drawn toward an egalitarian way of seeing our God, God’s creation, our neighbor, and even ourselves.

Maybe that’s the quiet miracle: when we let Scripture speak without the old filters, we don’t lose God — we find the One who was never confined by them.

What if the real revelation isn’t what the Bible says, but what we finally become able to hear.'

Royce

Part 512. Beyond the bible

 Following gestation over a long period my understanding of what it means to hold to  Christian belief has moved away from unquestioning acceptance of church creeds, doctrine and dogma. I do not regard scripture as literally the word of God, nor the result of God's inspiration, and therefore not to be challenged.  Scripture, creeds, doctrine and dogma are human creations in their entireties and not the result of activity by metaphysical or anthropomorphic sources. 

The bible is not a statement of rules set out by an omnipresent god 'out there' that have to be followed if we are to receive the reward of eternal life.   It sets out the ideas of authors over 2000 years ago.  The world has moved on.  Christian belief evolves: it is not set in stone by manuscripts written long ago.  But we should not consign the bible to the dump.  It is a valuable source and resource of concepts. Yet we need to remember that it is of human origin and not to be cloaked with the veneer of the divine.

It is my perception that we have allowed ourselves to be hemmed in by church doctrine and dogma and  by scripture.  No matter what method of biblical interpretation is used: literal, liberal, historical, progressive etc, we permit our ideas to be contained and constrained within the parameters or envelope of scripture. It is as though our understanding of God's purpose is fixed in work composed in a distant past

Surely we can do better than be boxed in by the gatekeepers and guardians of 'the truth'?  We can be inspired by concepts attributed by the authors of the synoptic gospels to a person we know as Jesus, but we need to appreciate that the concepts are subjective and capable of varied interpretations, not objective unchangeable 'truth'.  Flexibility, not rigidity, is the order of the day.

You might think I am a humanist, or even an atheist, in expressing the opinions very briefly outlined above.  I reject both appellations. It is my opinion that inherent within each of us is the power to love: to love our neighbour.  So I argue love is God within us, it is our task to tease out what that means.  Jesus points the way, but his is not the final nor only word.  Our understanding of what it is to love should not be bound by adherence, however interpreted, to scripture. It is not a user manual.  Yes, scripture may assist our use of reason, our understanding, and our actions; it must not be used to prescribe or proscribe how we apply the principle of love your neighbour.  

Postscript

The post above has been greeted with compliments and brickbats, as I suspected it would given  my ecletic audience.  It is my preference to keep posts short and this sometimes leads to brevity of expression taking precedence over the nuances of an argument.  The post encompasses many ideas  but lacks detail and nuance.  A poor analogy: the article is akin to providing the answer to a mathematical question without  supplying the working out.  My 'defence' is that many of my earlier articles detail the thinking that led me to the opinions expressed in the above post. 

Part 511. A challenging sermon at St. Paul's, Rusthall

On 3rd May 2026 it was a privilege to listen to this sermon delivered at Evensong by Tim Harrold, St. Paul's Licensed Lay Minister.   The sermon articulates the idea that God is with us and not  for us.   I consider the concept is of fundamental importance inter alia to understanding theology underpinning the pursuit of social justice and assisting those in need.  Tim has agreed kindly to the sermon's publication on this blog.

A Sermon for Evensong

Zechariah 4:1–10; Revelation 21:1–14 (NRSV), in conversation with Samuel Wells

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This evening, I want to introduce you to one of my favourite contemporary

theologians, Samuel Wells. He is the vicar at St. Martin’s in London and the

author of over 40 books. There is one theme in particular that consistently runs

through many of his books which is very relevant to tonight’s readings. Samuel

Wells argues that traditional theologians have frequently been captivated by

the notion of “for” – invariably they see God and Jesus as working or being

“for” us, dying for us, rising for us and this is both wrong and decidedly

unhelpful. It makes our relationship with God a transactional one leading to all

sorts of problems. Instead, we need to focus on the more lasting gift of his

working “with” or ultimately being “with” us. As will become apparent, our

readings impact very differently through the lens of “with” and not “for”.

Let us begin with Zechariah. The people are rebuilding the temple after exile.

The task feels fragile, uncertain, and small. Into this, God speaks:

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”

(Zechariah 4:6, NRSV)

We often hear this as reassurance that God will act for us—achieving what we

cannot. Certainly, that is the traditional historical theological position. Samuel

Wells invites us to hear something deeper: God’s Spirit is not simply a force

applied on our behalf, but the very presence of God with us in the work itself.

