7e_ by The Salvation Army UK and Ireland

War Cry THE

Est 1879 No 7024

FIGHTING FOR HEARTS AND SOULS

30 July 2011

20p/25c

salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry

THE WORLD NEEDS A HERO Page 16

FAITH AND BETJEMAN Page 4

STORY The story begins with young couple Sam (Richard Fleeshman) and Molly (Caissie Levy) as they Turn to page 3

writes CLAIRE BRINE

Sam and Molly are in love

SEAN EBSWORTH BARNES

IT’S been a long, lonely time. And time goes by so slowly. But Ghost the Musical has finally made it to the stage. The production – based on the Oscar-winning film starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze – is currently packing stalls at London’s Piccadilly Theatre.

WE ARE NOT ALONE

NEWS

The War Cry 30 July 2011

AGENCY SAYS BARRAGES HAVE NOT BEEN REPAIRED

NORWAY CENTRES OPEN FOR PRAYER

SALVATION Army centres in Norway opened their doors to people who wanted to pray or talk with someone after more than 90 people died in a bombing in Oslo and shooting on the island of Utøya. Salvationists were also asked to wear their uniforms so that people who wanted spiritual or emotional help could easily identify them on the streets. The Salvation Army’s headquarters in Oslo was close to the buildings affected by the bomb blast and was opened to people as a refuge until the whole central business area was evacuated.

Flood worry for Pakistan AP/MOHAMMAD SAJJAD

Salvationists respond to attacks

LIBRARY RAISES FUNDS

Historic book bid THE British Library aims to raise funds to buy the St Cuthbert Gospel, the earliest intact European book. The book was produced in the 7th century and was buried alongside Cuthbert on Lindisfarne. It was later found in the churchman’s coffin after his body had been moved to Durham Cathedral. Since 1979, the book has been on long-term loan to the British Library, where it is on display. Last year, the British Library was given first option to RESIDENTS of a acquire it. Salvation Army The London-based detox centre in London’s library has signed a Docklands told their memorandum of local MP about the help understanding with they receive in Durham Cathedral and overcoming their Durham University that addictions to drugs and will give the alcohol. opportunity for the On a visit to the centre book to be displayed for Mr Jim Fitzpatrick, half of the time in Labour MP for Poplar Durham or other and Limehouse, praised locations in the North the work of Greig House. East of England. He said: ‘The Salvation The Very Rev Army here is clearly Michael Sadgrove, making a huge difference Dean of Durham, called to the lives of dozens of the book ‘a vital part of people. Over the years, our cultural and that turns into hundreds spiritual heritage’. and then thousands. This The British Library is is about saving lives. in the process of raising Some people would die £9 million for the book otherwise.’ by next March.

Survivors carry their belongings during last year’s disastrous ﬂoods

CAMPAIGNERS SAY RE EXCLUSION WILL WEAKEN SUBJECT

No religion for 2011 baccalaureate

THE Government has indicated that it will not include religious education in the English Baccalaureate for 2011. The Department of Education’s latest Statement of Intent – an annual statement which sets out the proposed content of performance tables – indicates that the make-up of the English Baccalaureate is to stay the same. Campaigners have been asking that RE be included among the subjects that up the baccalaureate, ASTRONOMER make which is a measure for ROYAL performance tables. They argue that if it is not, p8

THIS ISSUE:

PLUS MEDIA/COMMENT p6

THE GREAT OUTDOORS p7

THIS year’s monsoon could cause disaster in Pakistan because flood defences have not been repaired since last year’s deadly floods, according to Christian Aid. The relief and development agency, which has worked through partner organisations in Pakistan, adds that the country’s contingency plans for coping with heavy rain are either inadequate or non-existent. Last year, flooding killed 2,000 people and left 11 million homeless. Neill Garvie of Christian Aid says: ‘There are major concerns about the level of preparedness should there be a repeat of last year’s heavy monsoon rains. It is poorer people, who do not have the option of moving away from the farmlands where they are tenants or bonded labourers, that suffer the most when the rains come.’ He said that flood barrages along the River Indus had not been repaired.

PUZZLES p12

INNER LIFE p13

schools will sideline the subject. In June supporters of the RE.Act campaign delivered a petition containing 140,000 signatures to No 10 Downing Street, and earlier this month leaders of churches and other faith groups wrote to the Prime Minister, calling on him to tackle ‘a serious deterioration in the provision for RE in many secondary schools’. Commenting on the Government’s decision not FOOD FOR THOUGHT

p14

to change the English Baccalaureate for 2011, Brian Gates, the chair of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, said: ‘Not including GCSE RE as a mainstream humanities subject in the 2010 English Baccalaureate has already resulted in many schools simply not offering it as a GCSE choice. Excluding it yet again will gravely weaken the subject at all levels in secondary schools.’

