Eternity - December 2015 - Issue 65

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65

Number 65, DECEMBER 2015 ISSN 1837-8447

Revealed: Secular scholars agree

Brought to you by the Bible Society

History shows Jesus really lived

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NEWS

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Obadiah Slope ALL SLUSHIE: “Making that first donut slushie was the best decision of my life” – large-print quote in Peppermint which describes itself as an eco-fashion magazine. Note to self: avoid picking up reading material in hipster cafes.

NEWSPAPERS: Obadiah agrees with his hometown tabloid The Daily Telegraph that the Grand Mufti’s statement following the Paris carnage was unwise. Dr Ibu Ibrahim Mohammed focused on the grievances of Muslims.

But in the post-Adam Goodes era, portraying a member of a racial minority as a monkey is racist. Playing off a common saying (the three wise monkeys) that in itself is not racist shows what a clever dog whistle it is. Because deniability is all part of the game.

Conservation as mission

News page 2-3

TESS HOLGATE

In Depth 5-10

Formerly a missionary in the Beqaa Valley in Eastern Lebanon, Chris Naylor believes it is foolish to separate acts of social justice from the proclamation of Jesus.

Chris got involved with efforts to protect the Aammiq marsh in the years following the civil war in Lebanon. In time, the conservation work became part of A Rocha (Portuguese for “the Rock”). It was not what he had envisaged when he became a missionary, but Chris said being part of A Rocha provided endless missional opportunities.

Chris’s understanding of the importance of conservation was deepened when he realised that the environment is a fantastic platform for a missionary to “gossip the gospel” because everybody is affected by it.

Chris worked in different villages, which gave him opportunities to help communities that had been at war with one another only a few years earlier cooperate and reconcile.

“We were working on a wetland on the floor of the valley, and the community that was living on the mountain above had a forest that they wanted to protect,” he says.

“You can’t protect one without the other, because if you protect the wetland and don’t protect the woodland, then you have no water because that’s where the water comes from. But similarly if you lose the wetland, the animals of

the woodland of the forest have nowhere to come down to drink.”

Working with those communities on conservation projects gave him great opportunities to talk to them about reconciliation.

“It was a very powerful platform for working out gospel truths in people’s lives.

“As Christians we have a huge amount to say about why we have this aching desire in our hearts to see and protect and conserve beauty. Outside the Christian tradition, many people don’t have answers to that, whereas of course we do ... We love nature, because God loves nature and nature points us to God.” Chris believes we are charged with taking the whole gospel to the world, not just bits of the gospel.

“Too often we’ve been selective in what we think are the bits of the gospel that people need to hear.

“Clearly the broken relationship between mankind and God is hugely important and our individual salvation is a fundamental part of the gospel, but it is a part of the gospel and the whole gospel is much broader.

“It has implications for how we treat our fellow human beings, and

Bible Society 14 Books 15-16 Opinion 19-24 “A Rocha Lebanon”

TO FORGIVE A KILLER: Time magazine, November 25 edition, features a long account of the families of the nine victims of the June massacre at the Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, giving the background to the statements of forgiveness at the first court appearance of the white supremacist assassin. It was a costly forgiveness. (Look up “What it takes to forgive a killer” at time.com.)

DECEMBER 2015

how we also treat the earth.”

Chris believes it is easy for believers to prioritise certain behaviours over others, particularly when elevating the importance of evangelism over acts of social justice.

“If we look at our Christian responsibilities in those ways, none of us will ever do anything except preach the gospel to an individual ... If that’s what we do, we constrain the gospel. But God asks us to unpack the whole gospel all of the time.

“So ... actually, within the context that we are found, we are tasked to live it out in all areas of relationships. That much more holistic understanding of how we live our lives gets us out of the binary choices which take us into a blind alley and muzzles parts of the gospel if we’re not careful.”

A Rocha is registering a branch in Australia, offering Christians the chance to get involved in nature conservation.

Quotable Shane Clifton

February 8 is just the beginning of your journey with Moore College.

Page 5 on his life-changing accident that left him a quadriplegic.

“My T-shirt read ‘Trust me, I’m a doctor.’

But a PhD in theology was not really useful in these circumstances.”

Do Immigrants improve Australian society?

Apply to study at Moore College today. Classes start on February 8.

Begin your journey meeting new friends, being part of a community committed to growing more like Christ, engaging with God’s Word, and experiencing ministry and mission. What will your journey be?

Apply today, and find out. moore.edu.au/apply

2011 NCLS attender sample survey church attenders’ views of immigrants / fact sheet 14016

In brief

LANGUAGE REVIVED: Melbourne Anglicans have new Aboriginal names for the regions their local bishops care for. Marmingatha (Bishop Genieve Blackwell), covering the inner city; Oodthenong (Bishop Philip Huggins), covering the northern and western growth areas in Greater Melbourne and Geelong; and Jumbunna (Bishop Paul White), covering parishes south of the Yarra and to the east.

Archbishop Philip Freier told the Melbourne Synod (church parliament) that he had consulted the local Wurundjeri people about using their new names which together mean “Making the Word of God fully known” in the Woi Wurrung language.

BIG CROWD: Emirates stadium in London will host an evangelistic rally in 2017 called “Justone”. The stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club, seats 60,000.

BIG VOICE: When Michael Youssef, an Aussie-trained evangelist with a massive audience in the Middle East, toured Australia in October to raise support for his Leading the Way ministry, 120 people came to Christ.

GOOD NEWS FOR JAPAN: 38,000 people attended a three-day “Greater Tokyo Celebration of Love” led by Franklin Graham. 1400 came to Christ.

IRON SHARPENS IRON: The Lachlan Macquarie Institute (short residential courses seeking to train Christian leaders) has launched the first National Public Theology Debating Tournament.

LMI partnered with the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture and St Mark’s Theological College for the pilot. They want to involve theological colleges from around the country in 2016.

A 60-SECOND ad featuring the Lord’s Prayer was banned from British cinemas. Produced by the Church of England, the ad was scheduled to be shown before the latest Star Wars movie. Google “#justpray” to see it in full.

NEWS

DECEMBER 2015

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Warm up your voices

Going on mission

TESS HOLGATE

JOHN SANDEMAN

St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, is hosting Lights of Christmas.

50%

40%

Pentecostal 49% Church of Christ 36% SDA 32% Other Protestant 32% Baptist 31% Presbyterian 16% Catholic 12% Lutheran 11% Anglican 10% Salvation Army 8% Uniting 6%

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on 20 December, from 6pm at its Davey St church. If you’re looking for something a little less glitzy, Crossroads Presbyterian Church is holding a Christmas Carols Service at its church from 6pm on 20 December.

In Adelaide, Influencers Church is hosting Carols and Fireworks on 18 December, from 6pm. There will also be Carols in the Adelaide Town Hall on 20 December at 5pm and 7.30pm, hosted by Trinity City Church.

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at Merci College Oval in Braddon.

In Melbourne, CityLife church is hosting “Celebrate the Day” on 12 December from 4pm and 13 December from 9am at their Knox campus. If you prefer classical music, St Paul’s Cathedral is hosting Carols in the Cathedral, featuring the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra on 1819 December, at various times.

Bookings essential.

Hobart is home to Hillsong’s Christmas Carols Spectacular

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December at Bradfield Park, with the fun starting at 5pm.

Meanwhile, St Mary’s Cathedral is hosting Lights of Christmas.

The cathedral will be lit up from 7.30pm until midnight from 1025 December, with a short choir performance at 7.30pm each night.

C3 Canberra is hosting “Love Christmas Love Canberra” on 13 December from 6pm at their Monash campus. Crossroads Church will present Christmas Carols also 13 December from 5pm

Beau Giles /flickr

3900 Australian churches have organised a mission trip, according to a National Church Life Survey research paper. About 34 per cent of churches reported that they organise trips overseas or to other parts of Australia.

Pam Thyer, national director of Missions Interlink, believes that mission trips have increased in popularity and hopes to be able to track an increase when NCLS surveys churches again in 2016.

“An incredible amount of resources are used to organise these trips,” Thyer told Eternity. “How worthwhile they are depends on whether they are simply ‘mission tourism’ or whether there is a strategy behind them.”

The local church can make the trips much more effective if they prepare participants for the trip and debrief them well. “Are churches investing in mission above and over the trip?” Thyer asks.

At its best “it’s a tool in exposing people to mission which could lead to long-term deployment or creating supporters,” says Thyer.

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Thousands of people will gather at parks, town halls and churches to sing Christmas carols this December. We couldn’t possibly list them all, so here’s a handy list of just a few of the carols events happening around the nation.

In Perth, watch the sunset at Carols by Candlelight in Cottesloe, hosted by the Town of Cottesloe and St Phillips Anglican Church on 20 December from 7pm. If singing by the sea is not for you, try Duncraig Christian Fellowship’s Carols by Candlelight at Percy Doyle Reserve on 12 December – the fun starts at 5.30pm.

Moving north, a Community Christmas Carols will be hosted at Darwin Baptist Church on 13 December from 6pm. Don’t feel like singing? C3 Church Darwin is holding Light Up Christmas, with lights, lasers, a photo booth and sausage sizzle from 9-11 December, 7-8.30pm.

In Brisbane, Hillsong presents the Southbank Christmas Carols at the Courier-Mail Piazza, The Parklands, over four nights from 17-20 December, starting at 6.45pm. Also in the Parklands, the Roma Street Parkland’s Christmas Concert is on 13 December, starting at 2pm, featuring the Salvation Army Choir.

Heading south to Sydney, the annual Carols Under the Bridge is on again this year, hosted by Church by the Bridge. It’s on 12

DECEMBER 2015

E CBM AUSTRALIA SPONSORED PAGE 4

Ansha’s escape from darkness Just one year ago, Ansha noticed her eyes were incredibly sore, itchy and watery. No matter how much she rubbed them, she found no relief. In fact, rubbing made things worse.

With time, the pain became so excruciating that every time she blinked it felt as if someone was running razor blades over her eyeballs.

Not knowing what to do to ease the pain, she asked one of her sons to inspect her eyes. He found that somehow her eyelids had turned in on themselves.

This meant her eyelashes were constantly piercing and scratching her delicate corneas.

In desperation, she plucked all her eyelashes out. But they grew back.

What Ansha didn’t know was that her eyes had become infected with Trachoma (see breakout box).