In his book God Companions, Wells reflects on how God’s primary desire is

not to fix things from a distance but to accompany us—to be alongside us in

our vulnerability, our incompleteness, our “day of small things.”

And so that phrase from Zechariah takes on new depth:

“For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice…” (Zechariah

4:10, NRSV)

Why should we not despise small things? Not because they will one day

become impressive, but because God is already present within them.

God is with us in the small congregation, the quiet prayer, the unnoticed

kindness. The Spirit is not waiting for greatness; the Spirit dwells in the

ordinary.

Too often we imagine God as one who steps in dramatically—solving, rescuing, 

intervening. But it’s this that can so easily become a source of tension

whenever we feel that God went AWOL and didn’t answer our calls or did not

prevent some deadfall calamity from hurting us.

The vision of Zechariah suggests something gentler and more enduring: a lamp

continually fed with oil, a steady, sustaining presence.

God with us.

And this brings us to Revelation.

John’s vision is often read as a promise of what God will do for us at the end of

time. But again, notice the emphasis:

“See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will

be his peoples, and God himself will be with them.” (Revelation 21:3, NRSV)

The fulfilment of all things is not simply relief from suffering, but

relationship—God dwelling with humanity.

In another of Well’s books, A Nazareth Manifesto, Wells explores how the life

of Jesus reveals this very pattern: God does not stand apart, dispensing

solutions, but enters fully into human life—sharing meals, forming friendships,

walking alongside others. Salvation, in this vision, is not merely rescue but

presence. The cross is not a sacrifice that appeases God’s righteous wrath or a

conquest that defeats our last enemy. It’s a vision of a God whose purpose is

to be with us more intimately, more permanently, more comprehensively than

we can imagine. God is so committed to be with us, that Christ is willing to

endure even crucifixion to embody that ultimate commitment to be with,

So when Revelation continues:

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and

crying and pain will be no more…” (Revelation 21:4, NRSV)

we are not simply being told that suffering will be removed, but that God will

be with us in such a complete way that all that diminishes life is overcome by

that presence. There will be nothing left for God to do for us, we shall fully be

God’s companions. God is with us through the very worst of life and in the very

separation of death – in, through, and beyond.

The theology of “with” insists that the method and goal of God in creation,

incarnation, and salvation are the same.

So what does this mean for us, here, at Evensong?

It means that our hope is not only that God will act for us in the future, but

that God is already with us in the present.

With us in the small things.

With us in the unfinished work.

With us in our joys and in our sorrows.

It means that prayer is not merely asking God to do things, but becoming

attentive to God’s presence.

It means that the Church is not simply a place where things get fixed, but a

community learning to be with God and with one another.

And it means that when we face difficulty or uncertainty, we are not waiting

for God to arrive—God is already here.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit.”

“See, the home of God is among mortals.”

These are not separate messages. They are one: God’s Spirit is God’s presence,

and that presence is with us now, even as it draws us toward the fullness of

the new creation.

So let us not despise the day of small things. For in those small things, God is

with us.

Let us not imagine that salvation lies only ahead of us. For even now, God

dwells among us.

And as we go from this place tonight, into the quiet of the evening, may we

become more aware of that presence—beside us, within us, among us.

Not God for us.

But God with us.

Amen.

Part 510. An article by Chris Kratzer: a must read

 

I recommend this article if only because it sets out very well ideas previously articulated on this blog.  Don't be put off by the USA context: the principles apply everywhere.

I hope you'll read every word.

We've got to get this right.

When Jesus said, “You will always have the poor among you,” he wasn't suggesting that poverty is beyond repair. Instead, he was indicting the religious and political systems of the day that allow poverty to exist.

Because here's the truth that Jesus was confronting. Given the self-centeredness and greed of the rich, political, and religious in our world, poverty will never get solved. Not because it can't, but because those that can… won't. That's the brutal condemning message of Jesus.

We will always have the poor among us because poverty is big business. You don't have billionaires and harsh capitalism without it. Especially when the religious adjust their message and fabricate a gospel that enables and partners with greed.

See, the deeper message of Jesus is that everything you see is by design.

Things could be so much better for everyone, but they're designed not to be; not by Jesus, but by the selfish evil people of this world.