RECIPES p15

30 July 2011 The War Cry

From page 1 move into an apartment together in Brooklyn. Everything is going well. He is a Wall Street banker. She is an accomplished artist. Life could not be better. But then tragedy strikes. One night as the couple are on their way home, Sam is murdered. Sam’s death is not just a nasty shock to Molly; it is a shock to Sam himself. He doesn’t feel ready to leave life behind, so instead he makes the choice to remain on earth as a ghost. He finds that he is able to observe the world around him but is no longer a part of it. In his life after death, Sam makes a harrowing discovery. Whoever killed him has unfinished business, which means that Molly is in danger. Sam doesn’t know how to protect his girlfriend. But then he meets Oda Mae Brown (Sharon D. Clarke), a phoney psychic who is somehow able to hear Sam when he talks. He asks her to visit Molly and warn her of the danger she is in. Sam and Oda Mae hatch a plan which they hope will result in Molly’s safety. But will Molly take seriously Oda Mae’s claim that Sam is talking with her? Can she be trusted? The idea that Sam could be a ghost seems unlikely. And for a stranger to tell Molly that her life is at risk seems ludicrous. She does not know what to think. All Molly knows is that she wants Sam alive again. But he is not coming back. His time on earth is up. And Molly realises that she has a choice. She sings: ‘Because the world keeps turning and I guess it always will, I can choose to turn around or I can choose to just stand still.’ Life without Sam will be difficult. But Molly knows that it has to go on. Perhaps her struggle to keep going is well known to us. When we lose a loved one, or when something happens to turn our world upside down, we can feel broken, or even dead inside. Life keeps moving forward, but perhaps we don’t want it to. We feel desperate. Lost. Alone. We are not. The Bible tells us that God is close by our side, no matter what we

He listens when we talk to him Molly feels alone without Sam face. Because he knows that life is painful – because he understands our hurt – he promises to stay with us and help us, always. One Bible writer points out: ‘God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5 Good News Bible).

When life feels empty or overwhelming, we can find comfort in God, who cares. He listens when we talk to him. He strengthens us when we feel unable to cope. He is the friend we can turn to, any time, anywhere. We don’t have to give up the ghost.

Oda Mae Brown enjoys the spotlight in ‘Ghost the Musical’ SEAN EBSWORTH BARNES

4 The War Cry 30 July 2011

‘A

N outsider’ is how English poet John Betjeman described himself in a TV interview in 1961. The interviewer had suggested that Betjeman might be disregarded in literary circles.

The former Poet Laureate has been seen as lightweight and stylistically old-fashioned. He wrote rhyming lines about falling in love with a girl playing tennis, verses satirising prosperous self-satisfaction and a poem asking ‘friendly bombs’ to fall on Slough.

Poet

sees pros of

faith

But Kevin J. Gardner, Associate Professor of English at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has what could be a bombshell about Betjeman. ‘I wouldn’t say that Betjeman was unfashionable in the United States; I would say that he is more likely unknown. ‘Reading a book about Christianity in poetry, I came across some of his poems. I had never really read him before, but I was struck by a poem “St Saviour’s, Aberdeen Park”.’ Kevin’s enthusiasm eventually led him to write a number of books about the poet and his religious experiences, the latest of which is Betjeman on Faith, an anthology of his prose. Betjeman was keen on architecture and conserving buildings. A bronze statue in St Pancras, London, acknowledges the part he played in the campaign to save the Gothic-fronted railway station. His enthusiasm for buildings included churches. But, says Kevin, Betjeman’s passion for churches extended beyond architectural admiration. ‘As I began to read his prose, his journalism and the essays he wrote for radio, I sensed that in his public life, Betjeman talks about falling on his where he was engaged in architectural knees before the presence of God. It preservation, he seemed to be motivated seemed so unashamedly devout – an by a kind of religiosity – a sense expression of belief and of humility.’ that it was the Christian thing to do Reading Betjeman’s prose, Kevin to preserve the country’s heritage. learnt more about the poet’s experience ‘Even in his personal of faith. ‘I could see how relationships he seemed to he was working out see things in terms of holiideas in prose and poetry ness and spirituality.’ at the same time,’ Kevin Religious images and says. ‘For instance, a serthemes play varying roles mon that he preached in in Betjeman’s poetry. In St Matthew’s Church in some poems, says Kevin, Northampton is very ‘church bells might be similar to “St Saviour’s, ringing in the background Aberdeen Park” and “A when he thinks about a parLincolnshire Church”.’ ticular woman, or he might In all three pieces fall in love while on a Betjeman writes about church crawl’. But sometimes in his falling to his knees – or wanting poetry Betjeman writes more explicitly to – in the presence of God. about religious experience, as in ‘St Kevin says that he Saviour’s, Aberdeen Park’, the poem received some revelathat grabbed Kevin’s attention. tions from the prose. ‘Perhaps what struck me most were ‘I was surprised Kevin Gardner the last lines of the poem, where by Betjeman’s broad-

