The Nativity Story

Check out this trailer for a new film 'The Nativity Story', the trailer looks really promising, and it may be a great outreach tool. It is apparently scheduled to come out in December, although I'm not sure if that is only the USA or here in Britain. The official website is http://www.thenativitystory.com

Did Jesus really rise from the dead - my response to anonymous

On Saturday 30 September, I wrote a blog entitled 'Did Jesus really rise from the dead?' (you can find it under Questions of Belief). Yesterday I received the following email from someone who had read this blog. I originally intended not to publish the comments of this email, but I've decided that I would like an opportunity to respond to what is written.

The comment was submitted by 'Anonymous'.

Is this meant to be proof???? You obviously have never experienced an hallucination. Perhaps you should come out from your secure little ivory tower and talk to some people who have. I have. I know what I'm talking about. And you have no idea. I used to 'believe' and had 'experiences' to back it up. Then I took anti-psychotics for my depressive illness. Not only did they get rid of the hallucinations, they got rid of the 'godly' experiences too. Know that feeling that god is near? That 'feeling the need to pray'? It's all in your head. It's all psychological. That's why the anti-psychotics make it go away. Wake up! Religious experience is all in the head. Bury yours in the sand if you have to, but get off the internet and stop feeding the religious frenzy that will eventually lead to fanatics blowing up the planet. Religious faith is a mental anomaly, nothing more. Don't believe me? Ask your doc for trifluoperazine. Then wake up!

My response to anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for the comments you've submitted to my blog. One of the purposes of creating this blog was to create dialogue, and challenge people to think about issues of faith. When I first received your comments I decided that I was not going to publish them, because I felt that the tone of what you wrote was quite hostile and that you made the attack quite personal, but on reflection I want the opportunity to respond to what you had written. We may not agree with one another, but I do hope we can show one another mutual respect and understanding. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I do feel that it is important that we have the courage to stand up for what we believe in, and I would have appreciated it if you had been prepared to put you real name beside your comments.

I'm sorry if you have had a bad experience with the Christian faith, and feel as though God has let you down, but I can honestly say that from my own experience I know that God is real, and that he does make a difference to people's lives. You seem some how to think that because I believe in God, that I live in an ivory tower, some how escaping from reality. But I don't believe that this is the case, I live in the real world, I face the same challenges and struggles that everyone else does, it is just that I am a Christian, and this effects the way I look at life.

You express a concern about religious frenzy which will lead to fanatics blowing up the planet. I agree with you that some terrible things have been done in the name of religion, but you seem to think that all religion is a bad thing, but it is not. Yes there are problems in the world, and sadly there will always be some people who want to hijack religion to serve their own goals, but so much good is also done by people of religious conviction. So much good work on both a local, national and international level is being done by Christian individuals and organisations, working to build a better world for all people. For example, tackling poverty and injustice, bringing aid and relief to those most in need, helping support some of the world's most vulnerable people.

I am not entirely sure how you think this blog is going to encourage religious frenzy, but if it leads someone closer to experiencing God's love and forgiveness, then that makes me really joyful. When people become Christians, the Holy Spirit comes to live within them, and the Holy Spirit helps us to become more Christ like in our attitudes. This doesn't happen over night, but slowly the fruits of the Spirit (as they are called in the New Testament) start to grow in our lives. Paul describes these fruits as ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Galatians 5:22-23). These are not bad things, in fact I think most people would admit that to see more love, more peace, more kindness in the world is a good thing. If this is the sort of religious frenzy that this blog will encourages, then I'd say bring it on! Jesus also said that the two great commands are that we love God and love our neighbour (in that order). If more people did this, then I believe it would utterly transform the world we live in.

I get the impression that you have struggled with some form of mental illness (depression or something similar?), and that experiences you once felt were from God, you now know were not God. Since I don't know exactly what it is that you experienced, I feel I am unable to comment about that. However, I do believe it is possible to experience God, to experience his peace and joy and his healing, and I don't believe that it is all psychological, or as you say 'all in the head'. You describe religious faith is a mental anomaly, but the reality is that at least one quater of the world's population is Christian, and on top of that we have the other religions, so that is a lot of people to describe as having a mental anomaly!

If you have questions you want to ask, or to debate these points I'd be very happy to, although I would ask that we respect one another's positions, even if we don't agree with one another.

Best wishes

Simon

Alpha Course: Exploring the meaning of life

At St Martin's we run the popular Alpha Course (http://www.alpha.org/), a ten week course that looks at the claims of the Christian faith in a fun, friendly and informal way. This is the second course that we've run since I've been in Walsall, and last night was the second session of the course. Last night's topic was 'Why did Jesus die'. It's such a privilege to be able to explore with other people issues relating to God and the Christian faith. In total we have fourteen people on our current course (this includes group leaders), and we vary in age from a teenager up to people in their sixties. The evening begins with a meal, followed by a presentation and then an opportunity to divide into groups to discuss the topic of the night. The great thing about Alpha is that it gives permission for people to discuss the big questions in life, in a safe and non judgemental environment. We're all on a journey with God, a lot of people on the course are searching for answers, looking for God, others have been Christians for some time and are using the course as a refresher, looking again at the essentials of the Christian faith.

