Who cares?

From an non-believer I am constantly tickled by the thought that modern physics for decades supported the notion of a steady state universe, one that always was and always will be, then along came the 'big bang' theory - the grand daddy of all creation stories.

I must confess a little sneaking suspicion that all those old buggers sitting around desert camps from Uluru to Sinai might just have some Capra style insight that is totally incapable of being proven but nonetheless is a delicious thought.

Therefore, though I never thought I would be saying this to Peter, keep the faith son! There are many colours between black and white on the good ol' electro-magnetic spectrum.

I think that this is one of Peter Sellick's better offerings. It clearly expresses his impossibly schizoid personal struggles to reconcile his faith with his intellect (and job).

That he is uncomfortable with the blind faith expressed so eloquently by e.g. Boazy, Grey, runner et al, is hardly surprising, since his various introspections indicate that he possesses a generally rational and keen intellect. This, of course, is why his desperately attempts to accommodate his apparently continually evolving faith within the scientific establishment that pays his wages is quite painful to read at times.

The only rational outcome of Peter's various discourses is his conscious adoption of a formal agnosticism. Otherwise he's bound to go completely ga-ga :)

Fascinating article, thank you.

Rhian, I agree with you.

Fencepost, No irony intended, but thank you for your short word-portrait of Jesus’ character and disposition. Wouldn’t it be strange if, in some sense or other, He is more clearly seen from outside the fold? One thing Christians should do is spend less time in the corral – jump the fence and refresh their perspective.

I’m not trying to sell you Jesus’ divinity, but perhaps you can understand why someone like me, who is actually acquainted with this person (or fancies themselves to be) might blur the distinction between what Jesus preached and Jesus himself. Many Christians would say heatedly that the only way to preach Jesus is to preach what Jesus preached. On the other hand, to be bonded by love to Jesus (or, to imagine it) is slightly exhilarating and disconcerting like any other strong love.

Pax,

Dear Boaz-David,

I find it extraordinary that after your G-d correctly commands you not to judge others least you be judged yourself you have the temerity to say "Sells has abandoned any right or claim to the name 'Christian'".

Luckily I have not placed myself under the same authority so I feel quite comfortable letting you know I regard your particular brand of Christianity as a total perversion, tainted with the same attitudes from the American deep south from whence it was born.

Indeed I see it as a "McDonalds" version of Christianity, neat but bland packages of token righteousness devoid of any nuances and when you 'Supersize' it you just get more of the same.

There seems to be so little of what you stand for in the bible I read I'm not sure it can be the same book that you wield with such pontification.

Every faith seems to have to shoulder the burden of its fundamentalists but BD you might think of helping the brothers and sisters and just lighten up a little.

Or am I being a little too judgemental?

Fencepost.
The conclusion that you draw that Jesus was a good man, even an exceptionally good man was drawn in the 19th century by Protestants and was before that God’s emissary who was sent to us to teach us to be good. There are certainly many liberal Protestants who would also agree in our own time. But that does not do justice to the vast array of New Testament writers. It is obvious that Jesus was more than a moral exemplar, although he was that as well. When the church called Jesus God it changed the way we understand divinity and thus overturned religious thought, especially the Greek. When the mob howled for the blood of this innocent man after he had walked to Jerusalem in full knowledge of what was going to happen something was said about us and something was said about what is truly divine. It is out of this history that the news of the resurrection proclaimed that the event of his trial and death would become the hinge of history, nothing would ever be the same. This is why the writers of the NT are so effusive, placing him at the centre of creation from who all things are made. It is this event that saves us from ourselves. You must look at the story and see what it imports and if you are lucky you will see that it imports God, the event that makes sense of everything and which calls a new world into being.