“The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed.”
These lines from ‘God’s Grandeur’ reveal the poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, to be a late Victorian confident of the argument from design placing him very much in the mainstream of the Christian tradition. This argument, that the beauty and intricacy of the natural world (including that of humanity) must derive from an Intelligent Designer, can be found in both the Old and New Testaments and in Christian thought from Augustine to William Paley (an Anglican priest and older contemporary of Hopkins). Additionally, the same argument can also be found in the Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle who were both significant influences on the development of Christian theology.
Thomas Aquinas, who drew heavily on Aristotle’s thought, developed, in the Five Ways, a series of natural arguments for the existence of God. The Five Ways began to be questioned in the seventeenth century following the development of the science of mechanics. This did not destroy the argument from design but did lead to its development being primarily by scientists rather than theologians (and thereby entwined with the belief that science provided objective knowledge of the world) and to differences in where its supporters chose to look for evidence of design.
Hopkins was, however, unusual in the late Victorian era in the confidence with which he held to the argument from design. More typical of late Victorian opinion was Alfred Tennyson when he wrote of “life as futile, then, as frail” because Man, who had “… trusted God was love indeed/And love Creation’s final law”, had now discovered that “Nature, red in tooth and claw/With ravine, shriek’d against his creed” and left him to “Be blown about the desert dust,/Or seal’d within the iron hills”.
As the archeological references in Tennyson’s poem show, the most significant threat to the argument from design came from the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859. Darwin’s hypothesis was that organisms and creatures evolved through a process by which random mutations that improved the chances of survival for an organism/creature were naturally selected as they enabled survival in preference to other weaker organisms/creatures.
For many, Darwin’s hypothesis was taken, over time and with developments, as objective proof that purposefulness in nature could be explained without there being a need to invoke a creator. This belief was also supported by David Hume’s earlier philosophical critique of the design argument in Dialogues concerning Natural Religion.
Dialogues had been posthumously published in 1779 but its arguments were not taken up on a significant scale until the following century. Hume argued that the design argument was based on an analogy between the world and the mind of God that had no rational basis. It was just as easy, perhaps easier, Hume argued to suggest from the way in which the world was formed that there were many gods or no gods and, therefore, he concluded that there was no reasonable basis on which we could “draw any conclusion about the origin of the world from the way we find it”. The combination of Darwin and Hume appeared to sound the death knell to the argument from design.
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Bob Dylan - Watching The River Flow.
Friday, 11 July 2008
Good news in by-elections
Good news in that the BNP failed to gain a seat in the Cranbrook ward by-election in Redbridge yesterday. Polling 37 votes they were kept in last place behind all the three main parties contesting the election. Unite Against Fascism activists turned out to leaflet the ward against the BNP threat in the run up to the polls.
The results were as follows:
Matthew Chaudhary - Conservative PartyVotes cast: 1625 - Elected ( 59.98%)
Barbara White - Labour PartyVotes cast: 729 ( 26.91%)
Helen Angela Duffett - Liberal Democrats PartyVotes cast: 318 (11.74%)
Anthony Young - British National Party Votes cast: 37 (1.36%)
The turnout for the by-election was 30.5%.
In further news from the by-elections (Campaign news from www.stopthebnp.com), the leader of Barking and Dagenham's BNP group has made a new outburst, this time against one of the borough's most respected clergymen. Cllr Bob Bailey called Rev Roger Gayler, vicar of St Mark's, Rose Lane, Marks Gate, a fascist for getting involved in politics.
Mr Gayler took the unusual step of having 2,000 anti-BNP leaflets printed ahead of Thursday's council by-election in Chadwell Heath. Cllr Bailey - who last month warned Barking College principal Ted Parker against hosting anti-racism events and before May's London Assembly elections, launched a tirade of abuse at Recorder staff - argued with the vicar three days before the by-election.
Mr Gayler, who received Barking and Dagenham's highest distinction, the Freedom of the Borough, last year, told the Recorder: "He said this is against the democratic process." I said, 'No, this is about the democratic process - we're all free to express our opinion'. Then he called me a fascist and threw the leaflet. "I find it rather amazing he called me a fascist. I thought it was interesting. It shows, as far as I'm concerned, the man was rattled and what we were doing was reasonably effective." Cllr Bailey said he had had a conversation with Mr Gayler on his doorstep and did not deny he had referred to him as "a fascist".
He told the Recorder: "He shouldn't interfere with politics. He should concentrate on what his church is there for, which is ministering to his people. There are enough people that need help, without delving into politics.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Trouble In Mind.
The results were as follows:
Matthew Chaudhary - Conservative PartyVotes cast: 1625 - Elected ( 59.98%)
Barbara White - Labour PartyVotes cast: 729 ( 26.91%)
Helen Angela Duffett - Liberal Democrats PartyVotes cast: 318 (11.74%)
Anthony Young - British National Party Votes cast: 37 (1.36%)
The turnout for the by-election was 30.5%.
In further news from the by-elections (Campaign news from www.stopthebnp.com), the leader of Barking and Dagenham's BNP group has made a new outburst, this time against one of the borough's most respected clergymen. Cllr Bob Bailey called Rev Roger Gayler, vicar of St Mark's, Rose Lane, Marks Gate, a fascist for getting involved in politics.
Mr Gayler took the unusual step of having 2,000 anti-BNP leaflets printed ahead of Thursday's council by-election in Chadwell Heath. Cllr Bailey - who last month warned Barking College principal Ted Parker against hosting anti-racism events and before May's London Assembly elections, launched a tirade of abuse at Recorder staff - argued with the vicar three days before the by-election.
