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12 Jan, 2011 12:01 PM
Previously St Edwards Poole wrote:
In the eyes of God murder is seen as wrong. So in a situation on a plane where a terrorist has taken over and you have the opertunity to kill him to save the people on the plane, would you do it knowing that murder is wrong but at the same time saving hundreds of lives?
Connor
Thanks, Connor. Bonhoeffer, a German theologian under the Nazi regime, faced a similar situation. He decided in the end be part of in some with in the plot against Hitler with a bomb under the table. It went off but the table leg saved Hitler. Bonhoeffer, one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century was arrested and spent time in prison where he reflected deeply on your very question, but then was hanged a few weeks before the end of the war.
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Third Live Discussion Wed 12 Jan 2011, 11.30-12.00: St Edward's RC and C of E School, Poole
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19 Jan, 2011 07:44 AM
Previously St Edwards Poole wrote:
Why, out of all the different strand of chirstanity, did you chose to become an anglican? Where you baptised into the religion as child or joined later in life?
Thanks. I was baptised in an Anglican church in Barkingside - Holy Trinity. My parents sent me to Sunday School and in Chigwell, Essex, where we then lived, St Mary's Parish Church was the only church in the village. Later I sang in the choir there till about 12. Then I drifted and a personal faith in Christ came alive in my second term at Oxford. My christian friends who helped me to faith attended St Aldates Church in Oxford, so I went with them. The chapel in Hertford College became a nourishing home too. So I suppose, I was baptised an Anglican and then because the Church of England was the one around so much and was the livliest in Oxford, I went there. Soon after my faith came alive I came to realise that the Church of England was a warm and expansive church in which to grow and stayed an Anglican by theological conviction. There is a good book, edited by Caroline Chartres, 'Why I am still an Anglican' .
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Third Live Discussion Wed 12 Jan 2011, 11.30-12.00: St Edward's RC and C of E School, Poole
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12 Jan, 2011 11:36 AM
Previously St Edwards Poole wrote:
Hello did you ever want to have children??
thanks. We have three grown up daughters.
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Third Live Discussion Wed 12 Jan 2011, 11.30-12.00: St Edward's RC and C of E School, Poole
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12 Jan, 2011 11:59 AM
Previously St Edwards Poole wrote:
If god is all benevolent and has mapped out our lives why did he place people such as hitler and extremists on the earth?
THanks. He did't 'place them on the earth' he created them with free will and they developed into evil extremists. He countered through nations and people. Although lots of things went wrong in the second world war, Hitler was defeated and people were liberated.
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Third Live Discussion Wed 12 Jan 2011, 11.30-12.00: St Edward's RC and C of E School, Poole
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Sixth live discussion Wed 2 Feb 2011, Sherborne Girls School, Sherborne , Dorset
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Bishop Graham
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02 Feb, 2011 04:26 PM
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02 Feb, 2011 01:31 PM
Previously Sherborne Girls School wrote:
What are your views on Embryo Research? Can it be justified as one of Aquinas' five principles to life are to preserve life so can't we count this as trying to preserve life for others in future generations?
Thanks. We had a power cut in the Sherborne Area office and we lost our wifi, so apologies for the delay in replying. Now en route to a meeting in Lyme Regis and have just finished lunch in The Martyrs Inn, Tollpuddle.
Embroyo research is delicate and complex. We need to have detailed research to combat disease, but serious questions are being asked about the propriety of it, bearing in mind the death of the embryo. The question involves asking when does a human being become a human being - at conception, in which case, an embryo is human, or later? I take the view that conception is the key moment, so still have serious questions about embryo research.
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Sixth live discussion Wed 2 Feb 2011, Sherborne Girls School, Sherborne , Dorset
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02 Feb, 2011 01:54 PM
Previously Sherborne Girls School wrote:
Do you believe the Anglican Church position on homosexual priests is right?
Thanks.
I personally think the Bishops Guidelines in the Church of England, 'Issues in Human Sexuality', form a good and balanced reference point. These state that those who are gay in their sexual orientation and wish to be vicars are welcome to be vicars but should be celibate. They do not say the same about lay people in the church ie that they have to be celibate. In all professions, leaders are held to be more accountable than others: judges and police have to have a higher standard of law keeping than others; teachers have to have a higher standard of behaviour with young people than others; similarly acccountants concerning financial integrity. So, the above distinction between vicars and lay people seems to make sense to me. It is also worth looking at Paul's First Letter to Timothy chapter 3, where he says leaders should be the husband of one wife ie there were clearly people with more than one wife in the congregation, but those could not be leaders.
Oliver O'Donovan has written a fine book, 'A Conversation Waiting to Begin: The Churches and the Gay Controversy' (SCM Press, 2009)
http://www.scmpress.co.uk/bookdetails.asp?ISBN=9780334042105
This is a book of his online essays which may be seen here
http://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/page.cfm?ID=130
A huge subject. Hope this helps.
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Sixth live discussion Wed 2 Feb 2011, Sherborne Girls School, Sherborne , Dorset
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02 Feb, 2011 01:44 PM
Previously Sherborne Girls School wrote:
There are lots of contrasting ideas in the bible, so how do we know what to believe and is it wrong tohave doubts about certain things?
Thanks. Having doubts is not wrong, and part of asking questions. Things develop in the Bible, so early on there is the belief in many gods but Yahweh, the name of God revealed to Moses is the God for those who escape from Egypt and he is the same God as 'El' the name of God revealed to Abraham - see Exodus 6:3. Later, through the prophet who wrote Isaiah chapter 40-55 in exile in Babylon, the Jews see that actually no other gods exist at all. Yahweh is not one God among many, but the only God. So, in reading the Bible, you need to see what the period is, and what sort of literature that passage is. It is not good to read poetry as prose, nor 'story' as history.
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Sixth live discussion Wed 2 Feb 2011, Sherborne Girls School, Sherborne , Dorset
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02 Feb, 2011 01:57 PM
Previously Sherborne Girls School wrote:
Do you believe the clearance of rainsforests is an ethical issue?
Thanks. Yes, I do. ethical and very serious. I lived in Kenya in the foothills of Mount Kenya for 7 years and Bishop David Gitari campaigned quite rightly against rich people devastating the forests for private gain. The rainforests are the lungs of God's world and need preserving for us to breathe.
Just off now to Lyme Regis. More later this evening. Many thanks for these deep questions.
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Sixth live discussion Wed 2 Feb 2011, Sherborne Girls School, Sherborne , Dorset
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02 Feb, 2011 01:47 PM
Previously Sherborne Girls School wrote:
to be a good christian means giving up everything and relying on gods help. is this right?
Thanks. Some things may need giving up, but also some things - like having an interest in the poor of the world - need taking up. We do need to rely on God, but his Holy Spirit within us inspires us to behave in ways which reflect the character of Jesus of Nazareth. God works through us.
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Sixth live discussion Wed 2 Feb 2011, Sherborne Girls School, Sherborne , Dorset