We could solve poverty, but we don't. We could make voting easy, but we don't. We could have schools without school shootings, but we don't. We could make food healthy instead of poisonous, but we don't. We could have a living wage, but we don't. We could have safe and environmentally friendly energy, but we don't. We could have universal free healthcare, but we don't. So many things could be so much better, but we won't.

Everything is by design.

That's why Jesus came offering a totally different vision and a totally different design for the world, but the religious and powerful despised it, because Jesus is terrible for the economy and ambitions of the rich, powerful, and religious.

And so, they killed him.

That's what happens when you speak words of truth straight to the heart of power…

“You will always have the poor with you; you pathetic, self-righteous, greedy, power hungry, self-centered gluttons.”

See, contrary to what most Christians will tell you, this is what Jesus means when he says “don't be of the world.” In the mind of Jesus, to be “of the world” is to be of a religious, political system of greed and power that envisions and designs a world where the rich, powerful, privileged, and religious are exempt from accountability and consequence, while the rest of us--the marginalized, condemned, discriminated, powerless, struggling, exploited, and vulnerable--pay the price.

In fact, Jesus “dying for the sins of the world” is evil's greatest diversion away from the real purpose and cause of Jesus which is to dismantle the evil systems of the world created by the rich and religious.

Think about it, if you want to keep people from breaking down the systems you create to exploit and oppress them, just brainwash them into believing that their real threat is a God who will send them to hell if they don't believe and live like you do.

That's right, the Gospel isn't about personal salvation nearly as much (if it all) as it is about systemic revolution. Our salvation is inseparably connected to the renovation and resurrection of the oppressive human systems the powerful create.

It's never been about people getting into heaven, it's always been about heaven coming down to us.

It's the meek inheriting the earth, not the rich and religious. It's the last being put first, not the powerful. It's the immigrant being welcomed, not marginalized, abused, and deported. It's the dismantling of patriarchy, racism, white-supremacy, bigotry, inequality, and greed, not the celebration and empowerment of it.

Because, when Jesus sees poverty, he sees the “beloved.” When Republican Evangelicals see poverty, they see “big business.”

When Jesus sees self-righteousness, he sees a “fake and empty” faith. When Republican Evangelicals see self-righteousness, they see a “fast-track to power and privilege” no matter what it takes.

When Jesus sees children, he sees “free school lunches,” shooter-less classrooms, critical thinking, and personal empowerment. When Republican Evangelicals see children, they see “free labor,” future cult members, and vulnerable sexual prey.

When Jesus sees queer people he sees “humans beautifully created in the image of God.” When Republican Evangelicals see queer people, they see “subhuman targets to hate and discriminate" for personal and political gain

When Jesus sees diversity, he sees the “fabric of God's creation.” When Republican Evangelicals see diversity, they see a “foe to their power and privilege” that needs to be destroyed.

When Jesus sees people, he sees “divine beings” to be loved, empowered, protected, and cherished. When Republican Evangelicals see people, they see “depraved souls” to be leveraged for personal profit, power, and control.

When Jesus sees cruelty, he sees the “opposite of all that is good, holy, and of the divine.” When Republican Evangelicals see cruelty they see it as a “spiritual gift and a sign of sanctification.”

Jesus sees Gaza, he sees “suffering and injustice.” When Republican Evangelicals see Gaza, they see “sandy beaches” littered with billionaire houses and members only golf courses.

When Jesus sees Israel, he sees a “people group” no more divine or favored than any other. When Republican Evangelicals see Israel, they see a “partner in crime” to spiritually justify and magnify their evil.

Everything is by design.

Addiction to social media is by design.

Fear of God is by design.

Unhealthiness is by design.

Hatred for minorities is by design.

Financial hardships are by design.

Racism is by design.

War is by design.

Poverty is by design.

Religious shame is by design.

Patriarchy is by design.

Injustice is by design.

Violence is by design.

Hunger is by design.

Discrimination is by design.

Favoritism for the rich and powerful is by design.

Fatigue is by design.

Sexism is by design.

Blame of the less fortunate is by design.

Demonizing the different is by design.

Division is by design.

Classism is by design.

Toxic masculinity is by design.

Ignorance is by design.

“You will always have the poor among you”

Why?

Because, everything we see is by design.

Part 509. Personal reflections

 When I commenced this blog I had no idea where my posts would lead me theologically.  It has been an adventure, full of doubts, questions perplexity, even anxiety.  Now I have reached an oasis of calm, peace and contentment. 

