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August 31, 2004
A Canterbury tale?
An item in the Telegraph today gave a good example of just how easily a public figure can be misrepresented. The headline screams "Muslims can go to heaven, says Archbishop", a single line from a much longer and far more balanced message which can very easily be misinterpretted by those with a desire to do so. The rest of the message is quite important, and it has implications for Muslims as well as his Christian audience.
The Archbishop was speaking at the Greenbelt Christian Conference in Cheltenham this weekend, an annual gathering of mainly Evangelical members (Low Church tending to non-Conformist Churchmanship, theology, and Doctrine, for the most part), and he will have rocked a few boats there, for sure! I have no doubt that he will have rattled cages well outside of that forum, as well, by the time the Press have finished with this one. Yet, is the Archbishop actually adrift in what he is saying? Do Christians have exclusive rights to Heaven? What do we mean by Heaven, anyway? Some sort of Mega Butlin's with gold taps, room service, and harp music everywhere? Or the Muslim Martyr version with hordes of nubile "houris" waiting upon you hand and foot? (Actually that last one always raises in my mind the question of what do the female suicide bombers get? Hordes of male "houris"? Are there such creatures? I digress!)
When you look closely at what the Archbishop has actually said, it is very far from sensational - unless you are of the mindset that finds it hard to leave the Sunday School Kindergarten interpretations behind! I am personally pleased to see that he showed at least some of his anger at the behaviour of some sections of the Church on at least two important issues, one being Gay Clergy and the other being the debate on the impact of Islam. Despite my own reservations - and regular readers of my rantings will know that I have some very deep seated ones - we, as Christians, must recognise that Islam is a God-centred religion. We may believe it to be misguided; we may even believe that it is a threat. It is a fact of belief, and we cannot ignore it. We must in fact deal with it and with its adherents and find ways to seek God's purpose in this. This is definitely an area were "Jaw, jaw" and not "war, war!" is needed, yet, at present, Islam is in the hands of fanatics and bigots, and talking is not on their agenda. So, we have to find ways to get them to open up, to be persuaded by means other than bullets and bombs; we need the majority of Muslims to consider the truth of God's purpose in their religion and ours.
The Archbishop told his audience that neither he nor any Christian could control access to heaven.
"It is possible for God's spirit to cross boundaries," he said.Having met Dr Williams while he was still Archbishop of Wales, I must say that I have found him to be a man of deep faith, integrity, and a Christianity that is palpable - not the show kind, but the real kind, the kind that does move mountains. This is a man who deserves support in a job that has always been an almost impossible one for the incumbent. St Augustine found it difficult - in fact he petitioned the Pope to be replaced (it was refused!). Lanfranc was dumped into it after the Conquest and had a real tightrope to walk between his King, a vacillating Pope, and a Bishop of Winchester (Odo) who had the ear of the King and didn't hesitate to use it! Thomas Beckett was martyred trying to defend the Church against the secular state, Cranmer, Hooper, and others for their defence of it against the Catholic Mary I and Philip II of Spain (Mary's husband, in case you were unaware of the Spanish claim to the English throne!). The Archbishopric is always caught between the demands of an ever changing society and its changing mores and morals and the need to uphold the Gospels - but these, too, are seen by different factions within the Church in different ways."I say this as someone who is quite happy to say that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except by Jesus. But how God leads people through Jesus to heaven, that can be quite varied, I think."
In an open and frank debate the Archbishop reflected his disappointment at the tone of the debate on homosexuality, and his dismay at the vitriol of many of the e-mails he had received.
"It is not so much that we have disagreement in the Church - that happens," he said. "It is more to do with how those disagreements are conducted. The dismissiveness, the rawness of the anger . . . need to be worked with."
The Archbishop needs our prayers and our support, not our brickbats and our bile. Take the trouble to read carefully all of what he says and then debate it with him. This is not a man who leaps to speak without a lot of thought and prayer. When he makes statement like this on the access to heaven, you may be sure that he is speaking from a position of having prayed and considered very deeply. And I am convinced that all of you - particularly those who truly try to follow the teaching of the Gospel - will see where he is coming from and are probably there, yourselves!
It is high time that the factions and distractions were laid aside and replaced with rational and reasoned debate on the true issues. The message of the Gospels is far too important to be trivialised in this way; it needs to be studied, understood, and applied as never before! Sexuality, gender, churchmanship - these are distractions, these are matters which detract from the Church of Christ (and I am deliberately using that title to include EVERY Christian denomination!) in ways that aid its destruction.
The Archbishop is right to be angry - it is time more of us got angry at the way the agendas are being set by small groups both inside and outside the Church for their own particular ends. Neither does the Church or the Gospel message any good at all.
Posted by The Gray Monk at August 31, 2004 11:30 AM