This will be the last of my letters for the website and parish magazine. Generally speaking, I have tried to do two things through my writing.   Because we live in a changing and complex world I think that it is important that we do not put our heads in the sand and hope that if we ignore the difficult issues that confront us they will go away. We must, of course, confront them and for this reason I have, firstly, endeavoured to reflect on topical subjects – more often than not through a Christian perspective, but sometimes not so. Additionally, as parish priest I have a responsibility and vocation to help parishioners on their journey of faith, wherever that may take them. So, secondly, I have concentrated on encouraging readers to explore topics to do with their faith so that it can become relevant and supportive in our present day world. I have been heartened by the responses I have received and these have come from both those outside as well as inside our church.

However, I could not leave without making some comment on the recent pronouncements of Stephen Hawking who, like Laplace nearly 250 years earlier, has concluded there is no place for God in this world. He clearly feels that if he can solve the problem about how creation was started and also produce a theory of everything, he will know everything that is to be known including the non-existence of God. There is little wrong with his science although he does not publicise that many of his pronouncements are based rather more on conjecture than experimental evidence. But, importantly, he does not understand that the God whom we believe in is not confined to one moment of creation but is a God who is continuously creating and relating to us. Physics does not and cannot help here – and that is the area of weakness in his conclusions.
In contrast, Russell Stannard, a Church of England
Reader and Emeritus Professor of Physics at the
Open University, has just published an interesting
book entitled The End of Discovery in which
he challenges Stephen Hawking’s ultimate goal of
knowing everything and, by implication, denying
God. These debates will no doubt continue apace
for a long time!

All this science is a long way from the mythical
story of creation we find in the Bible. Much of my
teaching and writing has pleaded for us to treat the
Bible as it is and be realistic, in the light of modern scholarship, in how we interpret it. Studied in this way we will find the Bible both stimulating and worthwhile. Stephen Hawking and other scientists do not pose a threat to this biblical understanding nor to the Christian faith – the two areas of science and theology mainly address different domains of discourse.   However, the biggest threat seems to me to come from those who seek to impose a literal reading of the text of the Bible, a relatively modern fad, which is exemplified by Scripture Union and the Alpha course. Frank Field, the Labour MP, has been asked by two prime ministers to think the unthinkable. His responses to this injunction have been challenging and uncomfortable for government and we await any practical outcomes.   However, I would like to encourage you to think the unthinkable in terms of your journey of faith, and I am sure that it will lead you in a rewarding exploration of ideas.

Michael Semple
October 2010

From the Rector

Bible
Page

A Bible verse each day on our

Our

Pages

Daily Prayer

(updated daily from
The Church of England)

Prayers
for this Week
(updated weekly)

A current

Prayer Focus

Prayer
Point