Jerusalem: A Biography

I'm reading this tremendous book by Simon Sebag-Montefiore at the moment; it's a 3000-year romp through the history of the world's most fought-over city, and it's wonderful. The problem is that there is just too much history to cover. Surely nowhere else on the planet can have experienced the multiple highs and lows, rebuildings and reinterpretations of Jerusalem? Although it is of central importance to Jews, Christians and Muslims, I do wonder how many of them, if they really knew its history, would retain their beliefs in their religion? Or would they realise that beliefs are unimportant vanities that only serve to keep people apart? And isn't it astonishing that the most impressive religions are not the ones with the most arcane theologies, but the ones that emphasise respect for each other above mere creeds and doctrines? Let's hope the next few years are happier for Jerusalem and the world than the last three millennia.

Atheistic Christianity in action, Dutch style

The Rev Klaas Hendrikse is a minister in the Dutch Protestant Church, and doesn't believe that God is a "thing" or a "being", but a word for human experience. While a lot of traditional believers will have some problems with this purely naturalistic view of Christianity, it strikes a major chord with the many Christians who have come to the realisation that God doesn't really exist in the sense we used to think.

Here is a BBC article on Rev Hendrikse and his church, while here is the Unitarian blogger @TimothyJMoore's take on the subject.

I suspect that there are many people within traditional "theist" congregations who share these views. Any thoughts?

The Authentic Gospel of Jesus

A book by Geza Vermes, author of "Jesus the Jew". JTJ was pretty good, but a little academic & heavy, I thought. I've downloaded AGJ and will see what I think, then post some of my thoughts here.
Anyone else read it? What do you think of the whole enterprise of reconstructing the historical Jesus?

Letter to God

There is something heartwarming in this story from the Daily Telegraph in which a six year-old girl, being brought up in a secular household, although attending a church-affiliated school. The children in the school were asked to write a letter to God, asking "How did you get invented?" The little girl, Lulu, showed this to her parents; her dad emailed it to a number of church leaders, getting either no response or a pile of theobabble, but, bless him, Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, sent this reply:

Dear Lulu,

Your dad has sent on your letter and asked if I have any answers. It’s a difficult one! But I think God might reply a bit like this –

‘Dear Lulu – Nobody invented me – but lots of people discovered me and were quite surprised. They discovered me when they looked round at the world and thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it came from. They discovered me when they were very very quiet on their own and felt a sort of peace and love they hadn’t expected.

Then they invented ideas about me – some of them sensible and some of them not very sensible. From time to time I sent them some hints – specially in the life of Jesus – to help them get closer to what I’m really like.

But there was nothing and nobody around before me to invent me. Rather like somebody who writes a story in a book, I started making up the story of the world and eventually invented human beings like you who could ask me awkward questions!’

And then he’d send you lots of love and sign off.

I know he doesn’t usually write letters, so I have to do the best I can on his behalf. Lots of love from me too.

+Archbishop Rowan

Now I know I don't believe that there is a god, and nor do I indoctrinate my children either way - they will find out for themselves, and I'll answer their questions as best I can when they ask them. But for Archbishop Williams to write such a lovely non-in-your-face gentle letter gets him piles of credit in my view. There is no dogmatism there. There is no attempt to stifle the child's wonder or curiosity. There is of course a general assumption that god exists, but I don't expect the Archbishop to come from any other position.

So, Archbishop, thanks for this beautiful response; to me it demonstrates the meaning of a Christianity that people can engage with and use, whether or not they believe there is anyone there to actually write that letter. And well done Lulu!

The Christian Humanist

I've been very quiet on here lately. Sometimes I think I may be beating my head against a bit of a brick wall with this Atheistic Christianity malarkey, and to some extent that may be true. However, it is nice to know that other people have been thinking along similar lines, so I would encourage anyone who does happen to stumble by this little waystation on the road of e-life to head over to http://christianhumanist.net and compare and contrast the offerings there with what you get here on the Church of Jesus Christ Atheist.

Have fun!

Anglican Atheism?

Interesting article from Nigel Farndale in the Telegraph back in March about being an Anglican Atheist. I don't know that I quite agree with everything he says there - much as I respect the Anglican tradition, and regard myself as an Atheistic Christian, all this pox about political correctness trying to stamp on Christians is really a load of old wet. Stop yapping, Archbishop! Grow some nuts. Whatever its history, the UK is a secular country, as it should be - you can't claim special privilege for one religion over another.

Where in the gospels is the verse: "Jesus whinged"? It's not there. Jesus NEVER yapped about feeling that his rights were being infringed; if we take an idealised version of the life of Jesus as a humanist hero (and let's set probable historical actualities gently to the side for a moment, because that's what we all do, theist or atheist), then Jesus stood up for people who were *really* being oppressed - the poor, the needy, the marginalised.

Yes, the wheels fell off the wagon pretty quickly after Jesus left the scene, but we have our model, and the scenes of whingeing archbishops and lamenting columnists are just a little bit embarrassing to those of us who like our Christianity real, meaningful and world-changing.

So, I delicately suggest, perhaps we should move away from this tedious moaning, and promote a Christianity that does not exclude people, be they Muslims, Jews, Atheists, Hindus, Pagans or whatever. The Christianity of Jesus was about the here and now - the Kingdom of God is a metaphor for the establishment of a caring and altruistic society where we all take responsibility to help each other out, whatever their circumstances. Stop whitewashing the sepulchres, people. When you're dead, you're dead. The Kingdom of God is NOW.

And as an Atheist, I have no problem in saying that.

Any comments?