At St Martin's we tend to vary the presentation week by week, so some weeks I do the talk, using clips from films when appropriate, and other weeks we use the Alpha DVD which contains the talks given by Nicky Gumble.

I've been on quite a number of Alpha Courses over the years, but what I find is that each one is different, and I always come away feeling as though I've learnt something new. It's a wonderful privilege.

There is a link to the main Alpha website on this blog as as through our church website (http://www.walsallstmartins.2day.ws/), if you're looking for answers, and exploring the meaning of life, I'd recommend you give Alpha a go.

Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

The following article is taken from part of the first session of the Alpha Course (www.alpha.org) entitled 'Who is Jesus', which is based on Nicky Gumbel's book 'Questions of Life'.

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The physical resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of Christianity. But what is the evidence that it really happened? I want to summarise the evidence under four main headings.

1. His absence from the tomb

Many theories have been put forward to explain the fact that Jesus’ body was absent from the tomb on the first Easter Day, but none of them is very convincing.

First, it has been suggested that Jesus did not die on the cross. It has been claimed that Jesus was still alive when he was taken from the cross and that he later recovered.

Jesus had undergone a Roman flogging, under which many died. He had been nailed to a cross for six hours. Could a man in this condition push away a stone weighing probably a ton and a half? The soldiers were clearly convinced that he was dead or they would not have taken his body down. If they had allowed a prisoner to escape, they would have been liable to the death penalty.

Furthermore, when the soldiers discovered that Jesus was already dead, ‘one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water’ (John 19:34). This appears to be the separation of clot and serum which we know today is strong medical evidence that Jesus was dead. John did not write it for that reason; he would not have possessed that knowledge, which makes it even more powerful evidence that Jesus was indeed dead.

Secondly, it has been argued that the disciples stole the body. Some have suggested that the disciples stole the body and began a rumour that Jesus had risen from the dead. Leaving aside the fact that the tomb was guarded, this theory is psychologically improbable. The disciples were depressed and disillusioned at the time of Jesus’ death. It would have needed something extraordinary to transform the apostle Peter into the man who preached at Pentecost when 3,000 people were converted.

In addition, when one considers how much they had to suffer for what they believed (floggings, torture, and for some even death), it seems inconceivable that they would be prepared to endure all that for something they knew to be untrue.

Thirdly, some have said that the authorities stole the body. This seems the least probable theory of all. If the authorities had stolen the body, why did they not produce it when they were trying to quash the rumour that Jesus had risen from the dead?

2. His appearances to the disciples

Were these hallucinations? The Concise Oxford Dictionary describes a hallucination as an ‘apparent perception of an external object not actually present’. Hallucinations normally occur in highly strung, highly imaginative and very nervous people, or in people who are sick or on drugs. The disciples do not fit into any of these categories. Burly fishermen, tax collectors and sceptics like Thomas are unlikely to hallucinate. People who hallucinate would be unlikely suddenly to stop doing so. Jesus appeared to his disciples on eleven different occasions over a period of six weeks. The number of occasions and the sudden cessation make the hallucination theory highly improbable.

Furthermore, over 500 people saw the risen Jesus. It is possible for one person to hallucinate. Maybe it is possible for two or three people to share the same hallucination. But is it likely that 500 people would all share the same hallucination?

Finally, hallucinations are subjective. There is no objective reality – it is like seeing a ghost. Jesus could be touched, he ate a piece of broiled fish (Luke 24:42-43) and on one occasion he cooked breakfast for the disciples (John 21:1-14). Peter says, ‘[They] ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead’ (Acts 10:41). He held long conversations with them, teaching them many things about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).

3. The immediate effect

The fact of Jesus rising from the dead, as one would expect, had a dramatic impact on the world. The church was born and grew at a tremendous rate. As Michael Green, writer of many popular and scholarly works, puts it:

[The] church . . .grew… because Christians were able to say to inquirers: ‘Jesus did not only die for you. He is alive! You can meet him and discover for yourself the reality we are talking about!’ They did, and joined the church and the church, born from that Easter grave, spread everywhere. 18

4. Christian experience

Countless millions of people down the ages have experienced the risen Jesus Christ. They consist of people of every colour, race, tribe, continent and nationality. They come from different economic, social and intellectual backgrounds. Yet they all unite in a common experience of the risen Jesus Christ.

Millions of Christians all over the world today are experiencing a relationship with the risen Jesus Christ. I too have found in my experience that Jesus Christ is alive today. I have experienced his love, his power and the reality of a relationship which convinces me that he really is alive.

The evidence that Jesus rose from the dead is very extensive. A former Chief Justice of England, Lord Darling, said, ‘In its favour as living truth there exists such overwhelming evidence, positive and negative, factual and circumstantial, that no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that the resurrection story is true.’

Tough Questions

One of the reasons for setting up this blog, was to give people an opportunity to explore questions relating to faith and belief. To deal with those tough questions that we all consider at one time or another. For example, does God allow suffering? What happens when we die? What about other religions? Does God answer prayer? I hope over time, to address some of these questions, but what I’d like most is to here from you, and find out what your questions are, what issues do you struggle with. I’m not claiming to have the answers (no one can claim that), but I hope that through dialogue we can explore together these issues. So please get in touch by leaving a comment on this block.