KEVIN J. GARDNER tells Philip Halcrow about John Betjeman’s beliefs

He was fascinated by Nonconformist churches

mindedness about Billy Graham. Betjeman was such a committed Anglican and yet he praised this American evangelical Bible-thumper. In fact, Betjeman had a fascination with dissenting and Nonconformist churches. ‘I was also intrigued to see how his attitudes towards Christian aesthetics evolved. For instance, at first he was very cynical about the project to rebuild Coventry Cathedral. He thought it was going to be a disaster. But in the end he was wowed by the modern architecture and the abstract stainedglass windows.’ As for Betjeman’s own religious experience, Kevin says: ‘If Christian belief is a straight line, I see Betjeman’s path as spiralling along it, like a helix. Sometimes he is on the line and sometimes off. He was always going to church and always worshipping, although he admitted that for much of the time he didn’t believe in the religion he practised. But he knew that there

30 July 2011 The War Cry RHYME AND REASON: John Betjeman had times of faith and doubt

PA photo of John Betjeman

He knew there would be times when faith did return to him

Betjeman on Faith is published by SPCK

would be times when faith did return to him. When it did he would try to hold on to it.’ Kevin argues that Betjeman is still relevant to the modern world. In an essay written as far back as 1933 Betjeman expressed concern at the decline in church attendance, writing: ‘The age has lost one faith, but it does

not seem to have found another.’ Kevin says: ‘In his writings Betjeman suggested that there would be an inevitable cultural incoherence that would occur with the decline of churchgoing. I am not British so I cannot specifically speak about that, but I have read current literature that says there has been a fragmentation of society in England. ‘On the other hand, in America there is a culture among religious people that says there is something wrong with you if you have spiritual doubts. But Betjeman says that it is natural to doubt, it is normal to have such struggles, and if you don’t admit it, you are being disingenuous.’ So, in Kevin’s eyes, the old-fashioned outsider still has something to say not only to the country of his birth but also to the country where he is barely known – which is perhaps a bit of a bombshell.

MEDIA

6 The War Cry 30 July 2011

Comment

LEATHER-CLAD rock star Suzi Quatro spoke in an interview on Premier Christian Radio about the person she would most like to meet. She told presenter Dana: ‘I would give my right arm to have met Jesus.’

PA photo

author of The Chronicles of Narnia and books of popular theology, is explored in Sunday Half Hour on Radio 2 tomorrow (31 July 8.30 pm).

Letter expresses cuts concern THE Times reported that it had seen a letter sent by the Archbishop of Westminster to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, expressing concern that government cuts in housing benefits will result in thousands of families being forced out of their homes. According to the report, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols wrote: ‘Some estimates that have already appeared in the

The Archbishop wrote to Iain Duncan Smith

DAVID ADAMSON/Shutterstock.com

IN THE PRESS

media suggest 40,000 families may be rendered homeless. If this were indeed the

PA photo of Archbishop of Westminster

With trademark beehive and overthe-top tattoos, the jazz-soul singer showed that real girl power is rooted in God-given talent and creativity, and not in overhyped, spiced-up, wannabe confections of pop impresarios. The record shows that Amy won five Grammys, one Brit and recognition by Britain’s more-established musical establishment – three Ivor Novello Awards for songwriting. Tragically, it was what happened out of the studio, offstage and away from the adoring crowds that came to define the 27-year-old. She was, as fellow chanteuse Lily Allen tweeted on hearing of Amy’s death last weekend, ‘a lost soul’. Amy was also a troubled soul. Her parents split when she was young. She battled with self-harm, eating disorders, alcohol and drugs. Violence while under the influence got her into trouble with the law. In a Rolling Stone interview in 2007 she admitted to having an addictive personality. Paying tribute to Amy, Russell Brand wrote that they ‘shared an affliction, the disease of addiction’. He continued: ‘The priority of any addict is to anaesthetise the pain of living to ease the passage of the day with some purchased relief.’ They are not alone. Thousands of people battle against alcohol and drug addiction simply to perform in the office, in the factory or in the classroom. They – like Amy – are not to be judged. They do, however, need to know that there is help. That there is hope. Christians believe that Jesus can break every chain; that Jesus can make and keep an addict clean. Alcoholics Anonymous recognises that recovery is possible only when a person recognises their dependency, not on the booze, but on God. Being clever or popular doesn’t have to be artificially stimulated by drink or drugs. Knowing that we are loved beyond measure by our Creator can save us from torment. It might just have saved Amy.

