Twelfth live discussion Wed 16 November 2011, Abbeyfield School, Chippenham, Wilitshire.

'A belief isn't the mind poessing an idea, but an idea poessing the mind' - Do you agree?

What is the point in life? If God knows everything, surely he already knows what choices we will make and so whether or not we will be saved. Why do we need to spend any time on earth?

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

Have you ever doubted the existence of God?

Thanks. I went to Sunday School and sang in the choir in Chigwell, Essex when I was at primary school and knew that God was around, but not that you could know him personally. That happened for me in my second term at Oxford reading law and since then (1974) his existence has become very real.  So, I suppose, the answer is no.

Do you believe that everything happens for a reason? if so, surely abortion is not wrong, because God has given them the option to abort

Do you beleive every person claiming to have a religious experience is geniune? Please explain your thoughts.

Do you believe that people that don't believe in God will go to Hell? What happens to them when they die?

Do you believe God to everlasting or timeless? explain your answer.

Do children remembering past lives indicate the concept of reincarnation over resurrection?

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

Do you believe that GOD is benevolent even when there's so much evil and suffering in this world ?

Yes. The strange thing is that God is all powerful and all loving (benevolent) and yet evil and suffering exists. I believe in all these three things. Can't explain it, and can only point to the cross of Christ which shows that God, in Christ, is deeply involved in the suffering of his world and doesn't just sit on the edge of the universe and twiddle his thumbs. He is deeply involved.

If God is omnipotent, then why would he create Hell?

Do you believe God to everlasting or timeless? explain your answer.

How can it be fair that only Christians have the opportunity of entering the kingdom of heaven? What about people who have never come into contact with the Christian message?

If free will is what makes the evil in this world and heaven is free of evil, is there free will in Heaven?

Previously Bishop Graham wrote:

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

Do you believe that GOD is benevolent even when there's so much evil and suffering in this world ?

Yes. The strange thing is that God is all powerful and all loving (benevolent) and yet evil and suffering exists. I believe in all these three things. Can't explain it, and can only point to the cross of Christ which shows that God, in Christ, is deeply involved in the suffering of his world and doesn't just sit on the edge of the universe and twiddle his thumbs. He is deeply involved.

Can't explain it isn't a valid answer. Elaborate please.

If everything happens for a reason, surely there is no free will?

Do you believe that homosexuality is a choice?

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

Have you ever been divorced? Some Christians believe that divorce is wrong, but surely in some circumstances it's ok - for example violence in the marriage or just general unhappiness.

Thanks. No - I've not been divorced. It seems to me that generally, divorce is very difficult and sad all round and should only be a last resort. Mediation and attempts at reconciliation are crucial first movements. I believe there are some circumstances where divorce may be the right way forward.

Do you belive that the creation story is literal, if so please awnser this if not leave a witty anicdote or something

If Adam and Eve are the original humans, and we are the product of them. Are we the product of incest?

There are many different relgions in the world, each with their own beliefs and faiths. However, all of them seem to have a core of having some form of God. Do you think this suggest there is some kind of almight being, and which faith is correct?

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

There's many religions in this world and in every religion their idea of GOD is different. Why do you think that the GOD who created this world has to be an Christian GOD ? Does this mean that the GODs that other religions worship are wrong?

Thanks. I believe that people have an innate feeling after God and that takes many forms throughout the world. It seems to me that Jesus of Nazareth is unique in that no one else has shown God to humanity as clearly as he has and that God became flesh in him. If people worship gods which don't match up with how he has revealed God - for he showed us God as loving, merciful, generous, suprising, on the side of the poor and outcast - then I suppose I would question those views of those gods. For further discussion, have a look at my article here: http://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/?3

Do you thik that only Christians enter heaven? What about people who have clearly lead good lives but are not religious? Do they go to hell?