Before contracting Trachoma, Ansha’s life was incredibly busy with six children and a full-time job. The daily routine of being a wife and mother alongside earning a meagre income absorbed most of her time. Now she couldn’t perform the smallest of tasks without agonising pain and tears streaming down her face.

When she learned she could pass the infection on to her children, she was devastated.

“I worried constantly. I didn’t want them to live with pain. I prayed to God that he might protect us.”

The answer to her prayer came when a CBM partner visited her small Ethiopian village. She was in

What causes Trachoma?

* Trachoma is a bacterial infection of the eye spread by direct contact with discharges from the eyes, nose or throat that carry the infection. * If left untreated, Trachoma leads to painful, permanent blindness. * Trachoma is prevalent in many developing countries due to poor hygiene, sanitation and unsafe drinking water. * It can also be spread by the common fly, or contact with others through touch or clothing. the advanced stages of Trachoma infection; her sight – and with it her family’s future – was at great risk of being permanently lost.

She said, “Just to think that I might soon go blind ... it’s terrifying. A life of darkness, not being able to see my children.”

Ansha had no idea that there was a simple medication that could stop her infection and protect her

family.

Trachoma is the world’s number one infectious cause of blindness and is needlessly stealing the sight of individuals and families in poor countries. Yet the treatment for this condition is a couple of tablets at the cost of just a few dollars.

Thanks to help from a CBM partner, Ansha and her family escaped the potential world

of darkness and its likely consequences of deeper poverty and isolation. With treatment and education, Ansha will not be infected again.

“The pain in my eye is now gone and I do not have to be afraid of going blind any more. I can fully care for my children again. I see a good future,” Ansha exclaims.

“Thank you to everyone who

made my treatment possible.

This is a blessing for us – and the future of our children.”

CBM has been following Jesus’ example in reaching out to the poorest countries for over 100 years. CBM is the world’s largest disability and development organisation focusing on ending the cycle of poverty and disability.

When Ansha became infected with Trachoma, she feared for the future of her young family.

Just a few dollars will help stop people like Ansha from going blind.

Please give generously.

Call 131 226 or visit cbm.org.au Eternity Trachoma 2.indd 1

23/11/2015 9:25:12 AM

DECEMBER 2015

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Geoffrey Robinson The bishop who fought for sex abuse victims – Page 8

Alphacrucis college

The problem of pain is personal for Shane New students at Alphacrucis, Australia’s large Pentecostal college, must feel that reality is more complicated than they thought when the Deputy Principal Shane Clifton enters the lecture theatre in his

wheelchair. Here, Elly and Shane Clifton tell the story of his accident.

October 7, 2010 – Elly Clifton Journal Shane was hesitant to try the mega-jump on the skateboard.

He had kept his vow never to skateboard again after fracturing his wrist earlier in the year, so he decided to use a bike instead,

practising on the flat before tackling the ramp. He’d watched his boys take turn after turn, enjoying the thrill and landing softly. After a while, he decided to give it a shot. After all, what could go wrong when you’re landing in a foam pit? As he launched the bike off the end of the ramp, he went up and over and rotated forward as he fell into the pit. It looked like nothing at all, totally harmless, funny – I even laughed. We had no idea he’d injured himself until he called out, “I’ve broken my neck.”

October 7, 2010 – Shane Clifton Journal I experienced some trepidation standing at the top of the jump, although no inkling of a catastrophe, merely an embarrassing hesitation. I wasn’t afraid. What was there to fear?

A jump, then a landing into a soft foam pit? I’d seen athletes practising jumps into pits of this type, whose very purpose was

to make falling safe. But I was nervous and a voice in my head reminded me, “You’re getting older. You’re turning forty.” So an activity like the mega-ramp, which previously would have given me no pause for thought, now had me feeling my age. I figured that was as good a reason as any to take the jump. And so I did. On the way down, I remember the feeling of my stomach making its way to my throat, and of having time to look ahead at the jump and wonder, “am I mad?” but the foam looked soft,

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Shane and Elly Clifton. Shane, now a quadriplegic, says, “Most people will have to live with a broken body.” at right angles to the nose of the aircraft, surrounded by six paramedics looking down on me like pallbearers staring at an open coffin.

I lay there as the living dead, an immobilised body capable of nothing but speech. Headphones were placed on my ears and the giro began winding up. Even with the ear protection the sound assaulted me, and the craft shook violently as we took off. Although I could see faces looking down on me, it was far too noisy to talk. I was completely alone. It felt like even God had abandoned me.

The trip was torture. It seemed interminable and the panic soon returned, but there was nothing to be done about it. I couldn’t sit up, run away, punch a wall, bury my head in a pillow, go back in time, plan a way forward. So my brain ran in circles and turned to mush as I cried and cried.

I had no idea where the helicopter landed. Accident and emergency I guess. I was strapped down, looking at the ceiling (or up the noses of my attendants), with no perspective on my surroundings, no sense of where I was. For the first time in my life I had no say about my next step.

Chris and the paramedics said goodbye as I was handed over to the doctors and nurses, who asked the basics: name, birthdate, what happened? Little did I know, I’d have to repeat these details a thousand times over in the months to come. I never did come up with a creative answer, although I sometimes joked about my age ... my favourite: “At forty, it takes longer to rest than it did to get tired.”

Soon after, a nurse bustled over with a pair of scissors and unceremoniously cut away my clothing (so much for my “trust me

...” T-shirt). I guess I was naked, but I don’t remember caring or even thinking about it. I was given the pin test – poked from top to toe, hoping for a squeal. From my head down to my upper chest I had normal feeling, almost everywhere else I felt nothing (oddly, I could sense a toe being pricked and a spot on my bum).

It’s hard to describe what this feels like (or doesn’t feel like, as the case may be). It’s normally disability that’s the metaphor: she was blind drunk; he was paralytic!

But this experience was brutally literal. It felt like I was paralysed from the neck down.

By and by, the doctors and nurses had done with their prodding and left me in peace. Well, not peace exactly. They let me be, but the emergency room was a train carriage bustling at peak hour ... all stations to the city, medical personnel boarding and departing, and me with no way to get off. I was asked a few questions, but most of the time they talked about me; a cacophony of voices, sometimes speaking gibberish, other times speaking English, but at all times frightening. The word “tetraplegia” bounced off the walls and into my skull with an ominous cadence, like a ball bearing in a maze.

Next, I was prepped for scanning: X-ray, CT scan, and MRI. I was transferred from bed to gurney to machine and back, tasks performed like I was glass.

Over the days to come, these tests were to become routine, but on this first night in hospital, closed off in machines that would forecast my destiny, the experience was religious – not an encounter with friend Jesus, but lying on an altar in the presence of a fearful God. I spent some of the time praying, but found that I couldn’t finish my sentences, that I had no words to

express my fears and hopes. The MRI was the worst of the tests, one hour enclosed in a tube, being attacked with noise and light. Too scary for prayer – all I could do was grit my teeth till my jaw ached.

Eventually, the last test was completed, and a porter returned me to accident and emergency where another physician greeted me. Dr Lucy introduced herself as the registrar of the hospital’s spinal unit and the person who would oversee my care when I got out of the intensive care unit. She was blonde and attractive, a model wearing a stethoscope.

“Call me Lucy,” she said, but any infatuation on my part was quickly smothered by what she had to tell me. “We have the results of the scans, which show that you have broken your fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae (C4/5).”

It was an explanation with little meaning. “I heard the doctors use the word ‘tetraplegia.’ Is that what I have? What does it mean?”

“It’s another word for quadriplegia. You’ll be a quadriplegic.”

2011 New Year Theology The problem of pain is the stuff of theology textbooks and not private journals, but given my situation, I am going to take the opportunity afforded by the journal to clarify my current thinking on this most complex of problems, especially as it applies to my situation. I certainly have the time, as the hospital seems to shut down for Christmas and into January, and with no rehab (grrr), I have the opportunity to think and write.

The problem of pain isn’t about pain, per se. Pain serves a purpose, which is to warn us of danger. This is obvious when it comes to spinal cord injury (SCI), where half of the trouble of the injury is the inability to feel certain types of pains. By

shaneclifton.com

and I was committed; so down, up, and down again ... headfirst.

I knew straightaway that I’d broken my neck. There was no temporary unconsciousness, no moment of wondering why my arms and legs wouldn’t respond, just a flash of nightmarish insight. I knew my life was irrevocably changed. The rising panic was palpable. I could taste it – a tangy bile on the back of my tongue. I called to Elly for help and tried to get my fear under control, forcing myself to take a breath and slow down. But the foam was in my face and I felt as though some alien force was pinning me down, denying me movement, smothering me. I gasped for air, still trying not to lose it.

I couldn’t see a thing, but I could hear Elly stumbling over the fence and into the pit, fighting through foam, calling to me, wanting to know whether I was OK. I could think of no answer, so as she carefully made her way over, I clenched my jaw and prayed with the “wordless groans”, the “incoherent grumblings” that Paul describes in Romans 8:26. When eventually she got to me, I begged to be lifted up and given room to breathe away from the stifling foam, but she refused and I felt momentarily betrayed. “You have to be still, my love,” she said, “I cannot move you, but I will clear the foam so you can take in some air.” She spoke deliberately, calmly, and her voice, along with her hand touching my face, eased my fear. I felt a surge of pride at her strength, and then my mind raced and I began to think of what this injury might mean for her, for us.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my voice cracking. “I’m so sorry. What have I done? Darling, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be silly,” she replied. “I love you, and we’ll get through this together.”

But I couldn’t help myself, and we cried together as I went on apologising, like a drunk trapped in regret, unable to change the past and equally sure that tomorrow would bring more of the same.

The only good news: “thank God it wasn’t one of our boys,” I whispered to Elly.

When the paramedics arrived, (whether quickly or slowly I had no idea – time after the accident had no meaning) Elly moved aside and a man with a husky but reassuring voice took over, introducing himself as Chris. He stood behind me, his forearms clenched firmly along my head and neck, reaching down to my shoulders and keeping my spine rock-steady as the remainder of the team (and Elly) gingerly raised me to the surface of the foam and rolled my body onto the tray of the gurney. Other than an intense pain in my neck and Chris’ strong grip, I couldn’t see or feel what they were doing and it was some time before I realised that I’d escaped the foam.

