Theologians have one thing in common with magicians, astrologists and conspiracy theorists. They are ‘devoted to maintaining a view of the world that, while it may display impressive internal logic, is useless in terms of its accurate descriptive power.’ That is how Robert Crampton of ‘The Times’ puts it. He concedes that to see the world this way is possibly brilliantly contrived and certainly entertaining, but wrong.
Those of us who have seemingly spent a lifetime barking up the wrong tree may feel uncomfortable when we hear this. Have we really been wasting our time worshipping our Creator and Redeemer? Do we find it laudable in our enlightened days to see university departments of theology cutting their staff, and making way for more genuine fields of enquiry? After all, it may be said, this is what happened to alchemy. Life moves on – to the discomfort of Christians.
The easy remedy is to discount any metaphysical claims and embrace Stoicism or Epicureanism or – to put the matter in its simplest terms – to give up serious thought about ultimate issues. Better to rely on what we learn from our five senses and scientific methods. There is plenty to engage our energies in the daily round. Even dyed in the wool Christians acknowledge this. As the hymn-writer John Keble puts it, the trivial round, the common task will furnish all we ought to ask.’ George Herbert has a similar theme: ‘Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws, makes that and th’ action fine.’ Forget speculation about the mysteries of the Trinity or the highways and byways of Providence. There is some common ground here.
However, there are stubborn matters that will not go away. For one thing there are the New Testament documents. For good or for ill, we cannot ignore them, any more than we can ignore Darwin’s ‘Origin’, not to mention Bertrand Russell and Richard Dawkins. If we do, we are failing to consider evidence. The wholesale review of Christian apologetics that has taken place since the Tubingen school went into action and since ‘Essays and Reviews’ was published is an indication of the thoroughgoing and often painful thinking that is required.
To be a Christian is not to be divinely useless. Nor is it to be unaware of a climate of thought. It is to recognises a Maker’s hand in the cosmos we inhabit. Any other view has its difficulties. It is not absurd to see a purpose in all the majesty and muddle and to recognise mystery when we bump into it.
C.S. LEWIS AT BEVERLEY
You might think that Beverley is lucky to have two stupendous churches – the Minster and St Mary’s. You might also think that St Mary’s cannot but regard itself as ‘the other church’ Not a bit of it! Becky Lumley, the Vicar, is placing St Mary’s firmly on the map with one outstanding item in an extensive renovation. Fourteen new stone carvings of Narnia characters are now in place on the exterior, having been exhibited at ground level beforehand. Other additions are on the way. St Mary’s is just up the road from the Minster. A rewarding day out would be a visit to both buildings. There is a handsome set of photographs of the carvings on the St Mary’s website that will inspire any visitor to re-visit C.S. Lewis’s Narnia tales.
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