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09 Mar, 2011 11:47 AM
Previously Canford wrote:
Could you explain why and how God is split into three parts?
Thanks. Not so much split, as united and not so much parts, as person. The teaching about God as Trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - develops out of the texts of the Bible because of the sheer impact of the figure of Jesus of Nazareth and his continuing energizing presence among his people through the Holy Spirit. Jesus claimed many things that only God does eg forgive sins, (Mark 2), judge people (Matthew 25) and receive worship (John 20). Yet, it was not God the Father who was crucified and Jesus did not pray to himself when he was in Palestine, but to his Father. Once early Christian thinkers had concluded that Jesus was fully divine as well as fully human, then the presence of the Holy Spirit was discussed and since worship in an early christian chorus was offered to the Holy Spirit too - the gloria - it was recognised that he also was divine. lots more on this in my Signs and Seasons book, last chapter...
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Ninth live discussion Wed 9 March 2011, Canford School, Wimborne, Dorset.
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09 Mar, 2011 11:49 AM
Previously Canford wrote:
How can you believe that there is a God? What helps people to believe - it is very difficult if we can't see God...
Thanks. By focusing on the extraordinary figure of Jesus of Nazareth. We can't see God, but people saw him and wrote about him. Reading the gospels and talking to friends who believe is really helpful - that's what happend to me.
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Ninth live discussion Wed 9 March 2011, Canford School, Wimborne, Dorset.
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09 Mar, 2011 11:36 AM
Previously Canford wrote:
Do you believe that Jesus will come back down to earth? and linked to that....why hasn't Jesus come back down to from earth from heaven after he had been brought back to life?
Thanks. I believe that God will bring the history of the universe to a climax one day - no idea when it will be - and that that will involve the coming again of Jesus Christ. The is a lot of wonderful imagery about that event in the bible. The whole universe will be receated then - new heavens and new earth is the imagery. Jesus has not yet returned because we are in the period of sharing God's good news with all people everywhere.
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Ninth live discussion Wed 9 March 2011, Canford School, Wimborne, Dorset.
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06 Mar, 2011 11:16 AM
I am greatly looking forward to following up discussions with sixth formers at Canford School, Wimborne, Dorset , later this week between 11.15 and 11.45am.
The 'Grilling' began when I visited the school and addressed the 6th Form on 28 January 2011, and now we have a chance to continue.
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Ninth live discussion Wed 9 March 2011, Canford School, Wimborne, Dorset.
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09 Mar, 2011 11:29 AM
Previously Canford wrote:
Why do no miracles happen now? lots of them happened ages ago but none now?
thanks. I think they do happen now eg I know of many people who believe that God has healed them through prayer. In the Bible, miracles tend to cluster around particular people, eg Moses, Elijah and Elisha and Jesus and Paul. New birth in Christ is a regular miracle that takes place all over the world.
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Ninth live discussion Wed 9 March 2011, Canford School, Wimborne, Dorset.
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Bishop Graham
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09 Mar, 2011 11:30 AM
Previously Canford wrote:
Do you ever loose faith in God?
Great question. Not since my faith came alive at Oxford. Before then, as a teenager, I didn't think God was particularly interested in me or even interested.
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Ninth live discussion Wed 9 March 2011, Canford School, Wimborne, Dorset.
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09 Mar, 2011 11:41 AM
Previously Canford wrote:
thank you so much for all your answers so far! Really good for discussion - there are lots happening here at the moment. Next question - if God is so amazing, why does he allow suffering?
Heaviest question ever! I really don't know. That's not a cop out, but I believe three things about this: God is loving; God is all powerful; and yet suffering - even innocent suffering exists. The only clues to point to are God's gift of free will to people - sometimes we suffer before of do not treat ourselves well - and the cross of Christ. Jesus was totally innocent, but got smashed up on the cross - so God does not sit on the edge of the universe and twiddle his thumbs but, in Christ, got involved so much in his own creation that he suffered too.
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Ninth live discussion Wed 9 March 2011, Canford School, Wimborne, Dorset.
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09 Mar, 2011 11:22 AM
Previously Canford wrote:
Previously Bishop Graham wrote:
Previously Canford wrote:
Good morning! We are in the classroom and ready to start when you are..!
Hi. Looking forward to your questions.
1. What did you do before you became involved in the church?
Thanks. I had a gap year in the army in tanks. Went up to Oxford to read Law. Came to faith in my second term. Changed to theology after my first year. Had a gap year as a caretaker at a church in London.
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Ninth live discussion Wed 9 March 2011, Canford School, Wimborne, Dorset.
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09 Feb, 2011 11:30 AM
Previously Sarum Academy wrote:
Do you feel that The TV show "The Vicar of Dibley" is an accurate reperesentation of a female vicar?
From Chris Mundy
Thanks, Chris. I love the vicar of dibley on TV, but prefer the earlier editions to the later ones, which I think went a bit wackey. They have done wonders for showing a woman priest is normal. I also liked the series 'Rev' on TV last year.
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Seventh live discussion Wed 9 Feb 2011, Sarum Academy, Salisbury, Wiltshire.
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09 Feb, 2011 11:22 AM
Previously Sarum Academy wrote:
Previously Bishop Graham wrote:
Previously Sarum Academy wrote:
Previously Bishop Graham wrote:
Previously Sarum Academy wrote:
Our opening question relates to our topic of the day, what are your views on nuclear weapons?
Thanks. The just war theory in Christian ethics stresses the importance of protecting civilians - so pattern bombing of cities in the second world war was questionable. Similarly, nuclear weapons don't distinguish between soldiers and civilians. Ecologically, they are disastrous. They can't be uninvented, but can be negotiated down in number.
In relation to this do you believe killing is acceptable if in war or a way of surviving?
Thanks. I believe that a policeman needs to use force sometimes to protect weak people eg an older woman being attacked, or a woman being raped. On the international scale, we need armies to protect the weak from aggression. Sometimes, sadly, this means that killing soldiers from an aggressive army is necessary. In self defence, killing may be acceptable, but depends on the context.
Thank you, back to nuclear weapons do you think it was gods intention for nuclear weapons to be created?
Thanks. God designed the universe with atoms and nuclei and the extraordinary power which are involved in them. They can be used for peaceful purposes, eg generating electricity - though even there, the ecological concerns need considering - or for war eg weapons. Humans have always extended their weaponry. Not everything that happens is desired by God.
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Seventh live discussion Wed 9 Feb 2011, Sarum Academy, Salisbury, Wiltshire.