While all this was going on, Chris distracted me with small talk, asking mundane details about my life, my family, my holiday – you know, the sort of conversation you might have with a friendly stranger at the beach. Inevitably, we got onto my job, and I gave the usual explanation: “A theologian?” “Yeah. I teach people about faith.” “Oh, right.” “We discuss issues like the problem of pain – why bad things happen to good people.” The topic was a little too close to home, so we returned to more prosaic matters. My T-shirt read, “Trust me, I’m a doctor,” (a PhD in theology, not really useful in these circumstances) and we laughed at the irony.

I’d never flown in a helicopter before, but this wasn’t the view I’d been hoping for – my bed

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way of example, one of my fellow inmates was watching a DVD on his computer, unaware that he was sitting on the power lead transformer. The subsequent burn (that he couldn’t feel) gave him an ulcer that forced him to spend two boring and uncomfortable months lying on his stomach.

The problem, then, is not pain, per se, but suffering; prolonged pain that serves no meaningful purpose. People normally imagine SCI as the loss of all sensation and movement, but in fact, normal sensation is replaced by nerve pain (that feels like burning skin), and the ability to decide what and when to move is traded for spasm, and uncontrolled bladder and bowel activity. The body still moves, but just in stupid ways.

As you can well imagine, it’s a disability that impacts every aspect of life: work, recreation, family relationships, and the myriad of social interactions.

The difficulty with this whole topic is working out what we mean when we say, “God is sovereign,” or, “God caused this.” We tend to think of God as a cosmic puppeteer, pulling the strings of creation in a magical and sometimes scary performance. In fact, Christian theology, in affirming God as creator, understands God as the ground of nature and natural laws – so that God works not as a magical puppeteer, but in and through natural processes.

This is vital, because it establishes our expectations. In answer to the question, “Why, God?” we have to face up to what it is to be human, to be a creature of the earth – to be born, to grow, to break down, and to die – to be limited in power, strength, and knowledge – to be fragile and vulnerable – to be constituted by DNA and imperfect genes, bones that flex and break, muscles that tear, and blood that spills.

I broke my neck because I’m human and our necks break when twisted badly, and I landed my pushbike upside down. To look for a deeper cause of my quadriplegia is silly, since it is to lose sight of who and what I am; a forty-yearold male who wishes he’d stayed off his bike, but who is incapable of going back in time.

One of the problems of modern society, with all of its medical wonders, is the implicit assumption that we’ll live forever in perfect health. We keep our dead and dying out of sight, we abort babies that don’t match our ideals of normalcy, we worship a Photoshopped image of beauty, and in consequence, suffering, disability, and fragility come as a complete and utter shock. In terms of SCI, we focus our attention and resources primarily on cure, but pay scant attention to the fact that most people will have to learn to live with a broken body.

The Christian equivalent is the Pentecostal faith preacher who assumes that God always rewards faith with perfect health (whatever that is). This view of faith is not only idiotic, it’s an evil, since it leaves people with disabilities feeling guilty for lack of faith, and worse, unloved by God. In fact, if we are not careful, prayer for healing can exacerbate the social problem of disability, by highlighting the fact that disabled people don’t belong.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am all for prayer, which is a wonderful expression of love and compassion.

But we must be careful when and how we pray.

Please don’t be shy praying for me, but rather than focus on healing, pray for my wellbeing.

Shane is Dean of Theology at Alphacrucis College, Sydney.

THE BIG PICTURE

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Lessons from 2015’s top five films BEN MCEACHEN It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. From online ads to window displays, the trappings of Christmas remind us it’s time again to give gifts, eat too much and argue with relatives we’ve avoided all year.

Not being cynical about Christmas can be a full-time job.

Joyfully celebrating the reason for the season gets smothered by credit card ker-chings and the stress of entertaining. Commercialisation and consumption can choke the Jesus out of Christmas, leaving us to suspect it is only an elaborate scam for our dollars.

We need an antidote. An injection of gospel goodness. But where from? How about some of this year’s most notable movies?

While none of them aim to be Christmas Day sermons, they offer memorable opportunities to ponder and discuss key elements of Jesus’ all-important birth.

Jurassic World The fourth visit to the world of Jurassic Park was 2015’s most successful film. Almost $1.7 billion came Jurassic World’s way, despite repeating many elements from earlier Jurassic films. One of these elements was “playing God”. Like other movies this year (Chappie, Avengers: Age of Ultron), Jurassic World hinged on people trying to create and control lifeforms.

We don’t even have to watch these films to know things go bad,

quickly, when humans play God. History tells the same story, such as the Old Testament’s reports of dire consequences for trying to overthrow God. The perils of playing God in Jurassic World should have us breathing a sigh of relief about Jesus’ arrival. Read the first chapter of Luke and marvel at God being God in his selection and sending of the saviour we need. No human has the power, intellect or love to do such a thing.

Christmas is a wondrous time to see, through Jesus, that only God is God. The Gift One of the year’s most underrated yet affecting films was written and directed by Australian actor Joel Edgerton. He also stars

IT’S MY

TIME To make a CHANGE

as a strange bloke who brings presents to a married couple. These unexpected presents reveal secrets about past sins committed by the husband.

A tense, unsettling movie about how we treat each other, The Gift does on a micro scale what Jesus does on the macro.

A present from God in an unexpected package, Jesus reveals the full extent of everyone’s tainted past. What he reveals is, when it comes to our relationship with God, we all are variations on the imperfect husband in The Gift.

Bridge of Spies Based on a Cold War true story, Tom Hanks plays an American lawyer who defends a Russian spy.

This mature, gripping spy drama is more about moral choices than

explosions. Seeing a man stand up for his enemy is one of the most powerful elements of Bridge of Spies.

Another true story is the original Christmas baby came to make a stand for his enemies. Anyone against God is Jesus’ enemy and, shockingly, that’s every single person. Our selfish hearts turn from God and this makes us his enemies (Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21). Gulp. Despite that, Jesus was born to offer God’s enemies the real hope of intimate connection with the heavenly father (Romans 8:1430). Incredible.

The Martian Spending a few hours with an astronaut (Matt Damon) stuck on Mars was not as boring as it sounded. Blending science fact

Bushrangers Saved by grace

TO INAR CH A SEM R CHUR U O Y VE REVI

A two-part, 3 hour seminar on ’power evangelism’ (based on Jesus’ commission in Acts 1:8) to equip the ordinary churchgoer to reach the lost for Christ.

Inquiries: Pastor Kerry Medway

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chc.edu.au

and fiction into an entertaining expedition, The Martian is an inventive yarn about the hope of survival. Despite the money and effort required to rescue the stranded astronaut, a team dares to go after him.

The rescue effort is laudable but The Martian can only hold out hope as a possibility. In provocative contrast, Jesus came to seek “the lost” (Luke 15), rescue them from far worse than physical death and offer a guaranteed hope of eternal survival. Repeat: guaranteed. Will happen. Won’t fail.

Inside Out Pixar’s latest animated adventure caused quite the stir this year. Children and adults hugged the highly imaginative portrait of how emotions play a huge part in everything we do. With intellect off in the background, Inside Out’s journey of emotional development centred on Joy accepting Sadness.

Jesus doesn’t just call for an intellectual response to his offer of eternal life. He calls for wholehearted love and devotion.

The kind that demands all of us, from the inside out. When we respond like that to God’s Christmas present, it’s not about joy accepting sadness as in Inside Out. Instead, our deserved sadness at disappointing God gives way to joyful acceptance of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus.

That’s a gift we all should want for Christmas – and forever.

Aussies Afire Publishing, P.O. Box 954, Port Macquarie...NSW...2444

Phone 0423 663 301 Email: kerry@kerrymedway.org

www.KerryMedway.org

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DECEMBER 2015

“I was abused too”: the bishop who The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has revealed villains, but also heroes like Bishop Geoffrey Robinson who backed fellow victims.

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson was born into a world of faith. But in another life, it’s quite likely that he would have been happier as a family man and may not even have been a priest.

The retired Catholic bishop is aghast when he looks at 12-yearold boys today because at that tender age his mother, a good Irish Catholic, sent him to the seminary.

“Looking back, I would say that my mother belonged to that category of Irish descent who desperately wanted to have a child who was a priest,” says the bishop, who went on to reject his mother’s brand of Catholicism and campaign for a radically reformed Catholic Church.

He believes his father would have stopped her sending him away so young if he had not died from a heart attack the year before.

The young Geoffrey thought little of the consequences, though they came to weigh on him later.

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ANNE LIM

Bishop Robinson is a gifted orator and a compassionate and caring person.

“It means that at the age of 12, I was committed to a life of celibacy,” he says.

It’s clear that relationships are very important to this white-haired gentleman who is as much loved for his oratory and pastoral work as he is criticised by the hierarchy for his progressive views on obligatory celibacy, homosexuality, divorce and women’s ordination.

While he admits he would have liked to be married when he was young, it’s a bit late now for the 78-year-old, who is being treated for terminal cancer.

However, there’s one thing he

will never regret – being a crusader for justice and healing for the victims of sexual abuse by clergy.

Bishop Robinson devoted ten years of his life to fighting for fair compensation and support for adults who had been abused as children by Catholic priests.

“It should never, never, never have happened,” he growls. “These are priests we’re talking about, goddammit.”

Speaking to Eternity in his cosy cottage behind St Joseph’s Presbytery in Enfield, in Sydney’s inner west, Bishop Robinson says his journey to help victims was

also a personal one because he too was abused as a child, although not by a priest. He becomes emotional as he remembers victims’ stories.

There’s no doubt, he says, that his own experience made him more determined to fight for justice.

“They all touched me. I met with many, many victims right here in this room. I met with a couple of hundred together on several occasions, very stormy and difficult meetings. I spent countless hours on the phone,” he says.

“I’d been abused myself, so what I was hearing from them was my story as well.”

He had survived, he says, by putting his trauma “up in the attic” where he couldn’t see it. But while counselling victims he “had to take it down and had to look at it, and that was a profound experience too.”

While he gained benefit from therapy, it did nothing to still the anger he felt at the church, at certain bishops, and the Vatican.

He maintains that when Pope John Paul II was given a report about the widespread nature of sexual abuse by clergy in the late ‘80s he should have publicly declared the church would fight it tooth and nail.

“But because he was silent, the loyalty of bishops became loyalty to silence.”

Bishop Robinson says he had no idea there was a problem of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church until 1987, when a talk by Wikimedia / Steindy two priests revealed the scale and

seriousness of the problem.

