‘Whose head is this?’ asked Jesus (Matthew 22.20). Again, a seemingly innocent question deserving a peremptory answer. The peremptory answer came: ‘Caesar’s.’ How could they say anything else? But Jesus’ question went beyond loose change and currency. He was after bigger fish. It was all very well to take advantage of cover provided by a dictator but what did they owe in return? The ramifications were extensive, painful to contemplate and costly to justify.
Such questions are our lot today. We belong to a society, a welfare state, with benefits. They have to be paid for though not at the point of need. We also benefit from law and order though that can be manipulated tot eh benefit of the few rather than the many. When we consider our position as one citizen amongst many, we are involved in a network. It affects the kind of people we are and the limitations on our freedom that we happily accept.
When Jesus pointed out the consequences of their attachment to the head of Caesar on their coinage, they fell into consternation. They were unprepared for searching political inquiry. Religion asking questions like this was not to their taste. But centuries later Gibbon was to express their dilemma forcibly: ‘The theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describing Religion as she descended from Heaven, arrayed in her native purity. A more melancholy duty is imposed on the historian.’ Part of that task was to be the clash of responsibilities between caesar and bishop, between state and church, a clash exacerbated by the state’s need of educated administrators and the merging of two offices.
SPONSORED CHAIRS
When an overall reordering of Holy Trinity church, Washington, Co. Durham was undertaken in 2016, the individual chairs that replaced the existing pews were sponsored by members of the congregation. This proved to be the culmination of a number of extensions to the building that had taken place over the centuries, including the building of an entirely new church in 1833. Coal-mining was the biggest activity in Washington; Nissan is now the largest employer. Leading a strong ministry team is Philip Lockley.
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