LETTERS

God ‘cannot be named’

Dr Greenshields’ affirmation that we live in a secular culture is spot on. Many know something about Jesus but are very unclear about what we mean when we speak about God as someone with whom we can have a personal relationship.

When on Sinai Moses asked God’s name, he was told: “I am who I am. I will be who I will be.” In other words it was made clear to Moses that God was there for him but that, in trying to name God, he was wasting his time. God simply cannot be named.

Over the years the Jewish people have handled this rather well. They have had a sense of the presence of God in the history of their people. God had liberated them from slavery. They also discerned God’s presence in creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” They recognised that, if they were to speak about God at all, they would need to use metaphors such as ‘Father’ which was Jesus’ preferred way of speaking about God.

When Jesus healed the woman who had a haemorrhage, he said that he felt that power had gone out from him and was apparently speaking of God at work in his ministry of healing. Jesus had consistently taught that God is the source of power and of glory. St John spoke of God as light and love, other immensely helpful metaphors for God.

In today’s world God has been given hundreds of different names; some seem very perceptive, others less so. All are inadequate.

The great world religions have had among their adherents those who are called mystics, some of whom claim to discern God in everyone and everything and believe that we are in God.

This enables some of us to attempt to love God not only with our heart, soul and strength, but also with our minds. Liberated by the Holy Spirit, we can be unencumbered with doubts about whether God is there for us, commend Jesus confidently in a world that is falling apart and desperately in need of his message and love.

There are, of course, many in this secular world who have no sense of the presence of God anywhere or in anything but who are intrigued by that strange man whose style of life, message and unjust death have created a movement which has brought inestimable blessings and benefits to so many parts of the world. These folk really would like to see Jesus.

Graeme Brown, Edinburgh

Bible is ‘God’s invitation’

Tony Crow would have us return to accepting Scripture in its entirety as the Word of God, and hopes that this will regain the dynamic that Luther instigated in the church of his day (Life and Work, October).

A Swiss Calvinist declaration in 1675 affirmed not only that the Bible was the Word of God but that the very grammar and vowel pointings were divinely certified. But there are problems: we do not even have the original manuscripts, so God would have to watch over the writers, supervise each copy, oversee each editor and guarantee every translation. Then, why stop there? Tony suggests that apparent inconsistencies are our problem and not a problem with Scripture itself but could God not also control our thoughts and ensure that we understand and accept the correct meaning of every text?

Our differences are not slight. Christians have appealed to the scriptures to justify slavery, racism, polygamy, capital punishment, genocide, and the subjugation of women. Others have likewise argued against all of these on the basis of these same scriptures. Even Luther had his difficulties, calling James “an epistle of straw” and, for that matter, Jesus himself amends earlier writing – “But I say to you ...”.

God breathes in (“inspires”) all humanity with the breath of life and entrusts his truth to earthen vessels. This is the risk and glory of our calling and we are challenged by Jesus’ words – “why can you not judge for yourselves what is right?” – Luke 12:57.

Matthew Arnold described Scripture as “Words thrown out of an immense reality, not fully or half fully grasped by the authors but, even then, able to affect us with indescribable force” and this chimes well with Paul’s comment about seeing “through a glass darkly”.

The Bible is not itself the Word of God but through it God speaks to us. Perhaps we can join Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who wrote: “Jews don’t read the Bible. We sing it, argue with it, wrestle with it, listen to it, and turn it inside out to find a new insight we had missed before .... I believe this is what God wants, He wants us to be, in a certain sense, co-authors of His book. The Bible isn’t a book to be read and put down. It is God’s invitation to join the conversation between Heaven and Earth that began at Mount Sinai and has never since ceased.”

Graham Hellier (Rev), Hereford

Guild thanks

Please convey to the Guild HQ staff our thanks for the link to the Guild Annual Gathering (see page 22).

It was great to feel part of the movement through the wonders of Zoom.

We met in our local Hub here which has all the hi-tech facilities and the staff provided us with a lovely lunch. What I call ‘community outreach.’

The day may yet come when our local kirk may move there as part of our Presbytery Plan. I go with the idea given the ‘mission’ priority of the Kirk.

Some of us believe that the greatest days of the Church have yet to come!

Believe that, and it will happen!!

Alan G NWatt (Rev, retired), Angus

A letter to Dr Luke

Those of us who are grandparents, would love to know more about the others involved in your Nativity Story.

What of the parents of Mary and Joseph waiting anxiously at home in Nazareth, while their youngsters set off for Bethlehem, without reservations or credit cards? What anxious days and sleepless nights they must have experienced for weeks.

Did they see the bright star shining in the sky, or hear the chorus of angelic voices singing, “Unto us a child and grandchild are born.”? They must have longed daily for news, for most grandparents know that a grandchild, especially the first one, is surely divine!

Dr James Simpson (Very Rev), Bankfoot, Perthshire