In 1994, Bishop Robinson was brought in to stir up the church’s national committee for professional standards, which was slowly drafting a protocol to provide compensation and pastoral support to sexual abuse victims.

He took over the drafting and endorsement process and, amid fierce debate, pushed through the Towards Healing protocol in 1996.

“It was very difficult because there were older bishops who had handled and mishandled cases themselves and so felt threatened by what this young upstart was bringing forward,” he says.

Bishop Robinson regrets that he was unable to achieve his aim of setting up an independent body to handle cases.

“I had to work according to what I could get out of the bishops ...

And they were never going to give away the power to determine how much money they paid.”

Bishop Robinson is hopeful that the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse – at which he gave evidence in August – will lead to a better system: “for example, a body that’s totally independent of the churches investigating cases, levels of compensation, trying to look at factors within the church that have contributed.

“They are the three big things you have to do: deal with offenders, help victims and prevent abuse.

All three are essential. Also the

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DECEMBER 2015

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fought for sex abuse victims bishops are not doing nearly enough to look at things that might cause it and the Vatican is doing nothing.”

While he believes payouts are still too small, he says money will never fully satisfy victims.

“If you go deep enough with victims, what you find is they want someone to turn history around and make the abuse unhappen, and you can’t do that.

“That’s why I always maintain money is not the number one priority; it may be number two but it’s not number one.”

Bishop Robinson has been on a journey of personal and theological discovery since going to Rome to study at the age of 18.

“That was great in many ways, bad in others. It was great in so far as it was a fire-and-water experience; I was in a college with people from 45 different nations, mainly non-European, so that was very, very interesting. But I was ten years straight without getting home – that was not good.”

When he did finally come home at age 28, he found it very hard to reassimilate into Australia.

“I had been out of my culture for those very formative years.”

The seeds of Bishop Robinson’s progressive approach to theology and church hierarchies had been sown during the Second Vatican Council in Rome in the 1960s.

“The big thing the Second Vatican Council did was change forever in the Catholic Church the balance

Bishop Robinson has strong views and has never been afraid to stand for them. between Scripture and authority, or Scripture and the Pope.”

Fairly soon, Bishop Robinson rejected large sections of his mother’s Irish Catholic world.

“That was not for me. It didn’t mean I was a better person or a better Catholic than her. On the contrary, I think she was a much better Catholic than I ever was. She had a faith that was so deep it was daunting. I got the feeling that I could never live up to that ... But I went on a fairly profound journey there that led to ideas that would later make me controversial.”

It was those controversial

ideas that brought his career to a sudden halt, he believes. It’s been speculated that he would have been the next Archbishop of Sydney but for his advocacy for fair treatment of victims of sexual abuse. But Bishop Robinson says he had blotted his copybook years before.

A couple of months after he was ordained as a bishop in 1984, a paper he had written about giving communion to divorced people came to light in Rome and “I was put down as never to be promoted.”

As it turned out, he was happy with the freedom his position as an auxiliary bishop gave him.

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“If you’re a cardinal archbishop you can’t stay silent – it’s demanded that you speak out and say things like ‘No woman will ever be ordained till hell freezes over.’ And I couldn’t say that because I don’t believe it.”

Bishop Robinson retired in 2004 after 20 years as a bishop, the second decade being consumed with the sexual abuse crusade.

“It had taken up about 80 per cent of my time. Because it had been such a personal story as well and so many battles, I was exhausted. And I was also pretty disillusioned, mainly with the Vatican because it had not come out and taken a much stronger line against one of the most massive scandals it had ever had to face.”

He also had a few health issues, but the main reason for retiring, he confesses, was that he couldn’t work with the then archbishop, now Cardinal George Pell.

“We were chalk and cheese,” he says, adding that he couldn’t back Cardinal Pell on his insistence that homosexuality was “perversion”.

“I thought, ‘This is impossible.

My integrity is at stake over a whole lot of things that he stood for’, and I just felt I couldn’t continue, in all honesty.”

After his retirement Bishop Robinson finally had the time to put his thoughts on paper. And that’s when he really got into hot water. His 2007 book, Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church, identified obligatory

celibacy as one of the systemic causes of child sexual abuse and called for radical reform of church authority and teachings.

However, he bats away the accusations bishops made against him of dangerous heresy – that was just to keep Rome happy, he insists.

“It was a case of official disapproval from on high but enormous acceptance by any number of people.”

Bishop Robinson wants to see obligatory celibacy for priests abolished because “you’ve got so many people who are living an unwanted, an unaccepted and unassimilated celibacy and that has to be dangerous.

“There are too many priests who are not merely celibate but, more importantly, they’re living without love ... no young person in his right mind should ever give up love.”

Still sporting a healthy head of hair and good colour in his cheeks, Bishop Robinson says his cancer is currently in check and he is thinking of writing another book.

“It would be on the same theme of a passionate belief in the Catholic Church but a radically reformed church. That sums it up.”

He is not yet ready to turn his thoughts to the next world.

“My hopes would be that the cancer will be kept at bay for some time. The oncologist is already talking about the next treatment she’s got ... My hope is that it will keep it at bay and when it doesn’t it will all happen quickly.”

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DECEMBER 2015

Yes, you were at this meeting juanljones

Al Stewart was sitting just behind you.

He was there.

We all arrived in our cars that morning, much the same as we always did. We parked in the car park and wandered in the main door. I had done this many times before, but this morning I thought I would take a step back and have a real look at what was going on.

People milled around in the foyer outside the entrance. Most of them were fairly well dressed and polite as they made room for others at the main door. The staff members were well dressed, not overly dressed, but dressed in a kind of uniform to show they were running things.

They were polite as they directed us to our seats. Those of us who were regulars had no trouble finding one. A few new people needed help working out where to sit. We let the staff help the new

people – after all that’s their job.

There was some muzak playing for a while and then after a short delay one of the staff members appeared out the front and apologised that we would be a bit late getting started due to a technical glitch. People sat in silence mostly, some read the literature in front of them and others mumbled to the person beside them, if they knew them already.

Then there was some more music and one of the staff members stood up at the front and was speaking to everyone about some really important stuff – matters of life

and death. At least, they said it was a matter of life-and-death importance, it was hard to tell that was the case; the staff member didn’t seem too emotionally involved or enthusiastic about the message. As I looked around, only a few people were listening and I figured they were the brand-new people. Most old-timers didn’t seem to be listening at all. They fiddled with their leaflets, stared at the floor or looked out the windows if they had a good seat.

After what seemed like a long time, we could finally get out of the uncomfortable straight-backed seats and walk around. Then there

was morning tea on offer; tea or coffee in plastic cups and a couple of biscuits. At the end of it all, relieved, we politely filed out the main door. As we left, the staff members spoke to every person politely, said goodbye and thanked him or her for coming.

“

Was this just another time of going through the routine?”

As I watched this little interaction, I wondered if the staff members or the people really meant it, or were they just being polite to one another?

Was this just another time of going through the routine?

As I left the inner confines and made it out the front door, I had the overwhelming feeling (which I usually have): I’m glad to be out of there. As I walked out into the fresh air again, the last words I heard were “Thank you for flying Qantas.” But of course, it’s obvious I was talking about an airline flight – what other sort of meeting could I have been describing?

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DECEMBER 2015

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The right Bible for kids KAREN MUDGE Starting a habit of reading the Bible with your child in the early years is important to many of us.

Also, many grandparents love to take the opportunity to read the Bible with their grandkids. Even those without a baby of their own can find themselves wanting to buy a Bible for a special child in their life. But which Bible is a good one to use?

Here are some suggestions from Bible Society’s range:

Buying a Buying Buying a Bible Bibl e for your to read to your a Bible for your pre-teen / baby, toddler or primary-aged teenager child pre-schooler

T he Beginner’s Bible (9780310709626) is a

great Bible paraphrase to start with. It has fun, colourful illustrations and the text is easy to read. The stories are broken up into manageabl e portions to hold little one’s attention, and there ’s always a reference to the full Bible so if you want to get the context of the story you can look it up easily in an adult Bible.

T he Jesus Storybook Bible (9780310708254) is a very popular Bible paraphrase. Stories from the entire Bible are told with reference to Jesus , tying the Bible together even for the very young .

Rick George, Bible Society’s children’s ministry manager, explains, “I think it helps pull the whole Bible together for kids, focusing on God’s big redemptive story, with Jesus at the centre.

It helps every thing relate to Jesus. You can get an edition which comes with a great DVD which also tells the story.” Belinda, one of our experience d customer service staff says, “I always, always recommend The Jesus Storybook Bible. I think it’s the best one out there.”

T he Rhyme Bible Storybook (9780310726029) is great for something a little different. The stories in this Bible are all faithful to the full story in Scripture, but are phrased in rhyme and paire d with engaging illustrations. This is a good Bible to have to alternate with, if you’re looking for something fresh to read. Reading rhyme out loud is very enjoyable!

A lot of Bibles for this age group are based on gender. Belinda says, “There’s a Brave Girls of the Bible Storybook (9780529108982) that is quite nice. I’ve found that not everyone is into princesses for girls and that’s what the vast majority of girls ones are based around. I like the Brave Girls one for something different. For boys I’d suggest the Picture Bible (9780781430555) or T he Action Bible (9780781444996) which are both in an engaging comic format.”

l Many teens are reading the Bible using digita is a very versions (on smar tphones or tablets) and this hard practical way to go. However, if you’re after a or copy Bible for your teen to use for special study s ation mend recom some are here , devotional times which from Bible Society’s range. Note: in terms of n translation to use, an easy to understand versio NIV is like the NLT (New Living Translation) or the used in good, or you can choose the same translation your church. . They Compact or thinline Bibles are great forgteens a Bible are easily portable, and sometimes havin and without any extra notes saves from distraction ture Scrip on tion atten their focus r helps the reade itself.

The step up from Bible storybooks (paraphrased Bibles) is a significant one. When your child is ready for something a little more challenging to read than a Bible paraphrase, which full text Bible should you get? While everyone will have their own preferences, here are some suggestions from Bible Society’s range:

14387536 Life Application Study Bibles (NLT 97814 lar for

T he CEV Big Rescue Bible (9780647519110)

Other great Bibles are the NIV Quest for Teens (9780310941767) or the NIV Youth Quest Study at of Bible (9780310719823), which are in the formonly comm list notes the – ers answ questions and occurring questions from the section of text and er. provide a clear and easy to understand answ

is a great Bible to graduate your kids to. It has engaging colour cartoon-style illustrations throughout which capture the imagination and the full text of the Contemporary English Version of the Bible, which is easy to understand. It is also the Bible used in schools for the Special Religious Education curriculum.