RADIO

Crying shame SHE was no angel. She had her demons. The massive musical talent that was Amy Winehouse is no more.

THE life and work of C. S. Lewis, the

Suzi would like to meet…

case it would surely be a perverse result of policies aimed at reducing dependency of the

“benefits culture”, since emergency support would immediately need to be put in place.’

A PAINTING of the crucifixion of Jesus which has been hanging in a student hall at Oxford University since the 1930s could be a Michelangelo masterpiece worth £100 million, reported the Daily Mail. According to the paper, the university believed that Crucifixion with the Madonna, St John and Two Mourning Angels was painted by one of Michelangelo’s contemporaries. But Italian scholar Antonio Forcellino believes infrared technology suggests that the work could be by Michelangelo himNO BONES ‘I always ask God to let me shine and self. ABOUT IT radiate with his light. Sometimes if you get too overreligious you can’t draw The painting has been people to God. People get put off Famous sent to the Ashmolean by that. Nobody wants you to Christians Museum in Oxford and who are preach a sermon to them will go on display in Milan not afraid night and day. So, you can and Rome in the autumn. to speak do more good by just Father Brendan out representing something Callaghan of Oxford good.’ University says: ‘I am happy for [the painting] to Singer go on display … to allow a DOLLY PARTON number of historians and in Radio Times experts to look at, and argue, over it.’

Painting

‘could be

Michelangelo’

stocklight/Shutterstock.com

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

30 July 2011 The War Cry

Enjoy the water with

care

Learning to swim

Drowning is the second most common cause of death among children under 14 years old, and it can happen quickly – in less than two minutes. Young people or children who drown often misjudge their own swimming ability or the safety lifeguards at a swimming pool of the water. They may view a or on the beach. river or lake as a tempting Take safety advice. On the means of cooling off in a hot beach, special flags and notices spell but fail to appreciate the warn of danger. Know what the harmful effects that cold water signs mean and encourage may have on their stamina and children to obey them. A red flag strength. means it is dangerous to enter Figures show that more than the water. Yellow and red flags half of young people and mean that lifeguards are on children who drown are able to patrol and that swimming is swim. permissible only between the To keep children safe when flags. Quartered black and they are in or beside the water, white flags indicate the zone always ensure that they follow is for surfing. This area is not the Water Safety Code: safe for swimmers. Spot the dangers. These Swim together. Children include the depth and should always swim with an temperature of the water. There adult, not by themselves. An may be undercurrents or hidden adult can point out dangers rubbish such as shopping or help a child who gets trolleys and broken glass. Rivers into trouble in the water. and lakes may be polluted and Learn how to help. cause sickness. They can be Know what to do in an difficult to escape because of emergency. If you see steep or slimy banks. It can also someone who is in be very dangerous if there are no difficulty, alert a lifeguard or dial 999. If you are inland, ask for the police, or if on the beach, ask for the coastguard.

IT is a g oo to swim d idea for ever yb . During pools a the sum ody to learn h nd leisu ow m er holid re cent session ays, ma res offe s for ch r ny supervis ildren w beginne ed fun ho can rs’ clas alr ses for holiday those w eady swim and s ar ho cann pools to e ideal times t ot. The o check find out out what’s For mo on offe re infor r. m water s afety vis ation about it wow4 water.n et

Library picture posed b y mode l

SCHOOL holidays and sunny days are here, and for many children the prospect of splashing around in cool water is very tempting. Whether it’s in a pool, a lake or the sea, swimming can be fun. But when precautions are not taken it can also be extremely dangerous.

