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LETTERS AND TWEETS
Thank you for Preach
Can I congratulate you on the
publication of Preach magazine. I
really enjoy getting my copy and look
forward to receiving it quarterly. I
especially enjoy the book reviews and
have bought a number of the books
suggested and have got a lot from
each book bought. The articles in the
magazine are excellent and set at just
the right level.
Roger Le Duc-Barnett , via email
Responses to
Oyugi Douglas
(Letters, Preach, Summer 2016)
The church that I attend seeks to be
inclusive, and invites all people to
participate in our community and
worship life without insisting that
they become like us in order to be
acceptable. One of the statements of
what we stand for reads ‘We recognise
the faithfulness of other people who
have other names for the gateway
to God’s realm, and acknowledge
that their ways are true for them,
as our ways are true for us’. In the
Summer 2016 edition of Preach, Oyugi
Douglas wrote disparagingly of those
Christians who do not accept his
conservative interpretation. While
acknowledging that there are many
who would sympathise with Oyugi, it
does little good to accuse those who
do not accept that view of diluting the
gospel.
…My plea is that we should be
inclusive and recognise that within
our congregations there are a wide
variety of understandings of the
Scriptures. I would hope that my
conservative brothers and sisters
would not alienate those whose
head, heart and whole being inclines
them to value the Scriptures and are
passionate about following the way
of Jesus but reject a literalistic or
conservative interpretation.
Mike Dennis, Tavistock
Oyugi Douglas states ‘I’d rather you
maintain the conservativeness than
to include the so-called progressive
which will start diluting the word of
God’. But what is the ‘Word of God?’ Is
it the totality of the Bible, including its
exhortations to genocide, or its core
message to love God and love each
other? If it is the former, then I plead
guilty to dilution; if it is the latter, I
try my level best to preach it to others
and keep it as the guiding principle of
my own life.
…Preachers [need] to distinguish
between Bible content that was
(1) reflecting, or addressing, the
pre-scientific context in which it
was written and (2) its enduring
principles which are still relevant
in a scientifically informed and
multicultural society. If we do not
make such a distinction, we are
likely [to] mislead our congregations
and fail in our mission to help these
congregations, those still searching for
a faith and ourselves, to love God and
to love each other as Jesus intended.
Hugh McCredie, via email
…Bible scholars and theologians have
for centuries debated and argued
about the literal or metaphorical
interpretations of the Bible. Was
this or that event an ‘actual’ event
which could have been ‘recorded’
or ‘televised’ or does the recording
thereof have a deeper, fuller meaning?
They say there’s nothing new under
the sun, for even as early as around
the year 200AD/CE Origen rejected
the literal interpretation of the six-day
story of creation in Genesis. And I
don’t usually name-drop, but around
400AD Augustine reprimanded
Christian teachers for teaching
‘truths’ which contradicted ‘facts’
about the world that non-Christians
knew to be true. Martin Luther too
affirmed ‘plain reason’ and ‘evident
WRITE
TO US
reason’ as an authority in addition
to the Bible. We can’t surely be
expected to be like the Queen in Alice
in Wonderland, who said sometimes
she believed as many as six impossible
things before breakfast!
Progressive Christians don’t denigrate
the Bible. We love the Bible. Surely
though the thing which sets Christians
apart from say Jews and Muslims,
who hold that the decisive revelation
of God lies in a book, is that Jesus is
‘The Word of God’, the ‘Word’ become
flesh, the ‘Word’ which brings the
‘words’ of the Bible to life.
Paul Wilks, Runcorn
TWITTER
@joswinney If u missed it u can
hear the #SermonoftheYear
segment on @BBCR4Sunday here
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/
b07b9qqr … – 4.50-15.32
@PreachMagazine
@LSTheology Stirring stuff
on @BBCR4Sunday –
@PreachMagazine’s @joswinney
and samples of the finalists:
@God_loves_women &
@theartofsiku
@hopeforgreyplaces @theartofsiku
I loved your ref to superheroes.
Preaching comes alive when
imagination intersects reality.
@PreachMagazine
@BBCR4Sunday Is humour
important in a sermon? Not
so says @joswinney from
@PreachMagazine People want good
biblical references and guidance
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experiences or inspiration about preaching or
constructive criticism (please be kind – we are humans
with feelings). You can write to us at PO Box 2352,
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