Belinda also says, “The International Children’s Bible (ICB) or the New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) are good versions for children.

T he Adventure Bible (9780310727439) range is particularly attractive to kids.”

or the NIV 9781414359748) are very popu ture this age group. The extra notes help apply Scrip ional devot are there and life, of areas to practical says, reading plans to direct the reader’s focus. Rick is notes cation appli life ical pract “Any Bible with great for teens.”

is These Bibles just begin to explore the range which Bible ct conta e Pleas . available for children and teens advice Society customer service if you’d like further specific to your child. alia’s Join the conversation on Bible Society Austr rite favou your ’s what – us Tell !

Facebook page it?

Bible for your child or teen? Why do you like

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IN DEPTH

DECEMBER 2015

Making mates of Muslims ANNE LIM Christians are struggling to know how to engage with Muslims in the wake of the Paris and Beirut bombings and the influx of refugees from Syria.

Should they seek to foster closer ties with Muslims or treat them with extreme caution?

Those who take the first route are onside with Brad Chilcott, founder and national director of Welcome To Australia, who works closely with a team of Muslims on fostering a more positive attitude towards Muslim refugees.

However, his standing with Muslims on issues such as Halal certification and a multi-faith prayer vigil in a mosque has caused widespread discomfort in his congregation of Activate Church in Adelaide, where he is senior Pastor.

He has been pilloried with abuse on Facebook, with one person writing: “I’m going to come to your church and pull your tongue from your throat so you can no longer blaspheme the name of Jesus.”

But he believes greater understanding of the diversity of beliefs and practices in the Muslim community will overcome such antipathy.

“Meeting so many people and listening to their personal stories and their actual grief and thoughts, there’s a richness and diversity in the Muslim community just like there is in any other,” he says.

Chilcott encouraged about 20 members of his congregation to join him in visiting their local mosque as part of National Mosque Open Day on October 31.

“Members of my own congregation said things like ‘If you’d asked me a year ago if I would have ever visited a mosque I would have laughed at you, but it was a great experience. I took my kids, and I actually understand what’s going on at a place I’d never set foot in before’,” he said.

“We think you don’t win someone’s heart by winning a policy argument, but you can win by facilitating relationships among refugees and other minority groups – we see the success of that all the time.”

Chilcott accepts that it’s natural to be afraid of people who are different, especially when fears are amplified by world events.

“But Jesus doesn’t say ‘Love people when you’re not afraid’; he says: ‘Love people and we don’t need to be afraid.’ So from every theological perspective there’s every single reason for us to stand on the side of love and oppose those on the side of fear and rejection.”

Sam Green, of AFES Tasmania, believes both sides of the argument are correct. Green, who runs the Answering Islam website and an Engaging with Islam course, agrees that Christians are called to love their enemies but says they also need to recognise that fear of Islam is entirely rational.

“I think we have to be welcoming to people. Jesus says to love your enemies and we need to be welcoming refugees. I can’t see how as Christians we don’t do that,” he says.

But Green holds strong beliefs about Islam, saying, “it’s equally true that Islam is an aggressive religion, particularly against Christianity … so when Muslims become a significant proportion in Australia that will bring problems.”

Green believes it is untrue to call Islam a religion of peace.

“Yes, among the diversity of

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Image: Giotto’s fresco of St Francis before the Sultan al-Kamil of Egypt witnessing the trial by fire in the upper church, Papal Basilica of St Francis, Assisi. During a ceasefire, Francis and a companion crossed the battle lines to meet al-Kamil, a nephew of Saladin, Sultan of Egypt. Francis said to the Sultan that they had been sent by God, not by man, to show him and his subjects the way of salvation and proclaim the truth of the gospel message. When the sultan saw his enthusiasm and courage, he listened to him willingly and pressed him to stay with him. Francis replied, “If you are willing to become converts to Christ, you and your people, I shall be only too glad to stay with you for love of him. But if you are afraid to abandon the law of Mahomet for Christ’s sake, then light a big fire and I will go into it with your priests. That will show you which faith is more sure and more holy.” To that the sultan replied, “I do not think that any of my priests would be willing to expose himself to the flames just to defend his faith, or suffer any kind of torture”. Then Francis continued, “If you are prepared to promise me that you and your people will embrace the Christian religion, if I come out of the fire unharmed, I will enter it alone. But if I am burned, you must attribute it to my sins; on the other hand, if God saves me by his power, you must acknowledge ‘Christ the power of God, Christ the wisdom of God’ (cf. 1 Cor 1: 24) as true God, the Lord and Saviour of all.” St Francis’ journey to meet with the sultan serves as a challenge to today’s Christians to meet with Muslims.

Islam there are peaceful Muslims but it also has radicals,” he says.

“What Brad Chilcott needs to be able to say is ‘yes, Islam is an aggressive religion, yes, it persecutes Christians’, and he needs to be very clear on the suffering Christians endure and the way they have been wiped out from whole areas.

“He needs to be able to acknowledge that Islam is the enemy of Christianity and then say ‘but we’re to love everyone’.”

Green argues that a close reading of the Koran reveals that while Muhammad was favourable towards Christians early in his life, he later urged Muslims to curse and conquer Christians.

As a result, Coptic Christians have been subject to more than 1200 years of subjugation and discrimination by Islamic violence.

Green says the challenge for Australia’s leaders is to understand how to care for people who are “nominally associated with a religion that is hostile to us”.

The answer, he says, is trusting in God and developing a new area of spiritual growth that the Western world hasn’t needed before.

“We need to grow in that trust in God in the same way that we might grow in our prayer life or Bible

reading. Now we’re going to have to learn how to trust God in the face of our enemies.”

Bernie Power of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths at the Melbourne School of Theology pursues a middle line.

He believes the two sides of the argument need to be clearly separated. While as Christians we need to take a compassionate stance on those forced out of their countries, refugees who go to any country must also abide by its laws.

He says while most Muslims come to Australia desiring to fit in, others do come as colonisers seeking to establish Islamic law either by violence or advocacy.

“They will struggle to find Australia a welcoming place because they want to change the nature of Australian society.

Such colonisers, even if they are refugees, would be more comfortable in one of the 55 Muslim majority countries which offer some sort of Islamic law.

“For those Muslims who come to Australia seeking to contribute to the common good, Christians should have no problem welcoming them.”

Richard Shumack, the new director of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths, believes

there is no grave and present danger in Australia from a rise in Muslim immigration.

“The government needs to be astute and aware about people who are coming in and not wanting to buy into Australian ways of doing things … but I don’t think there’s any need to be fearful of any Muslim takeover in the foreseeable future,” he says.

Shumack estimates only 10-15 per cent of Muslims adhere to an exclusive form of Islamism that says Islam needs to rule Australia and only a tiny percentage of those would see it as a violent takeover.

“But 85-90 per cent have no interest in that whatsoever; they just want to buy into Australian culture and get a job and send their kids to school and play football.

“The real question for Australia is ‘A re we in any danger here, and how does the risk of letting a few people in who buy into an Islamist ideology balance against an urgent and desperate human crisis?

“The risk is tiny compared to the call as Christians to be compassionate and serving and loving our neighbours and enemies.

So I think love drives out fear. You need to be astute and wise and shrewd, but at the same time we need to be gentle and caring.”

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BIBLE @ WORK Lessons in gratitude and joy ANNE LIM Spending a week in Pakistan in September was one of the toughest things I have ever had to do. It was unbearably hot, the schedule was hectic, the security apparatus hair-raising and the expectations were high.

But it was also one of the most worthwhile and transformative experiences of my life. Instead of being just a journalist observing from the sidelines, I was an honoured guest at the various graduation ceremonies for the women’s adult literacy classes I

visited with Pakistan Bible Society.

As I arrived at their celebrations, women, whose lives were unimaginably harsh, who lived without basic amenities we take for granted in the West, showered me in flower petals and received me with gratitude and joy.

Sometimes I even had to cut a ribbon like a celebrity, and afterwards I would be mobbed like a pop star. Some women would ask me to sign their Bibles. I didn’t expect this type of welcome and found it a bit overwhelming.

But I was also grateful to be given the opportunity to express

my delight in celebrating their success with them, to pass on the good wishes of our Australian donors and wish them well for their future.

These women of lowly means and status were dressed in a gorgeous array of colours and displayed an attitude that put me to shame. They were all eager to share their delight in having learnt to read the Bible and discovering its treasures.

There they discovered that they are precious in God’s sight, no matter how poor or oppressed they may be in Pakistani society.

For them literacy was like coming out of slavery. It opened the gate to a better life, not only for them but also for their children and other family members.

With such low literacy rates – only two in five Pakistani women can read – they face many obstacles to getting an education.

Most poor families can only afford to send one daughter to school while another is kept at home to do the chores. Most marry early – around age 20 – and then their domestic burdens only increase.

Most also have jobs in the fields or in factories.

The women I met explained that they had to rush to finish their chores early so that they could attend literacy classes, which run for five days a week for six months.

It’s easy to think it’s all too hard, especially when faced with ridicule and criticism from their family and neighbours. They need our encouragement and prayers.

(The names of the women featured below have been changed.) + To help teach a Pakistani woman to read and become a beacon of God’s light in her community, please donate at biblesociety.org.au/ pakistanep

Fifteen-year-old Arati was a cotton picker who earned about $1 a day for picking around 50kg of cotton. But before she learned to read, the boss’s agents were underpaying her by knocking a few kilos off the weight she had harvested. Once she could read the scale, she knew exactly how much she should be paid and she could no longer be cheated. “Now I can read, I feel empowered,” she says.

I was really moved by the graduation ceremony I attended in a marquee at this village. It was stiflingly hot and all the women’s beautiful faces were beaded with sweat, but they radiated joy in their accomplishments. It was heartening to see how being able to read the Bible had strengthened their faith. Here one of the teachers receives a stack of large-print Urdu Bibles to give to her graduating students.

Here we visit a literacy class in the enclosed courtyard of a house. It’s one of about 20 literacy classes of 20-25 women each in slum areas in this district, which are run in partnership with local churches. During the first three months they learn to read three stories from the Old Testament in large print, then they start reading the New Testament. Most have never touched a book before joining the class.