Follow the flag code and lifeguard advice while on the beach NIGEL BOVEY

8 The War Cry 30 July 2011

Astronomer our cosmic habitat NIGEL BOVEY

Master of Trinity College and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at Cambridge University, former President of the Royal Society, peer of the realm and Astronomer Royal, MARTIN REES enjoys stratospheric success. Earlier this year he received the Templeton Prize for his contribution to ‘enhancing life’s spiritual dimension’. He talks to Nigel Bovey

Trinity College, Cambridge

Professor Rees, how did you become interested in science? At school I was bad at languages so that made me move towards science and maths. Although I read maths at Cambridge University, I decided I didn’t want to be a mathematician. I got a place to study for a PhD in science and was fortunate to have a supervisor who got me enthusiastic about astronomy, cosmology and space. It was the late 1960s and the subject was opening up rapidly. The good thing was that the subject was new to everyone so I didn’t need to be cleverer than the old guys. In 1995 you became the Astronomer Royal. How did that happen and what are your duties? The Astronomer Royal used to be

30 July 2011 The War Cry

considers

The Hubble Space Telescope

When we look at distant objects we are seeing the Universe when it was much younger Nasa

ASTRONOMER ROYAL: Lord Rees

the person who ran the Greenwich Observatory, which was established in the 1670s. Today it is an honorary title given to a senior academic in the subject. There are no duties. I don’t, for example, give the Queen her horoscope. The fact, though, that the title exists and there is no Physicist Royal or Chemist Royal indicates that astronomy was the first subject to become professionalised apart from medicine. Astronomy goes back to the Babylonians and the need to have a calendar. I like to think of it as the first science to do more good than harm. In your early work, when the big bang theory was less understood than it is now, you investigated phenomena such as red shift and quasars. How reliable is the big bang as an explanation as to how the Universe was formed? Back to one second after the beginning of the Universe, I would say it is very reliable. When we look at distant objects we are looking back a long time and seeing the Universe when it was much

younger. We see evidence that there was a time when the Universe was all squeezed so that everything was hotter than the centre of the Sun – which is ten billion degrees. There are many ideas about what happened in the first fractions of a second but the conditions can’t be simulated and tested in the lab. Did your work play a part in forwarding the big bang theory? It has helped a bit but the main evidence against the alternative, the steady state theory, was found by radio astronomers at Cambridge. They discovered that when you looked far away and back in time, galaxies looked different and behaved differently. (In the steady state theory the population of galaxies would look the same everywhere and would not change.) The most importance evidence for big bang was the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation in 1965. This is the residual radiation from the beginning of the Universe and was the

Turn to next page

Nasa

10 The War Cry 30 July 2011

From page 9 most direct evidence that in its very early stages the Universe was very dense. In your book Our Cosmic Habitat you ask: ‘Could God have made the world any differently?’ Could he have? I was quoting what Einstein said about God not playing dice with the Universe. What I had in mind was that one of the biggest issues in science is whether the laws of nature, which seem to pertain here, and indeed in all the parts of the observable Universe, are really the deepest level of existence. An idea which has been taken more seriously in the past ten years is that the Universe may be a tiny fraction of physical reality. If there are other universes, would they all be governed by the same laws of gravity, electromagnetism and so on? Or are what we call the laws of nature just by-laws that apply only to our Universe? What evidence is there that other universes exist? There is no firm evidence. There will only ever be indirect evidence. In order to take a theory seriously you have to be able to test a lot of its consequences (but not every consequence). If we had a theory which applied to the first 10-36 seconds of big bang – the farthest back in time that scientists are postulating – and that theory applied to very high densities and energies and had quantities we could test in the lab, it might explain various mysteries in physics. We might then be able to apply it to cosmology and test whether there were a number of big bangs that formed a number of universes. That’s a lot of ifs. Absolutely. We are a long way from knowing. But if you ask physicists how they expect things will pan out, I think a high proportion would say ‘multiverse’. In your book Just Six Numbers you describe how the Universe is shaped by just six mathematical relationships. If the numbers were even slightly larger or smaller, the cosmos would be very different and life on Earth impossible. Some people see such fine-tuning as evidence of God’s purposed Creation. Multiverse theory suggests that our Universe isn’t special, because it is one of a number that just happens to have got the maths right to sustain life. To what extent is the quest for a multiverse a way of finding an alternative explanation of origins to God? I think the motive for people to think about the multiverse is simply to see if it is right or not and to understand the fundamental laws of nature. We are discovering new planets in our own

STARDUST: a gas and dust cloud surrounds the star CE-Camelopardalis

Universe all the time, some of which may well turn out to be Earth-like. To what extent would life on any of these Earth-like planets mean that life on Earth is less special, less purposed and less designed? That would depend on what life were to be found. It may be that many of these planets have a biosphere like ours. It could also be that what has happened on Earth is unique. There are two big uncertainties – how life gets started and how likely it is that evolution on another planet will lead to something as complex as life on Earth. The astronomy is the easy bit – within the next 10 to 20 years we will know how many Earth-like planets there are. It will take a lot longer to answer the other questions.

