MY OLD sparring partner on biblical literalism, Roger Marshall, sporting his new Donald Trump endorsed gloves, has once again entered the ring – this time with the “goodly” Anglican Bishop of Barbados, Dr John Holder (NATION, letters, February 4).
Marshall’s best punch is merely the suggestion that Dr Holder is not a sufficiently “serious-minded Christian” on the issue of eternal salvation; this since the latter seems to suggest that different faiths have, for them, compelling roads to travel in search of God which we should acknowledge and respect.
Well, I think that’s the essence of what Bishop Holder was saying. Yet for Marshall there’s only one “way” and it’s Jesus’ way – all or nothing – and if we don’t follow it to the exclusion of everything else we become no-hopers.
Let me say, first, that really all we do have in our spirit-filled religious life is some sort of “way”, no matter our faith. It’s the way of the pilgrim. On our journey we can never be sure where our road will lead and what it will all look like if we ever get where we think we’re going.
Secondly, for someone who knows anything about comparative religion, it’s self-evident that many of the teachings of Jesus my Master are shared by the great religious faiths and philosophies of the world – love of God and neighbour, solicitude for the poor, the precepts of the Beatitudes and so on. And that’s why Jesus is not just a carpenter’s son from Nazareth but the Cosmic Christ. Marshall makes him very small by comparison.
Thirdly, it’s also self-evident that we can learn much from the holy men of other faiths, as Christian writers like Thomas Merton, Bede Griffiths and Tony de Mello have amply demonstrated. Even the imaginative tales of Mulla Nasruddin may lend a sense of chiaroscuro to our journey; and if we’re very lucky maybe we’ll hear the sound of one hand clapping.
Fourth, let me say that though there may be more than one view on the issue of Dr Holder’s “seriousness”, I really must ask Marshall to explore this concept of “Christian seriousness” in greater depth. For example, would he regard himself as a “serious Christian” and, if so, why – and what consequences will follow for him from this elevated status if he has it? What of the rest of us, doing our incompetent best, if we can’t match him?
You see, Marshall, to be very candid, with or without your Trump gloves on you do rather come over as a Pharisee in your thinking – well, a lot of people do – for whom everything must be by the book, by law, not spirit; and your knowledge of the biblical texts pays scant regard to the meaning, purpose, context and time-line of the passages you quote.
But once again, to stick my chin out for you because you keep fudging my challenge and not least because we go back a long way – do you really believe that gay people should die because the Holy Book says so? If “yes”, should it be from a high building, by stoning or lethal injection? If “no”, why not?
– FATHER CLIFFORD HALL