Housewife and seamstress Ezra is thrilled that she is now able to write her name and read the Bible to her four children every day. She says her children are very proud of her. She can’t help them with their homework yet – they help her! – but she hopes to continue her studies and one day become a literacy teacher. “Now I am more confident in my life and when I go shopping, and I can talk in good manners. Now I am much stronger in my faith and empowered to be in a close relationship with God.”

“Save me, save me!” cries a young woman performing a skit at a graduation ceremony at a settlement 60km from Lahore. A mullah comes along, then a rich woman, but neither his rites nor her money can free the prisoner from a net of sin made out of bamboo sticks. It is only the Bible teacher who can free her.

“If you read the Bible you will be able to escape the net of sin,” supervisor Daud tells the crowd. “This is not a drama. This is a true picture. We had a family here in the clutches of Satan who are now free thanks to Pakistan Bible Society.”

“I am the eldest and my parents went out to work so I had to care for the younger brothers and sisters and they couldn’t afford the fees to send me to school,” says Parveen, who, along with her mother, graduated from a literacy class in a slum area of a city north of Lahore. “I decided to go to literacy class for my children’s sake. I felt I should be able to teach them in their early education. It was very difficult to attend the classes because I have to care for my kids and do everything at home, then I had to spend time on study.”

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Not just for kids KARL GRICE Kevin DeYoung’s latest book began its life as a Christmas sermon.

DeYoung says, “I tried to deliver the message like I was reading a book – a book for children sitting by the fire on Christmas morning. Alas, I had no fireplace in the pulpit that Sunday and no children gathered at my feet!”

Nevertheless, DeYoung gave his Christmas sermon and it has now found its way into book form with stunning illustrations by Don Clark. Bold, dark colours and striking symbolism create a slightly melancholy feel as the story unfolds.

DeYoung’s conversational writing style makes it easy to read aloud (I’ve tested this with my eldest daughter). And just like any good story, it has surprising twists and turns. Some of the imagery will be unfamiliar, even to parents.

Take the time to pause and reflect on these unexpected allusions. A

craftsman with words, DeYoung uses them to draw out some of the beautiful paradoxes contained in the Bible. Subtle humour is splashed throughout. A clever turn of phrase dotted here and there will make you smile and appreciate anew some simple but profound biblical truths.

On the birth and life of Jesus, the long awaited Snake-Crusher, DeYoung writes: “The stable with the animals and the scandal with unmarried Mary were surprises to most folks. The miracles were remarkable. The teaching was unlike anything anyone had ever heard. The bumbling band of handpicked disciples – that was curious.”

The Biggest Story is, of course, the story of the Bible retold from beginning to end. Although it has full-colour illustrations on every page, it is not really a picture Bible.

It is written as one complete story with ten chapters. You could easily read it through from beginning to end with primary school-aged

children, or perhaps one chapter at a time with younger kids.

The story DeYoung tells is not just a good story. It is the biggest story.

DeYoung writes, “It’s a familiar story to some of us. It’s a true story for all of us.” And at this point, he gives us a quick lesson in eschatology: “we haven’t seen the end of the story – not yet … The Snake-Crusher is coming back again to wipe away all the bad guys and wipe away every tear. He’s coming back to make a new beginning and to finish what he started. He’s coming to give us the home we once had and might have forgotten that we lost.”

Sitting around the fireplace this summer swapping stories is an unlikely Australian Christmas activity. Perhaps, though, on Christmas Eve, in the afterglow of dusk, you could gather the kids around on the back deck, with the citronella candles burning, and share with them once again The Biggest Story ever told.

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DECEMBER 2015

Gift ideas for Christmas My Rock My Refuge

by Tim Keller

People often resolve to read the Bible more at the beginning of the new year.

Tim Keller’s new book of devotions takes the reader on a daily journey through the Psalms, Israel’s songbook. A great Christmas gift for encouraging your friends to meditate on God’s word. You could even buy one copy each and remind each other to read it daily.

The story of God’s Love

by Sally Lloyd-Jones

The Jesus Storybook Bible teaches that all of the Bible stories are whispering Jesus’ name. Yet, this message is not just for children. This new gift edition adapts the format so that people of all ages can discover the Story of God’s love without reading a kids’ book. Of course some people love kids’ books and may prefer to read the original edition!

The Greatest Gift

by Ann Voskamp

This compact book is a little gift about the greatest gift. Ann Voskamp retells Old Testament stories beginning with Jesse, the Father of King David, and continues down the family tree through to Jesus – the greatest gift. This Christmas help someone discover why the birth of Jesus was a long awaited present to the entire world.

An Aussie’s words of encouragement

The Comeback

by Louie Giglio

Most of us know someone who has been through a difficult or challenging year. Perhaps afflicted by sickness, burdened by a high-pressure workplace, or wrestling with guilt over broken relationships. This might even be your story. Louie Giglio’s The Comeback reminds us that “God’s plans will always prevail” and encourages us to find new beginnings and hope in God. More encouragement comes from Australian author Sheridan Voysey in his new book Resilient (see review right).

New Study Bibles What Bible do you use for dinner-time devotions? If it’s time for an upgrade, the latest study bibles now come in full colour! The NLT Illustrated Study Bible and the NIV Zondervan Study Bible were both released this year. The whole family will benefit from the extensive study notes, illustrations, graphs and maps.

The NIV Zondervan Study Bible includes contributions from Australian Scholars and is edited by D.A. Carson.

Classic Family Devotions Tyndale publishes straightforward devotional books that last for the whole year. A new addition to the series is The One Year Classic Family Devotions.

It includes stories from both childrens’ and parents’ perspective and a weekly activity page with creative ideas for families to spend time together.

International Children’s Bible

South Asia Bible Commentary

Parents know that at some point children want to move on up from picture Bibles to a proper full-text Bible.

Yet, except for the most voracious young readers, their vocabulary is not quite ready for adult translations.

The International Children’s Bible fills the gap with a full-text translation that uses words easily understood by primary-school-aged kids. If you are planning to upgrade your son or daughter to a full Bible this Christmas, you can’t go past the ICB.

The South Asia Bible Commentary contains the work of more than 90 scholars from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Specialist articles make this single- volume commentary a great gift for people living and working in South Asia, or those simply wanting to benefit from the insights of Asian theologians.

All these great specials and much more are available at all good Christian Bookstores everywhere or go online at specials.biblesociety.org.au or mail to Locked Bag 7003 Minto NSW 2566 or call us on 1300 139 179.

A few years ago Sheridan Voysey gave up his dream job as a radio announcer to make a new start with his wife as part of a journey towards healing over their broken hopes of becoming parents.

One thing Sheridan decided to do to help with his fresh start, was to read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount every day for a month. He found it so enthralling and enriching he kept going for a second month, then a third.

As he researched and journaled his discoveries, a theme emerged: Jesus was describing the good life, the resilient life, a life shaped like Jesus’ own life.

The result is the book Resilient: 90 devotions including stories, observations, Bible quotes and questions to help the reader recalibrate their calling, relationships, life practices and choices.

Sheridan describes a Jesus-shaped life as having a heart for God, with a high calling, to be a friend of sinners, living for an audience of One, with a heart of courage, and worshipping the God of surprises.

This is an engrossing but also a challenging read. I can imagine it would richly repay three months of daily devotion, with careful reading of the biblical references, consideration of Sheridan’s elaboration, and a thoughtful response to the questions.

Perhaps Sheridan’s greatest gift through this book is a reminder of how well God knows us: “He knows you. He knows every detail and nanosecond of your existence – every atom, molecule, skin cell, and ligament; every hope, dream, interest, and achievement; every strength, weakness, gladness, and grief. He knows you intimately, through and through.

And he loves us, as perfectly demonstrated through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.”

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DECEMBER 2015

DECEMBER 2015

E DEFENCE FORCE CHAPLAINCY AUSTRALIA SPONSORED PAGE 18

Supporting the faith of our Defence Force Being a chaplain in the Australian Defence Force is a religious commitment without borders.

ADF chaplains provide support to all ADF personnel and families, across all faiths, and to those with no religious affiliation.

They also serve in a range of environments from operational theatres and disaster areas to service at home.

ADF chaplains are noncombatants. Their primary role is the delivery of counselling, pastoral, ethical and spiritual support both on operations and in a non-operational setting.

They become members of the ADF and commit to Service life.

Their military induction training prepares them to be self-sufficient in various operating environments including conflict zones. And the ADF expects them to maintain a readiness status for overseas deployment.

Since 2000, ADF chaplains have been deployed on operations to East Timor, Indonesia, Bougainville, Afghanistan, the Solomon Islands, Pakistan and the Middle East.

As serving ADF members, chaplains experience all aspects of Service life that affect ADF members and their families, such as deployments and time away from family. This makes them uniquely qualified to support their community.

The ADF encourages its members to practise their respective religious beliefs. A

Chaplain Max Walker practises for a sermon on board HMAS Stuart team of ADF chaplains provide support to all ADF personnel and their family members.

A strong connection with their respective faith remains and all ADF Chaplains enter as ordained ministers or religious leaders.

Originally from Ulverstone in Tasmania, Royal Australian Navy chaplain Rendell Max Walker is an ordained Presbyterian minister. He is currently serving at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA).

He joined the Navy as an aircraft technician in 1981 and worked for several years at the Navy’s primary Air station, HMAS Albatross, before undertaking

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Defence-supported study to become an aeronautical engineer.

He re-joined the fleet as a Marine Engineering Officer on completion of his degree through Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University).

After some time working as a civilian engineer, Max attended Bible college and spent some time with the church before becoming a full-time chaplain in the Navy.

Max said he became a Navy chaplain because he recognised the need for people to be able to seek support while they are serving.

“We provide everyday mental health support to the ship’s

company, as well as working in critical incident situations where we brief and assist the crew in understanding what they might expect to be feeling,” Max said.

One of the principal roles of a Navy chaplain is to provide support at all levels to the command while on deployment.

“We support all ranks so that they can perform their job to the best of their ability. This support can come in a number of different forms. It might be as simple as going for a run or doing personal training together and talking about what is happening on the ship,” Max said.

“My job is about enabling people who are serving in the ADF to achieve spiritual, mental, or physical benefits. I aim to help the people I serve with to live full lives and pursue successful careers.”