There doesn’t need to be a conflict between faith and science

How did life start on Earth? We don’t know. One idea is that microbes arrived on a meteorite. Darwin talked about a warm little pond. Others talked about volcanic vents. Evolution can describe how life developed, but it doesn’t tell us how life came about. Do you regard fine-tuning as a happenstance or is it evidence of design – the handiwork of a Designer? We don’t know, but were I to put money on it, I’d bet on the multiverse idea.

With so many ifs, isn’t that a big punt? There are lots of uncertainties, but that doesn’t mean that the multiverse idea is not a possibility. Cosmologists and theologians, echoing Genesis chapter one, talk about the Universe coming ‘out of nothing’. Did it? We don’t know. Before the first second, the science is incomplete. A physicist’s ‘nothing’, though, is not the same as a philosopher’s ‘nothing’. A physicist’s ‘nothing’ includes the laws of nature. Are there questions that science isn’t designed to answer? Science has made huge advances which add to our understanding of the world. I hope one day we will understand the origin of life and whether there is a multiverse. But there are many areas of life that are not part of science. Ethical choices, for example, can’t be decided by science. Historically there have been conflicts between faith and science. To what extent is that inevitable? There doesn’t need to be a conflict between faith and science. There are many good scientists who adhere to conventional Christian beliefs. Even among those who don’t, I think the majority would share the view that there need be no incompatibility. Some atheistic scientists want to claim the theory of evolution as evidence that

30 July 2011 The War Cry 11 Nasa

The biggest challenge in science is the complexity of the everyday world God wasn’t necessary for creation and therefore doesn’t exist – that evolution is effectively atheistic. Is that an accurate conclusion? No, I think you can accept evolution and still adhere to a religion. To what extent can science disprove God? All science can do is to tell us what the world is like. Some things which were once considered mysteries and attributed to God are now understood. Cosmology tells us that humankind is made of stardust. Could you explain the process, please? Stars are like giant nuclear reactors, making chemical elements such as

carbon and iron. In the very early Universe, stars were made of just hydrogen. Then, through nuclear fusion, hydrogen atoms fused to make helium, helium became carbon and so on. It is in the stars that the elements of the periodic table were made. At the end of their lives, stars exploded and the chemical elements made in stars went back into interstellar gas as nuclear waste. New stars then formed from gas containing elements from the first generation, and heavier elements were formed. When those stars subsequently died, the process repeated. There is very strong evidence that this process accounts for the proportion of all the elements in the Sun and our solar system – why gold and uranium are rare,

and why oxygen and carbon are common. When a star forms, it contracts from an interstellar cloud and it spins out. As it forms, there is the star and a spinning disc. What is thought to have happened is that when our solar system formed four and a half billion years ago, there was the Sun and a dusty spinning disc. As it spun, the dust particles stuck together to make rocks. They then built up to make the planets. The four terrestrial inner planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars – are the rocky ones. The outer ones were cold enough that they kept their hydrogen and helium and remained as balls of gas. We know that the Earth has the same chemical elements as the Sun, just in different proportions. We know that the elements in the human body are the same elements as in the Sun. All the atoms in our bodies were made in a supernova explosion that happened before the solar system was formed. All atoms are recycled within the Earth. They are not transmuted, so a carbon atom in my body was a carbon atom before the world was formed. Science doesn’t know how the chemicals on a life-potential planet became the chemicals in our bodies, but there is a huge recycling process going on – dust to dust, ashes to ashes. The concepts of dust to dust and humankind being made of dust appear in Genesis. To what extent does the idea of humankind being made of stardust show that faith and science are complementary? Dust to dust is a biblical concept but it is also a sort of universal view. The idea of coming from and returning to nature is common to most people whatever their faith. A universal human predicament is that we are not on this earth for long. What are the big challenges facing science? The biggest challenge in science is not the cosmos or the micro world of the big bang but the complexity of the everyday world. The simplest animal is harder to understand than an atom or a star. Although I have evidence about the first second of the Universe or a distant galaxy, when it comes to issues such as diet, childcare or the environment the challenges facing the experts are far more difficult. Science can explain the mechanisms of climate change – and the consequences of certain actions – but if you want to decide what we should do about it, either individually or as a society, you can’t make those decisions just on the basis of science. You need values and ethics that come from somewhere else.

