Of course, "humility" is a key word here. And I suppose it's more difficult for large a institution to humble itself. It is, therefore, left to the individual members to take it upon themselves to follow this spiritual virtue.

Saltpetre, when I criticise religious institutionalisation, It doesn't blind me to the merits of individuals. I derive much in my life from my everyday encounters with people around me. Strangely enough, yesterday I found myself in the company of a nun who works as a teacher of refugees for a Catholic order. She was humble and extremely interesting as she described her experiences....and this attitude is evident in lay people as well.

I get the impression, however, that spirituality is really something that is nurtured in quiet and humility, and agree with Ammonite that it's not something I would associate with the Cardinal Pells of this world.

Sloppy arguementation and banal conclusion. Altogether pointless. A sad article by a man saddened by the political marginalisation of the church, and a very good arguement for maintaining that marginalisation. But then, anyone who has looked into the biblical compositions knows that they're not history - the things written about did not happen in the way the bible describes, if at all. The sooner people realise the bible is fiction, the sooner we'll all be on our way to a brighter future. That goes for the Koran readers too, of course.

dear peter

i note your use..[ab-use]..of john..14;6
[thats how we get into trouble]..[misslead]

see the full context..of 14 john
AFTER john/13..
[where jesus..predicts the fall of peter]

then in 14
re-assures HIM..!

""do not let..*your heart..be troubled""

''TRUST IN GOD*...trust also in me""..
[you can trust god
and in what im,..saying..TO YOU..*[my deciples]

2/''for in my fathers house..are many rooms'"

..."im going there to prepare a PLACE for you"
3/..""and i go to prepare a place for you..!'

think of a group of us
sitting arround a table..and you point at me
then point at someone else..to highlight the point further

he says..to peter
14;4..''you know the way''..[deeds/works/love]
""to the place im going'

but then at 14;5..'thomas responds'
and it is specificly to thomas..to which he replies.

[that you take*..
as a means..[generalisation]..
to exclude others..from being saved]

lets get back to
the truelly important info

14;2..IN MY FATHERS HOUSE*..
there ARE many""..[EGSISTING ROOMS]..

""I AM GOING THERE""...[to the FATHERS/house]
""to prepare a place...[a room]..for you*""

just as the others..[b.c]..BEFORE CHIST
allready have..had built..THEIR OWN 'ROOM'

yet you focus..on the devisive
in lue of focusing on..what he said..to his own*

[for them..his words are a promise
to those..upon whom it turned out
this xtian church..was built]

this dont exclude..those..
who belong in the ';other rooms'
their messangers..*allready..BUILT FOR THEM*

mahamoud could[did]..much the same thing
that applies to those..who follow him

there are now divisions..
even in christs room
lutherans/seventh day/mormons/jehova witness..etc..etc

''if you REALLY knew me,..
you would know..*our father as well..!';

our father..who has many rooms
many children..of infinite callings and loves

for you..[peter/phylip/thomas/john
to go to the father
you must be in his house first

dare you build your own room?..

its much easier
going through an egsisting room

phylip said

show us the father first
[i am..*in the..father
and he is..*within you*

and within you
and you

[with-in..every living thing..
sustaining them..their life..*too]

emmanuel:
god with[in]..
us[all]..

ahh men

camo,
Can you give examples of your claim that the Bible is fiction. What is that way and the brighter future you desire? It sounds like you believe in fantacy and bigotry to me.

further thoughts after re/reading peters words

quote/...""In the first letter of John
we find the popular text for weddings:

“God is love and those who abide in love abide in God.”

THATS a perfect egsample

[if we got love...we dont need jesus
to introduce him [god/good]..to us..!]

[peter knew god/the way of charity..[works]..
and mercy..[grace]

*the frits of loving neighbour
as the way to love god]

clearly many xtians need a guide to god
BECAUSE THEY DONT GOT LOVE..thus need jesus
to point *love out..for them..

""Where now the exclusive statements of John’s gospel?""

god is all INCLUSIVE*
many messengers from old test-i-meant..to new covenant
taught us much...jesus was the cherry on top

revealing the IMPORTANCE of works

and of letting the good grain...mature peacefully
in the field
with the 'bad'/tares
cause we all gety SORTED in the next realms
[sent to our 'own' rooms...those of the christ..to christs room]

thopse of mosus..to mosus room
those of cain to cains room
those od satan to satans room

in the end we all get sorted
into our basic animal natures..[in heaven and in hell]
each being with those of the same love/works

lovers with lovers
gredy with greedy
slothsome with slothfull

racists with racists
blashemers with blashemers
goats with coats/sheep with sheep

its not rockett science
kids get it more easy than adults
stop over thinking it

god is good
if its not good..ITS NOT OF GOD...!

good
love
grace
mercy
charity

its easy once you know
the importance of chosing...*why?

Sells

I think what your daughters and students are trying to tell you is that, notwithstanding your Anglo-Catholic conventions, the idea of the 'exclusivity of Christ' has potential for evil and is closely linked to the evil the Church has perpetrated in the form of Crusades, Inquisitions and Witch Hunts throughout its history.

What you are trying, albeit rather clumsily, to describe is the uniqueness of Christ. 'Exclusivity' is a most unfortunate choice of words under the circumstances. The inclusive-exclusive dichotomy emphasises discrimination and division rather than conveying any sense of the universal scope of the Christ event.

The Gospels are essentially protest pamphlets speaking out against the dominant imperial conciousness that made some powerful and others powerless. It invokes the Kingdom of God as Hope for the powerless in the universal struggle against human power structures in general.

The particulars of the man Jesus serve only to alert us to a universal truth about the human condition. The idea that God favours the powerless is the radical element of the Gospel that points to a universal reversal of evil and offers hope to all. This idea has power whether or not you accept the historicity of the Jesus narratives, whether or not you believe Jesus was, in some way, a material extension of God, whether or not you subscribe to church dogma and even if you cant personally give intellectual assent to the proposition that God (whatever is meant by that) exists.