A Blue Mountains local, chaplain Rod Bailey has served as a Baptist chaplain in the Australian Regular Army for the past 15 years.

Rod began his ADF career in 1978 as an Infantryman in the Army Reserve. He then served as a motor mechanic in the Royal Australian Air Force for six years, before leaving the ADF to work as a civilian motor mechanic while undertaking training for the ministry.

Following his training, Rod returned to the Army Reserve as a chaplain, and in 2001 transferred to the Regular Army full time.

“Defence chaplains always remain part of their church. We need to maintain our connections with our denominations and our home state where we were ordained and trained,” Rod said.

As a chaplain, Rod provides pastoral care, looking after the men and women of the ADF from trainees to senior ranks, either within Australia or overseas.

“Our role often involves providing normality in unusual environments,” Rod said.

“In intensive learning situations, sometimes it is a case of walking alongside the trainees and walking them through their training.

“Religious and the ceremonial aspects are also a big part of what we do; conducting services and participating in ceremonies like Anzac Day or Remembrance Day. He said the reward for being a chaplain comes on various levels.

“The satisfaction of serving God is one of the big rewards for me, but I think the bigger reward is in seeing lives impacted in terms of positive spiritual change or character change – that’s where the big reward comes,” Rod said.

The ADF regards the spiritual needs of members of the ADF as a matter of the highest importance and is currently recruiting for chaplains of all faiths.

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DECEMBER 2015

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OPINION

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History shows Jesus really lived

John Dickson

I hope this is the last article I ever have to write on the question of whether Jesus ever lived.

As Christmas approaches, there are bound to be media pieces raising doubts about some aspect of the Jesus story, and some might say he never lived at all. It has already started with the widely reported statistic from the UK suggesting that 40 per cent of England doesn’t believe Jesus was a real figure. The BBC broke the news with the headline “Jesus ‘not

a real person’, many believe.”

Maybe the English were influenced by atheist intellectual Richard Dawkins, who famously wrote in The God Delusion that a “serious” historical case can be made that Jesus never lived. He cites G.A. Wells as his sole example – who turns out to be a professor of German language. In later debates Dawkins publicly admitted (to his credit) that he exaggerated the scholarly possibilities and that there isn’t really any doubt among

Michael Jensen on those in the “untidy” drawer of faith Greg Clarke on enjoying ourselves

historians about the existence of Jesus. Even G.A. Wells recently came out with a book conceding he was probably wrong to argue in his earlier book that Jesus never lived.

Still, the popular sceptical confusion is real. Somehow the “sceptinet” is abuzz with claims of a “shift” in recent scholarship towards doubting the historicity of the figure at the heart of Christianity. That would be convenient for debunkers of Christianity, but unfortunately for

them, it turns out to be complete rubbish.

There is the occasional serious book suggesting Jesus’ non-existence – probably four or five in the last century. But overwhelmingly – indeed, increasingly – secular scholars of the historical Jesus express confidence that the core gospel narrative about a Galilean preacher and healer who was crucified by Pontius Pilate and continued page 20

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wikimedia

heralded as Messiah is beyond reasonable doubt. Secular experts, of course, question the particulars of the gospels. They treat them as entirely human works of the first century. Yet, there is an undeniable consensus that Jesus himself really did live and die in the 30s AD and that his first disciples really did announce him to the world as the risen Lord.

I have had a challenge going for several years now. I’ve tweeted it, Facebooked it, and last year I even published the challenge in an article for ABC’s The Drum. It goes like this: If someone can find even just one full professor of classics or ancient history or New Testament in any accredited university in the world who believes Jesus did not live, I will eat a page of my Bible.

People have provided names of professors of philosophy, English literature, German, psychology, and so on, but none from the directly relevant academic fields of classics, ancient history or New Testament.

My Bible is safe, at the moment.

Perhaps one day such a professor will emerge. I will cut up Matthew chapter 1 – I’ve already planned it, you see – and eat it on some Vegemite toast. But that will be the exception that proves the rule. We will still be able to say that virtually no one at the top of the relevant fields thinks Jesus didn’t live!

But I recently thought of another way to prove this scholarly consensus. We can turn to the socalled “standard reference works” of the discipline of ancient history, those compendiums produced by the big academic publishing houses designed to represent the state-of-the-question on all things historical.

DECEMBER 2015

Fourth-century depiction of Christ as the Good Shepherd, Museum for Epigraphy, Terme di Diocleziano, Rome There are at least four such works that would be universally regarded as the most authoritative and relevant volumes in Englishspeaking secular academia. The first is the famous single-volume Oxford Classical Dictionary, which summarises scholarship on all things Greek and Roman in just a little over 1700 pages. The several-page entry on the origins of Christianity begins with an account of what may be known about Jesus.

No doubt whatsoever is raised about the facts of his existence, reputation as a teacher and healer, and, of course, his crucifixion.

Next is the much larger

Cambridge Ancient History in 14 volumes. Volume 10 covers the “Augustan Period”, right about when Jesus lived, and it has a sizeable chapter on the birth of Christianity. Again, the entry begins with the known facts of Jesus’ life and death, including his preaching of the kingdom of God, his fraternising with sinners, and so on. No hint of doubt is raised about this core of the Jesus story.

The third relevant standard work is also published by Cambridge University in the UK. It’s the Cambridge History of Judaism in four volumes. Volume 3 covers the “Early Roman Period”.

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Several chapters refer to Jesus in passing as a real figure of Jewish history. One chapter – 60 pages long – focuses entirely on Jesus. Written by two leading secular scholars, who have no qualms about dismissing certain elements of the New Testament, this lengthy chapter offers an excellent account of what experts think of the historical Jesus.

His teaching, fame as a healer, openness to sinners, selection of “the twelve”, prophetic actions (like cleansing the temple), clashes with the elites, and, of course, his death on a cross: all of these are treated as beyond reasonable doubt. The authors don’t tackle the resurrection (unsurprisingly), but they do acknowledge, as a matter of historical fact, that the first disciples of Jesus “were absolutely convinced that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised and was Lord and numerous of them were certain that he had appeared to them.”

The fourth and final standard work comes from a different angle and is very revealing for anyone who imagines there are doubts about Jesus’ existence in mainstream secular scholarship. The monumental Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/ Palaestinae is a recent fourvolume compendium of all the known inscriptions in Palestine for the thousand-year period from Alexander the Great to Muhammad. An image of each inscription (when available) appears, followed by a scholarly analysis of its date, context, and content. Today’s hyper-sceptics may be surprised at item No. 15 of the known Jerusalem inscriptions: “Titulus on the cross of Jesus in

three languages: Aramaic, Latin and Greek, ca. 30 AD”.

The four renditions of the Greek inscription from the gospels (which are slightly different from one another) appear, followed by a brief commentary on the Roman practice of placarding the reason for the punishment of a condemned person. The entry then states: “Therefore there is no reason to doubt the tradition that a titulus with the reason for his condemnation by Pilatus was affixed on Jesus’ cross.” Notice, this isn’t just suggesting there’s no reason to doubt Jesus’ existence and crucifixion – assumed to be certain – but rather it is saying there’s no reason to doubt the detail that an inscription describing Jesus’ crime appeared on his cross.

It is important to stress that none of these works is theological or even remotely religious. They are the standard secular reference works to which scholars themselves turn to check the state-of-thequestion on any ancient historical detail. They all treat Jesus’ existence, etc., as doubtless.

So this Christmas, don’t let anyone tell you there is some doubt or debate in scholarship about whether Jesus even lived. There is not. The consensus regards his existence, fame as a teacher and healer, and crucifixion under Pontius Pilate as doubtless facts of ancient history. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

Dr John Dickson is an author and historian, and a founding director of the Centre for Public Christianity. publicchristianity.org

CHARITY FEATURE

DECEMBER 2015

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METHODOLOGY: National representative survey, n = 1,512.

Charity supporter survey, n = 6,625. Not-for-profit staff survey, n = 556. 4 focus groups (Syd & Mel), n = 34. Not-for-profit leadership consultation, n = 22.

McCrindle Research © 2015

This graphic was distributed of McCrindle’s Australian Community Forum events, used by permission.

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OPINION

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She didn’t like my gift.

Letters The eighth day?

Regarding Bruce Lee, sushi and the eighth day of creation, I’d like to say a big thank you to Greg Clarke for articulating a beautiful soteriological picture of divine rest in the Christian life from a biblical perspective. The weekly rest and worship we experience in Christ is only a minute picture of the complete rest God has planned for us in the kingdom. Through Sabbath we know we can rest in his completed work at the cross, and that our salvation is by faith

alone apart from works. I would wholeheartedly agree with every word in the article if it weren’t for the title referencing the “eighth day” as the Lord’s Day. I would greatly appreciate it if Greg Clarke could show where in the Bible God calls for us to enter into rest on any day other than the seventh.

Majority church tradition and a desire to be dissimilar from Jews aside, there really isn’t any good theological reason.

Daniel Matteo, Associate Pastor, Cairns Seventh-day Adventist Church

Tim Costello on the strangers made in God’s image, just like us In Matthew 2 we read of Herod’s persecution and the escape of Joseph, Mary and Jesus into Egypt. Politically inspired violence continues to rack the Middle East in our own day, creating a massive displacement of people from Syria and other countries.

Syria’s war is nearly five years old and over four million people have fled the country. World Vision has been working to assist refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and northern Iraq. Lebanon alone has absorbed a million of its Syrian neighbours.

Lebanon is a small country –

DECEMBER 2015

about the size of Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula, and with about the same population.

How would we Australians deal with an influx of such proportions?

This year the pressure of violence and deprivation in the Middle East has driven a huge flow of people into Europe, and opened up many complexities in its wake.

Complex questions arise, such as the difference between a refugee and an economic migrant, and whether the distinction matters.

People question whether the “genuine” refugees fleeing Syria are being exploited by people from other countries taking advantage of the temporary open door.

How does the arrival of so many strangers play into the already fraught politics of Europe – countries facing economic and financial crisis, fragmenting social cohesion and uncertainty about their own future and identity? Will already disillusioned Europeans turn to more radical politics for comfort and security against the perceived threat to their culture and lifestyle?

The Bible is clear about the need to welcome and care for the stranger. Loving the stranger is mentioned dozens of times in the

Old Testament, far more often even than the injunctions to love God or to love one’s neighbour. Loving the stranger is not an incidental piece of advice: it is covenantal, part of the grounding of God’s relationship with his people.

