Alex Glen is worried by the suggestion that the words ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ may not have been spoken by Jesus (Letters, Life and Work, January).

What is certain is that we see through the lens of the Gospel writers and they share their faith with us, each in his own way. The writer of John’s gospel reconstructs the farewell discourses of Jesus and his own convictions may well come through. The quotation from chapter 14 is followed by the words ‘no-one comes to the Father except by me’.

If we take this in an exclusive sense, the multitudes of those who belong to other faiths and none are excluded from the fullness of the love of God.

Not only does this throw into question John’s assertion that the Word enlightens everyone that comes into the world ( John 1:9) but it is contradicted by Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25, where even those who do not recognise Jesus inherit the kingdom.

An alternative interpretation is to understand it as: ‘everyone who comes to the Father comes by me, whether they recognise it or not’.

The writer of John centres everything on Jesus but the other gospels show that Jesus centred his teaching on God and calls us to love God and our neighbour, and so inherit eternal life. Luke even records Jesus as saying: ‘Happy is he who does not find me an obstacle to faith’ (Luke 7:23).

Alex quotes the admonition to ministers: ‘Never take your doubts into the pulpit.’ This is questionable advice; first because utter sincerity is essential for preachers and, secondly because many listeners will feel free to share their doubts when ministers show that the glass is not always clear to them.

Christianity is not made up of interlocking doctrines that fit exactly into a solid four-square Gospel. It is a living stream of faith and witness gifted to us by the Biblical writers and inspired by the love of God.

Graham Hellier (Rev), Marden, Hereford

I read with interest the letter from J Spence and Alex Glen in the January issue of Life and Work, as I too had read the one from the Rev Ian Forrester.

Like him, with a rural background, my favourite Psalm is the 23rd which is possibly Scotland’s as well. His letter took me back to my long ago youth on the farm.

It had a small flock of sheep and across the valley on the hills there was a large sheep farm. The shepherd there was Jock, our kind and helpful neighbour.

Apart from a tractor and a milking machine, little seemed to have changed since Bible times on our farm too. Oats were sown, sheaves kept aside for Harvest Thanksgiving, folks from the nearby village gathering in the potato fields and Sunday work confined to necessity and mercy!

Considering the Rev Forrester’s youthful employment, I thought he may go on to write about the examination of crops at the final harvest, but instead he questioned the authenticity of the words of Jesus: ‘’I am the way, the truth and the life,’ recorded by the disciple John. The rest of the letter became clear only when I realised that the second part of the text had been omitted.

The answer to any doubt as to the text I find in ‘the here and now’. Very recently we were informed that we were living in the post-Christian era and now the post-truth.

It is evident that the unbelieving world has always made the connection.

Agnes F Waddell, Fauldhouse, West Lothian