For many years  I was a lay preacher in churches of  a fundamentalist, conservative evangelical disposition.  The bible is the inerrant word of God and our lives are governed by  understanding the words literally.   Or, so I thought.  Studying for a diploma in theology introduced me to what  I considered to be novel concepts.  My studies gave me succour, that my nagging doubts were not uniquely mine, that there was a dimension of christian belief beyond the confines of biblical inerrancy. 

So began my journey to an acceptance of the idea that scripture is created entirely by humanity, that there is no metaphysical or anthropomorphic 'god' out there inspiring authors.  Scripture is an human construct. Postmodernism taught me that words have a fluidity of interpretation, meaning is not rigid and inflexible.  In fact, I knew this already from studying law reports and the processes involved in the development of common law. 

Eventually I came to the conclusion that the bible was useful as an expression of the thoughts of individuals 2,000+ years ago. In particular I was drawn to the ideas to be found in the synoptic gospels, ideas attributed by the authors to a person we know as Jesus.  The concept of love your neighbour is deep and profound: but  is not the sole prerogative of christians.  

My interest  in helping individuals at point of need and campaigning on issues of social justice is not driven by a conviction it is the christian thing to do. Rather, I have come to the conclusion that there is a motivation to love that is inherent in individuals.

Recently I have been reading works by Jim Palmer and Colin Coward.  I commend their work to you.  Below are links to more recent articles, the first by Jim Palmer, the remainder by Colin Coward.

The Existential Impulse

A Rumour of Angels – Peter Berger, Pope Leo and Donald Trump — Unadulterated Love

Mapping God: When everything is taken literally, meaning itself can swiftly start to unravel — Unadulterated Love

Time to redraw our God-map — Unadulterated Love

Part 508. The fragility of the voluntary sector

I have engaged with the voluntary sector in a variety of roles for thirty years.  Most of the organisations I was involved with have either closed or merged with other organisations.

Panda Playgroup.  Closed when premises demolished and no satisfactory alternative provided.

Crisis Recovery. Victim of covid.

Crossroads.  Merged with other Crossroads

Good Neighbour Project. Funding issues

Mental Health Resource.  Closed as funding did not cover costs.

Bridge Trust. Reduced funding led to merger with YMCA.

Church in Society. Closed by dioceses of Canterbury and Rochester.

Churches' Social  Responsibility Group. Taken over by Churches Together.

Venn House. Closed by Church Missionary Society.

Tonbridge Evangelical Free Church. Closed

Westwood Road Evangelical Free Church. Closed

Cousley Wood Evangelical Free Church. Closed

Number One: Shadow of former self. Cafe and playgroup closed.

Rusthall Community and Youth Project.  Inactive

The challenges facing the voluntary sector have been rehearsed in other posts on this blog.  What is happening is tragic. The decline of the voluntary sector impacts on the wellbeing of many, particularly in local contexts.  Vital support services are being lost to the detriment of communities and individuals.

Part 507. Spiked........again

The editors of the parish magazine have chosen to 'spike' my recent article.  (See posts 504 and 497)

It was their decision to make as they have no editorial constraints placed upon them by the Parochial Church Council (PCC).  I support editorial freedom and observe that the magazine reflects well the prevailing atmosphere within the church's community. Challenging articles are a rarity, it's all so twee and cosy.  Not my cup of tea. 

I am mulling over what to do next.   Probably it will be to attend the monthly Choral Evensong according to the Book of Common Prayer (the choir is excellent) and to withdraw my nomination to be a member of the PCC and deanery synod.

Part 506. 10 and 6 years on

Ten years ago the United Reformed Church decided same-sex marriages could be solemnised in its churches with the caveat that individual churches could decline to hold said services.  Six years ago the Methodist Church followed suit.

Meanwhile the Church of England has huffed and puffed to a position whereby same-sex prayers of blessing may be performed within an authorised service.  And that's it.  No stand-alone or 'bespoke' services of blessing although it can be argued that such services may be held within the provisions of the canons. Of solemnization of same-sex marriage not a glimmer. 

This year members of deanery synods in the Church of England will elect laity and clergy to diocesan synods and General Synod.  These elections are important as it is the latter body that decides on matters of doctrine. Changes in doctrine require two-thirds majorities in each of the houses of General Synod: bishops, clergy and laity.  Authorising same-sex marriage is a change in doctrine.  Will those seeking inclusivity secure enough seats to establish two-thirds majorities for change?  I have my doubts.  

Part 505. Just the job!