Leviticus 19:34 enjoins us to

“ Love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

What if the strangers are not like us? Deuteronomy 23:7 says: “Do not despise an Edomite, for the Edomites are related to you. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you resided as foreigners in their country.”

Those seeking refuge, and those in a position to help, should reflect intensely that the Son of God, whose incarnation we mark with joy at this time of year, took on humble human form and indeed became a refugee.

In the Bible, God reminds us that whether these strangers are in our image counts for little. What matters is that they are in his. And whatever we do for these least, we do for him.

OPINION

DECEMBER 2015

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The unusual life of Simone Weil Michael Jensen on a hero you should celebrate wikimedia_Gabriel VanHelsing

We tend to think of the 20th century as a great century of disbelief.

We imagine the widespread tapering off of religious faith, paradoxically because we live in a more comfortable age but also because we have lived in an age of great human suffering.

What is often overlooked is how many of the 20th century’s great intellectuals actually found faith, of a kind. Writers such as T.S. Eliot, J.R.R. Tolkien, W.H. Auden, Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, A.N. Wilson, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, René Girard, Les Murray and, of course, C.S. Lewis, make for a formidable list. For Christians who want to present the gospel of Christ as a compelling case in the 21st century, it is worth asking, “What made the gospel attractive to these people? Why did these unusually gifted and insightful thinkers feel that Christ made sense to them?”

Among this group ought to be included the French philosopher Simone Weil, who died in 1943 at the young age of 34, but who even in her turbulent times was known as an intellectual leader and activist.

Weil was born into an agnostic family of Jewish extraction in Paris in 1909. Her family was a close one, but she was deeply affected by her father Bernard’s absence due to his service in World War I. Even as a five-year-old, she refused to eat sugar on the grounds that the soldiers at the front were unable to have it. This sacrificial and altruistic behaviour was a pattern she adopted throughout her life, and possibly contributed to her early death.

Weil was recognised to be a precocious talent, mastering Greek and Sanskrit in her early years. In 1928 she was admitted to the École Normale Supérieure, and there

Simone Weil: extreme, reckless or Christlike? studied philosophy. From there she became a schoolteacher at a girls’ school in Le Puy. During this period, she was attracted to Marxist thinking and began advocating for trade unions and joining in strikes. In 1934, she took a year off from her teaching and worked as a factory worker undercover. Though she was a pacificist, in 1936 she fought with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Being completely inept as a fighter, her fellow soldiers kept her away from weapons for the most part until she eventually burnt herself with cooking oil and was sent home.

Weil made her name as a writer of provocative political essays. She was notably eccentric in appearance, playing the role of absorbed intellectual unselfconsciously. Not conventionally beautiful, she would wear loose, masculine clothes, and certainly no make-up. Her mentor, the priest Father Perrin, described her wearing a large brown beret, a cape, and floppy shoes. She determined early in her life that she would not pursue love affairs and, indeed, mostly avoided physical contact with anyone.

But, much to the surprise of the left-leaning intelligentsia that admired her, Simone Weil had a conversion experience in the late 1930s. As you can imagine, there was nothing orthodox or conventional about

this occurrence. She describes it in a letter she called her “Spiritual Autobiography”.

Already she had sensed, in working in the Renault factory, that Christianity was the irresistible faith of the common person, the slave of others. But even then, Weil would never say that she actually went seeking for God. Rather, she was in a sense waiting for him to contact her. And he did, in three momentous events.

After her year in the factories, Weil journeyed to Portugal, and tells of visiting a tiny impoverished village, alone. She heard there the hymn-singing of the wives of the fishermen. She wrote: “There, the conviction was suddenly borne in me that Christianity is preeminently the religion of slaves, that slaves cannot help belonging to it, and I among others.”

Then, in 1937, when she was in the hometown of St Francis, Assisi, she began to pray, for the first time in her life. She said, “Something stronger than I was compelled me for the first time in my life to go down on my knees.”

Recuperating from her burns in Portugal in 1938, and overwhelmed by a headache, she heard a choir singing a Gregorian chant on Palm Sunday. This experience brought home to her the simultaneous reality of the pain and the ecstasy of the cross of Christ: “The thought of the Passion of Christ entered into my being once and for all.”

She also at this time was introduced to an extraordinary poem by an English poet and pastor called “Love”. It begins: Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack From my first entrance in, Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning, If I lacked any thing.

She learnt it by heart, and would often recite it. During one of these recitations, “Christ himself came down and took possession of me.”

What did this conversion experience mean for Simone Weil?

Like many believers of a more mystical type, Weil had a heightened sense of her unworthiness. At the same time, this very tender conscience enabled her to understand the extraordinary power of the grace of God. As she wrote: “Perhaps God likes to use castaway objects, waste, rejects … It sometimes seems to me that when I am treated in so merciful a way, every sin on my part must be a mortal sin. And I am constantly committing them.”

In her letters, she reveals that she could not bring herself officially to join the Catholic Church by accepting baptism. Her rationale was that limiting the incarnation of Christ to the institutional form of a church made it much harder to “show the public the possibility of a truly incarnated Christianity.”

In her scholarly writings, Weil continually traced the ideas of Christianity back to surprising sources, most especially in the thought of the Greeks. Her view was that God’s revelation of Christ came from multiple directions, and not just via the church or through Scripture. For example, she points out that the ancient Greek tragedies talk of generational curses transmitted down the line until a perfectly guiltless person ends the curse by suffering the full impact of it.

Again in keeping with her mystical bent, Weil was fascinated by what she called “affliction” – an experience that is more than simple suffering, and which she saw as paradoxically a divine gift.

Affliction a gift? Yes, because that kind of experience drives a person to spiritual realisation. In her teasing and provocative style, Weil would write: “Evil is the form which God’s mercy takes in this

world.” That’s true if we understand the affliction that results from evil as opening our eyes to our own true condition and driving us to the arms of God. Like a sharp stone, affliction cuts us open so that the grace of God can get in.

And then, for Weil, there was beauty. She wrote once that “the beauty of this world is Christ’s tender smile coming to us through matter.” We are captivated by the beautiful for the same reason that we are torn by affliction: so that our souls can receive the love of God in Christ.

Weil did not live many days beyond her strange conversion to Christianity. Though she and her family left France in 1942 for the United States, she felt the need to join the French Resistance.

Travelling to London, she did join, and it is possible that she was also recruited as a spy. While working in a desk job in London, she wrote a major book about what a post-Nazi Christian France might look like, called The Need for Roots.

However, in 1943 she picked up a case of tuberculosis. Weil, being herself, refused treatment and, as she had done when she was a young girl, chose to identify with the privations of those she was serving by restricting her diet to the same rations as those in Germanoccupied France. It was not long before she died from cardiac failure.

Is Weil admirable? Is she an example of a Christ-like life? In many ways, her behaviour was extreme and even reckless. Her thought veers in many directions, many of them out of the bounds of biblical orthodoxy.

But Simone Weil is our servant in showing that Jesus Christ can indeed be captivating for our intelligent contemporaries.

In her originality and intensity she shows how Christ upsets our conception of the normal and the commonplace. She does not let us rest smugly satisfied with a tame faith. As T.S. Eliot once said: “We must simply expose ourselves to the personality of a woman of genius, of a kind of genius akin to that of the saints.” Yes, that’s it: Weil does not fit into any kind of tidy drawer.

She’s peculiar and angular. And perhaps that angularity is precisely her gift to us, in that she opens us up to the work of the Spirit of God in the world.

Michael Jensen is the rector of St Mark’s Anglican Church in Sydney and the author of several books.

OPINION

24

DECEMBER 2015

Eat, drink and be merry Greg Clarke on being more Pooh than Eeyore Paul /Flickr

Is it better to be an optimist or a pessimist? Both approaches, it must be admitted, have their appeal. The optimist can brush off trouble, whistling her way through terrorist attacks, environmental disasters and relationship breakdowns, always seeing the little drops of stagnant water remaining in the grease-coated glass and happily calling it “halffull”.

Whereas the pessimist is never disappointed, always either confirmed in his view that things really are that bad; or merely justified, if things are going well, in waiting for the day when inevitably they do take a turn for the worse and he can cry, “Told you so!”

These days, I find myself

Choose your Christmas character: Pooh, Eeyore or Christopher Robin. oscillating between the two. I’ve been around long enough to know that the Teacher in Ecclesiastes is dead right when he says that life is “vanity and an unhappy business”.

And yet, genetically I’m an incurable optimist, always able to see the upside, to the frustration of the more sane people around me.

I bring this Pooh vs. Eeyore persona to most dilemmas now. I’ve just returned from a conference about the Bible and

the environment, where one of the things I learned is that the world’s oceans are being fished within an inch of disaster. They say that within a few decades commercial ocean fishing probably won’t be viable. There just won’t be enough fish. It is very distressing. How will we feed all of those poor coastal dwelling peoples, who are already at risk due to rising sea levels? Why can’t we regulate fishing effectively, to give species a chance to regrow?

What is wrong with us?!

But the optimist in me says that the same Bible book which preaches that all is vanity also teaches that we should enjoy the lives God has given us, with good food and drink, family and friends, and follow our interests and passions with all our might while we still have breath to do so.

There is always disaster, turmoil, conflict, intractable problems. But there is also celebration. Bring on

Bible Stat 400 million Bibles and portions are distributed each year.

the seared tuna! Maybe just once a month.

We don’t have to spend all of our time groaning about how terrible things are. We are actually commanded to enjoy ourselves (if you find this hard to believe, check out Ecclesiastes, especially 9:7-10!).

But, if we don’t spend some of our time complaining about how bad things are, and trying to do something about it, we just aren’t being obedient.

Really, the problem is with me and my inability to do specifically what God says to me in Ecclesiastes that I should do: fear God, obey his commands and, well, that’s it. As Augustine said, love God and do what you please (yes, he really did). If I would just listen to the biblical balance between hope and judgment, caring deeply and deeply enjoying, striving and sabbathing, I wouldn’t be in such difficulty. So, bring on the silly season. Eat, drink, and take pleasure in your toil. It’s biblical to do so. And at Christmas, pause to reflect with Ecclesiastes on how meaningless it would all be without God, especially a God who delightfully and lovingly stoops down to enter the creation and experience what it is like with us.

Greg Clarke is CEO of Bible Society Australia.