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

What are your views on homosexuality? Surely living in a multi-cultural society where the church is less influential on peoples beliefs has to affect how you feel about it? Do you think as times are changing that you are becoming more accepting towards it, and understand that it is a part of society - or do you feel just as opposed about it as ever? 

I personally think the Bishops Guidelines in the Church of England, 'Issues in Human Sexuality', form a good and balanced reference point. These state that those who are gay in their sexual orientation and wish to be vicars are welcome to be vicars but should be celibate. They do not say the same about lay people in the church ie that they have to be celibate. In all professions, leaders are held to be more accountable than others: judges and police have to have a higher standard of law keeping than others;  teachers have to have a higher standard of behaviour with young people than others; similarly acccountants concerning financial integrity. So, the above distinction between vicars and lay people seems to make sense to me. It is also worth looking at Paul's First Letter to Timothy chapter 3, where he says leaders should be the husband of one wife ie there were clearly people with more than one wife in the congregation, but those could not be leaders.

Oliver O'Donovan has written a fine book, 'A Conversation Waiting to Begin: The Churches and the Gay Controversy' (SCM Press, 2009)

http://www.scmpress.co.uk/bookdetails.asp?ISBN=9780334042105

This is a book of his online essays which may be seen here

http://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/page.cfm?ID=130 

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

Is it possible for God to make an object too heavy to lift? Can he lift it?

Thanks. Great conundrum! God can make anything, but can't deny his character. He doesn't lift things himself, since he is spirit and does't have arms and legs.

Why did God give us the capacity to reason and then tell us not to use it?

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

God is described as benevolent, omnipresent, omnipotent omniscient etc. However, these are all human-constructed definitions of what God is like. Do you think it is possible that God could be completely different to our expectations?

Thanks. Those may be human-constructed definitions but match what Jesus revealed of God. What he also showed in his parables is that God is very surprising and so - yes, he is beyond of our expectations, but not contradictory to the character of Jesus of Nazareth.

Previously Bishop Graham wrote:

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

Is it possible for God to make an object too heavy to lift? Can he lift it?

Thanks. Great conundrum! God can make anything, but can't deny his character. He doesn't lift things himself, since he is spirit and does't have arms and legs.

So does that make God incapable of lifting- I thought he was omnipotent

If God had wanted to save us, couldn't he have done that without sacrificing Jesus?

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

Soem parts of the Bible are contradictory. Do you believe everything the Bible says?

Thanks. It depends what you mean by 'says'. We need to consider first what sort of literature that passage is ie poem, story, science, history, proverb etc. An example of passages contradicting is Genesis One and Genesis Two - but they only contradict if they are taken literally. Since I don't think God himself contradicts himself, then the different orders in which creation is portrayed in Gen One (with humans created at the end) and in Gen Two (man, plants, animals and then woman) shows to me that we should not take them literally, but as story. When properly interpreted, I do believe what God is saying to us through his scriptures.

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

Do you belive that the creation story is literal, if so please awnser this if not leave a witty anicdote or something

If Adam and Eve are the original humans, and we are the product of them. Are we the product of incest?

Thanks. See my answer about contradictions in the Bible just now. No, I don't believe the two creations stories of Genesis One and Genesis Two are literal. I think God created humans through his process of evolution. Concerning Genesis Two, one of my daughters has suggested that Adam was just a first draft - perfected in Eve...

Previously Abbeyfield School wrote:

If God had wanted to save us, couldn't he have done that without sacrificing Jesus?

Thanks. Profound question. God does want to save us. I suppose he could have thought of another way, but the life, death and resurrection of Jesus reaches the parts other ways may not have reached. The saviour had to be fully human, since all parts of our humanity (mind, body, spirit, and community) needs saving. The saviour had to be fully God, because only God can save. He had to die, it seems to me, because death affects everyone. One out of one people die. And death is so powerful it could only be destroyed from the inside, not the outside. One way to see the resurrection is the massive explosion of life in the guts of 'Death' which destroys 'Death' for ever.