PUZZLEBREAK

12 The War Cry 30 July 2011

N T R H X A B S U I R I S N G

WORDSEARCH

SUDOKU

Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to ﬁnd the names of these stars

Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9 Solution on page 15

ACHENAR ACRUX ADHARA ALDEBARAN ALTAIR ANTARES ARCTURUS

ANSWERS

S U P O N A C P H E I U G C A

R B H X B R R E L T G U D E C

BELLATRIX BETELGEUSE CANOPUS CAPELLA DENEB ELNATH

QUICK CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1. View (5) 4. Additional (5) 8. Tariff (3) 9. Uncertainty (5) 10. Previous (5) 11. Butt (3) 12. Ornamental head wear (5) 13. Agitate (7) 16. Fitness (6) 19. Astute (6) 23. Brittle (7) 26. Higher (5) 28. Devotee (3) 29. Loud (5) 30. Scum (5) 31. Her (3) 32. Unravel (5) 33. Tenet (5)

E G A S S H A U L A E I A T R

D E S A R S U T C T A U S F L

M T R A A U X A L A L N O N R

A E S I P R O C Y O N M L S P

O L L P A U G H A D A R A E P

A G D R I T N E K L I G I R H

FOMALHAUT HADAR POLLUX PROCYON REGULUS RIGEL

X E A E H C L N H H L B S A R

A U C G B R A A N U S E H T N

U S L U A A U R A V V N P N G

B E L L A T R I X C C E A A G

D S U U O A R A H D A D G S C

R D H S U P R T N S I H U A A

RIGIL KENT SHAULA SIRIUS SPICA THE SUN VEGA

HONEYCOMB Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number 1. Cupboard in which food is kept 2. Noon 3. Ladies elasticated corset 4. Oblong game piece marked with 0–6 on each half DOWN 2. Steam bath (5) 3. Allure (7) 4. Excused (6) 5. Thin candle (5) 6. Farewell (5) 7. Dwarf tree (5) 9. Trench (5) 14. Bitumen (3) 15. Uncooked (3) 17. Lug (3) 18. Tree trunk (3) 20. Pursued (7) 21. Arrows (5) 22. Decline (6) 23. Comical (5) 24. Assumed name (5) 25. Pastoral poem (5) 27. Spike (5)

5. Member of the clergy in charge of a parish 6. Part of a tree

QUICK QUIZ 1. In which film does Whitney Houston perform the song ‘Queen of the Night’? 2. In the sitcom The Good Life what was Tom and Barbara’s surname? 3. In the Bible, who had a brother called Abel? 4. Who uses the advertising slogan ‘Chocolate heaven since 1911’? 5. Kiss Me Kate is a musical version of which Shakespeare play? 6. What is the longest mountain range in the world?

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1 Vista. 4 Extra. 8 Tax. 9 Doubt. 10 Prior. 11 Ram. 12 Tiara. 13 Perturb. 16 Health. 19 Shrewd. 23 Fragile. 26 Upper. 28 Fan. 29 Noisy. 30 Dross. 31 She. 32 Solve. 33 Dogma. DOWN: 2 Sauna. 3 Attract. 4 Exempt. 5 Taper. 6 Adieu. 7 Shrub. 9 Ditch. 14 Tar 15 Raw. 17 Ear. 18 Log. 20 Hounded. 21 Darts. 22 Refuse. 23 Funny. 24 Alias. 25 Idyll. 27 Prong. QUICK QUIZ 1 The Bodyguard. 2 Good. 3 Cain. 4 Thorntons. 5 The Taming of the Shrew. 6 The Andes. HONEYCOMB 1 Pantry. 2 Midday. 3 Girdle. 4 Domino. 5 Rector. 6 Branch.

INNER LIFE

30 July 2011 The War Cry 13

Through the of a

To commemorate this year’s 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, PHILIPPA SMALE looks at some everyday expressions popularised by the translation

eye needle WHEN Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond appeared before the Treasury Select Committee earlier this year to answer questions on bankers’ bonuses, he probably didn’t expect to be faced with a question straight from the Bible. Labour MP John Mann asked him: ‘Why is it easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?’ Mr Diamond appeared to be stumped. He grinned, looked round and said: ‘Do you have another question?’ Mr Mann took the question directly from something Jesus said about people and wealth. A rich ruler went to Jesus and asked him: ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ (Luke 18:18 New International Version). Jesus started off by talking about the Ten Commandments – which the ruler said he had kept since he was a boy. Then Jesus went straight to the crux of the ‘For it is easier for matter. ‘You still lack one thing. Sell a camel to go everything you have and give to the through a needle’s poor, and you will have treasure in eye, than for a rich Heaven. Then come, follow me’ man to enter into (18: 22).

the Kingdom of God’ (Luke 18:25)

Jesus knew that the ruler’s whole life was focused on his possessions rather than on serving God. Jesus wasn’t saying that it is wrong to be rich – or to want to be rich. The trouble comes when people make