Occasionally one comes across an article that encapsulates your own opinions far better than you are capable of expressing.   The link below is to such an article.  I commend it for your attention accepting it will not be received with universal approbation, indeed there may well be vehement opposition.  So be it: courteous debate and discussion is to be welcomed.  

https://jimpalmerauthor.substack.com/p/20-things-jesus-didnt-say?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web&fbclid=IwdGRjcARYtFhjbGNrBFiz3mV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHor81ABdHmZ-9NVaw6W7thorJYSXO-hREpl4sqiFv5NQemJ4eRiUegVZlafo_aem_SgsVPwBRwRMPQgKHHqDTsw&triedRedirect=true

Yes, I have tested the link and it works.

Readers of my blog will not be surprised that I support the opinions expressed in Jim Palmer's post. It is not my intention to offend. I  believe theological discourse should be in the spirits of honesty and integrity and differing opinions respected.

Part 504. Matters have moved on.

 My April Fool's joke (post 497) deceived some of its recipients to the extent that not only did they think I was planning to be a candidate for the position of churchwarden, they wished me well in my endeavour.  A gentle letting down of expectation since then.

The upshot is I intend to stand for election to the parochial church council and the deanery synod.  I'll keep you posted on developments.

However there is a potential fly in the ointment.  Last year I had two of my blog posts published in the parish magazine under a pseudonym.  A  third offering finished up on the editor's spike.  I have submitted a further article (post 495) under my own name.  Will this one be published?   The article is topical and concerns the Church of England.  Failure to publish will send a clear message to me and might persuade me to consider attending United Reformed Church services given the URC's stance on inclusion.  

Part 503. Biblical truth, an oxymoron?

Don't you just love an oxymoron: honest politician, deafening silence,  civil war, alone together, Microsoft Works, organised chaos, etc.

But what of biblical truth? There are those who believe the bible is the word of God, texts written by authors inspired by the divine. Thus theology, doctrine and dogma are determined by belief in God given scripture within a spectrum of interpretation ranging from rigid, literal, conservative understanding of words to fluid, symbolic, liberal conceptual approaches.  Underpinning all is a belief that the words of scripture are authoritative, not of human origin but of an omniscient, transcendent, metaphysical, anthropomorphic God: statements not to be the subject of rejection  by humans but capable of varied interpretation. Implausible? You be the judge.

Some contra opinions:

'The Christian story does not drop from heaven fully written. It grew and developed over a period of forty-two to seventy years. This is not what most Christians have been taught to think, but it is factual. Christianity has always been an evolving story. It was never, even in the New Testament, a finished story.'

JOHN SHELBY SPONG 

'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 understandings and affirmations, statements not 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.'

MARCUS J BORG 

'Properly understood the Bible is a potential ally to the progressive Christian passion for transformation of ourselves and the world. It is our great heritage. Along with Jesus, to whom it is subordinate, it is our greatest treasure.'

MARCUS J BORG

'My point is not that those ancient people told literal stories and we are not smart enough to take them symbolically, but that they told them symbolically and we are now dumb enough to take them literally.'

JOHN DOMINIC CROSSAN 

'The Bible is based upon the construct of theism and anthropomorphism as its primary literary vehicle for expressing the reality of "God." Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. 

The ultimate authority of one's life is not the Bible. The highest truth is not confined between the covers of a book. It is not something written by men and frozen in time. It is not from a source outside oneself. One's ultimate authority is the voice of truth within one's own innermost being.'

JIM PALMER 

'The danger that a mythology understood too literally, and as taught by the Church, will suddenly be repudiated lock, stock and barrel is today greater than ever. Is it not time that the Christian mythology, instead of being wiped out, was understood symbolically?'

CARL JUNG 

I am firmly in the latter camp, much influenced by postmodernism and ideas developed by Jacques Derrida.

So, my opinion is that 'biblical truth' is an oxymoron.  At this juncture may I prevail upon you to turn to post 502 and the words of Colin Coward.   They are an antidote to fundamentalist, conservative evangelical theology, a breath of fresh air to counter stultifying narrow bible based theology, doctrine and dogma that loses sight of the concepts of inclusive love and care for all humanity as ascribed to Jesus by the authors of the synoptic gospels: concepts of humans, therefore subjective, not to be cloaked with the veneer of objective God given authority.  It is the dynamic of the concepts that matters, not the precise meaning of the words in ancient texts of human origin.  As Spong said Christianity is an 'evolving story', not a set of texts fixed in time.