A Nazareth Manifesto

'At the interface of critical academic reflection and faithful church theology, we have no better voice than that of Sam Wells. He invites us to rethink, from the ground up, our abiding temptation to condescending “help and service” to others. He compellingly renders a more excellent way toward the transformative “with.”' Walter Brueggemann

Last Friday I was at the launch of Sam's latest book, A Nazareth Manifesto, which is an eloquent and impassioned ecumenical proposal for re-envisioning Christianity’s approach to social engagement away from working “for” the people to being “with” them. The book questions the effectiveness of the current trend of intervention as a means of fixing the problems of people in distressed and disadvantaged circumstances. Sam argues that Jesus spent 90% of his life simply being among the people of Nazareth, sharing their hopes and struggles, therefore Christians should place a similar emphasis on being alongside people in need rather than hastening to impose solutions.

This is a particularly significant book because Sam maintains 'that the word with is the most important word in theology.' The book 'is an enquiry into whether with is the pervading theme that runs through Trinity, creation, incarnation, atonement, the sending of the Spirit, ecclesiology, and eschatology.' Additionally, Sam argues that the human project in the West has been to secure life against limitation in general and mortality in particular, but that such efforts have only deepened the true predicament, which is isolation.' 

A Nazareth Manifesto comes out of Sam's experience of trying to lead influential institutions in ways that bring about empowering and dignifying relationships with people experiencing social disadvantage.

Jean Vanier said in his Templeton Prize acceptance remarks: 'A Nazareth Manifesto reveals that Jesus came to teach us, not just to do things for people who are homeless, but to be with them. Yes, that is the real secret of the church, and the secret of our communities, and hopefully one day it will be the secret of all humanity, to be with.


To be with is to live side by side, it is enter into mutual relationships of friendship and concern. It is to laugh and to cry together, it is to mutually transform each other. Each person becomes a gift for the other, revealing to each other that we are all part of a huge and wonderful family, the family of God.'

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Sydney Carter - I Come Like A Beggar.

In recognition of the beauty and the value of people with intellectual disabilities

Jean Vanier began his remarks at tonight's Templeton Prize ceremony in St Martin-in-the-Fields by saying:

"Thank you for this magnificent award that you have given in recognition of the beauty and the value of people with intellectual disabilities. This beauty has been revealed as we have lived together in L’Arche and accompanied each other in Faith and Light. People with intellectual disabilities are the ones who are the heart of our communities, they are the ones who have revealed to so many people - families, assistants and friends - their human and spiritual gifts, and they are the ones who have inspired the fruitful growth of Faith and Light and L’Arche throughout the world. It is to them this prize will be given, so that many more people with intellectual disabilities throughout the world may grow in greater inner freedom, discover their fundamental value as human beings and children of God. They in turn will be able to help many so-called “normal” people, imprisoned by our cultures orientated towards power, winning, and individual success, to discover what it means to be human."

His remarks can be read in full by clicking here, while the ceremony, including St Martin's Voices and a L'Arche performance and song, can be viewed by clicking here (from 19th May).

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Sydney Carter - I Come Like A Beggar.

Responses to the Templeton Prize award

Here are two responses from today's Times to the decision to award this year's Templeton Prize to Lord Rees:

"Martin Rees is a brilliant astrophysicist and a personal friend, but I believe he has made a mistake in accepting £1 million from the Templeton Foundation. In doing so, he supports its primary aim, which is to undermine the most precious tenet of science: that it is the only philosophical construct we have to determine truth with any reliability. The Templeton Prize has been set deliberately at a higher value than the Nobel Prize in a pathetic attempt, using enormous amounts of money as their lure, to bask in the reflected lustre of the most prestigious of science awards." Sir Harry Kroto

"Lewis Wolpert, Emeritus Professor of Biology at University College London and vice-president of the British Humanist Association, said that Lord Rees was justified in accepting the prize. "I think religion helps a lot of people, and as long as it doesn't interfere with science I don't mind. My son became religious and it did him some deal of good. Martin works so hard and does so much for science that any prize is well deserved."

I leave it to you to judge which response is the more reasoned and reasonable.

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Radiohead - Everything In Its Right Place. 

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn RIP

The biography of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn included on the Templeton Prize website gives a helpful indication of the significance of the novelist who died today:

"A living symbol of freedom of thought and conscience, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's struggle for open expression makes him one of the world's most respected men. Under the repressive Soviet regimes, he held on to his beliefs and shared his worldview through his powerful writings and devastating critiques of the Soviet Union. His work renewed vitality in the Orthodox tradition of spirituality and evidenced profound Christian faith, expressing a spiritual dimension long neglected by most novelists, and delivering a message of the unique and indestructible quality of the soul."

In an interview which can be found by clicking here, Solzhenitsyn commented that he was unafraid of death, said that faith was the foundation and support of his life and discussed the place of the Orthodox Church in Russia. A BBC obituary can be found here.

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Henyrk Górecki - Symphony No. 3