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wealth, rather than God, the focus of Without radical change, those who their lives. spend their lives chasing the status, It is, said Jesus, easier for a camel deference and sense of self-madeto go through the eye of a needle than ness that riches can bring – those who for someone who worships wealth to make money their god – will find get into the Kingdom of God. themselves empty-handed when they Some scholars suggest that the face eternity. Aramaic words for ‘camel’ and ‘rope’ are the CAN WE HELP? same. Just complete this coupon and send it to Whichever The War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, word Jesus London SE1 6BN meant, the Please send me sense is Basic reading about Christianity the same. Information about The Salvation Army Contact details of a Salvationist minister

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

14 The War Cry 30 July 2011

MY son used to love professional wrestling, so I once took him to watch some matches for a birthday treat. What joy to sit in a crowded arena full of screaming little boys and watch grown men throw themselves round a ring! I wasn’t overly keen on the wrestling – neither was another mum sat reading her book in the next row. But one thing that did fascinate me about the event was the choreography. Always towards the end of the match the baddy would be in control, trying to force the goody to submit. ‘One-ah, two-ah,’ the referee would shout. But just before he could count ‘three’ and declare the contest over, the goody would suddenly make a comeback. At the last minute he would turn the match around and force his

Submitting is the way to

win opponent into submission. Later I found myself thinking about what it means to submit: to give oneself up to the authority or control of another. I realised that there are many things we may ﬁnd ourselves submitting to. We can give in to alcohol addiction or succumb to being angry. We can submit to the feeling that we are good for nothing but destructive relationships. Sometimes we give in to these things because it’s the easiest thing to do. We have no ﬁght left in us – or hope. But Jesus can break the grip of any negative thing which binds us. He told his followers that God

sent him to proclaim that ‘the oppressed will be set free’ (Luke 4:18 New Living Translation) With faith in Jesus we can ﬁnd freedom: from guilt, from selfdestructive behaviour, from hopelessness. Jesus can ﬁll us with his power so that we are ready to

by CATHERINE WYLES

stand on our own two feet, strong enough to face the world again. When we submit to Jesus’ love, we’re onto a winner.

Jesus can break the grip of any negative thing Library pictures posed by models

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30 July 2011 The War Cry 15

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225g lean beef, lamb or pork steak, cubed 1tsp oil 1 red onion, chopped 75g apricots, chopped 1tbsp ground cumin 1tsp ground cinnamon 1tbsp ground turmeric 1 ⁄2 tsp ground allspice 400g can chickpeas, drained 450ml stock 175g couscous 1tbsp fresh coriander, chopped Method: Heat the oil in a large non-stick wok or saucepan. Cook the onion over a low heat for 2–3 minutes. Add the meat and cook until browned. Add the remaining ingredients except the couscous and coriander. Bring to the boil, cover the mixture and simmer for 2–3 minutes.

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IT’S time to marvel. Captain America is hitting the big screen for the first time. In Captain America: The First Avenger – released at UK cinemas yesterday (Friday 29 July) – the comic-book superhero is putting the bad guys in their place. It’s the early part of the Second World War. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is an unlikely looking hero. He may be small in stature, but Steve isn’t afraid to stand up to people and speak his mind. Steve longs to join the US Army and fight Nazism, but he is constantly knocked back because of his size. He begins to lose hope. Friendly German scientist Dr Erskine, meanwhile, has created a Super-Soldier serum designed to amplify a person’s physical and moral attributes. While everybody judges Steve according to his size, the doc recognises Steve’s kind heart and desire to fight for justice. This makes Steve the perfect candidate for the doc’s serum trial. Captain America is born. With a new physique, he is ready to battle with the evil Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), who is in charge of Hydra, the Nazi’s science division. But the war won’t be easy. Schmidt has also managed to get hold of the Super-Soldier serum and has turned himself into the megalomaniac Red Skull. Will good triumph over evil? We can find ourselves asking the same question away from the cinema. It can seem that people who do wrong get away with it and prosper, while good people suffer. Where is the justice? Jesus offers an answer. Speaking about himself, he said: ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10 New International Version). The sinless, morally perfect, Jesus came to save the world – to rescue people who don’t want to be ruled by evil. His resurrection showed that spiritual death – the ultimate payback of evil – doesn’t need to be the end for any of us. Those who recognise and turn away from their sin, put their faith in Jesus and live his way receive the gift of eternal life. They will also have his supernatural help in the here and now.

SIMPLY We need to be rescued says RENÉE DAVIS

Will good triumph over evil?

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Captain America