Mr Gayler, who received Barking and Dagenham's highest distinction, the Freedom of the Borough, last year, told the Recorder: "He said this is against the democratic process." I said, 'No, this is about the democratic process - we're all free to express our opinion'. Then he called me a fascist and threw the leaflet. "I find it rather amazing he called me a fascist. I thought it was interesting. It shows, as far as I'm concerned, the man was rattled and what we were doing was reasonably effective." Cllr Bailey said he had had a conversation with Mr Gayler on his doorstep and did not deny he had referred to him as "a fascist".
He told the Recorder: "He shouldn't interfere with politics. He should concentrate on what his church is there for, which is ministering to his people. There are enough people that need help, without delving into politics.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Trouble In Mind.
FaithAction's TaskForce
Last week saw the first meeting of FaithAction’s TaskForce, a group drawn together from policy makers and practitioners around Public Service delivery to discuss policy issues, presenting solutions to Government.
Daniel Singleton, the National Executive Director of FaithAction, reports on the success of the TaskForce: “This TaskForce will help FaithAction channel, magnify and increase the voice of faith based and faith inspired organisations. It also gives us the opportunity to look at good practice examples in the areas that we represent. It will provide an opportunity to discuss and identify opportunities and provide future direction as FaithAction develops.”
“The TaskForce included representatives from LifeLine, Faith works, Faith Regen, The Metropolitan police, the Charity Commission and the Peace Alliance as well as the Communities for Local Government department. The TaskForce discussed how, as Third Sector organisations, we can use our unique position in the public sector delivery to prevent extremism and promote social cohesion.”
The TaskForce is preparing a report to government on behalf of FaithAction members. For more information please contact Felicity Holland, National Co-ordinator of FaithAction on 0845 094 6350.
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Tracy Chapman - New Beginning.
Daniel Singleton, the National Executive Director of FaithAction, reports on the success of the TaskForce: “This TaskForce will help FaithAction channel, magnify and increase the voice of faith based and faith inspired organisations. It also gives us the opportunity to look at good practice examples in the areas that we represent. It will provide an opportunity to discuss and identify opportunities and provide future direction as FaithAction develops.”
“The TaskForce included representatives from LifeLine, Faith works, Faith Regen, The Metropolitan police, the Charity Commission and the Peace Alliance as well as the Communities for Local Government department. The TaskForce discussed how, as Third Sector organisations, we can use our unique position in the public sector delivery to prevent extremism and promote social cohesion.”
The TaskForce is preparing a report to government on behalf of FaithAction members. For more information please contact Felicity Holland, National Co-ordinator of FaithAction on 0845 094 6350.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tracy Chapman - New Beginning.
Tearfund's take on the G8
What do you get when you mix 21,000 police officers, 4,000 journalists and eight very influential world leaders? As the 2008 G8 summit draws to a close, the world has been waiting to find out.
With an agenda that included Zimbabwe, the food crisis, climate change, water and sanitation and HIV, it is safe to assume that small talk didn't feature highly at this year's G8 summit.
Did it live up to expectations? Find out by reading Tearfund's take on the summit. Or if you want more detail, have a look at their in depth analysis of the summit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mulatu Astatke - Asmarina (My Asmara).
With an agenda that included Zimbabwe, the food crisis, climate change, water and sanitation and HIV, it is safe to assume that small talk didn't feature highly at this year's G8 summit.
Did it live up to expectations? Find out by reading Tearfund's take on the summit. Or if you want more detail, have a look at their in depth analysis of the summit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mulatu Astatke - Asmarina (My Asmara).
Stories from The Reporter
Please click here to read the latest news about slavery worldwide. This quarter The Reporter, the magazine of anti-slavery, has the following news items:
- Historic slavery case launched against the Government of Niger
- Employers face charges in Immokalee
- Tesco accused of using forced labour in Malaysia
- Florida apologises for slavery
- Sex workers trafficked to Sheffield
- Anti-Slavery International's Director, Aidan McQuade, reports on child labour in the cocoa farms in West Africa
- An interview with Meena Varma, Director of Dalit Solidarity Network UK on the discrimination which continues to affect hundreds of millions of Dalit people worldwide.
You can subscribe to the Reporter online to receive the full magazine.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jackson Browne - Lives In the Balance.
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Art & Imagery - Three Faiths Forum
I'll be speaking on Christian Art at the next meeting of the East London Three Faiths Forum. The meeting topic is Art and Imagery: Thou shalt make no graven images. We will be discussing the prohibition of images in Judaism and Islam and the absence of this prohibition in Christianity.
Light refreshments will be provided, plus the friendship for which the East London Three Faiths Forum is becoming famous. The meeting will be held at South Woodford Mosque on Thursday 17th July at 8.00pm. South Woodford Mosque is found within a stone-throw from South Woodford Station, on the corner of Primrose and Mulberry Road. The main busses are 179 and W14. South Woodford Station is on the Central Line, Epping fork.
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Neil Young: The Believer.
Light refreshments will be provided, plus the friendship for which the East London Three Faiths Forum is becoming famous. The meeting will be held at South Woodford Mosque on Thursday 17th July at 8.00pm. South Woodford Mosque is found within a stone-throw from South Woodford Station, on the corner of Primrose and Mulberry Road. The main busses are 179 and W14. South Woodford Station is on the Central Line, Epping fork.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neil Young: The Believer.
Going Deeper
“Blessed are those … who delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on his law day and night. They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither …” Psalm 1
Psalm 1 says that when we delight in God’s Word and meditate on it day and night then we are like a tree with strong roots getting all the sustenance it needs and therefore staying healthy and producing good fruit. It is a picture of how God wants us to be.
So, how can we go deeper into our faith, putting down strong roots? Well, here at St John’s we want to help and have a range of ways in which we can grow more deeply in our faith. Different approaches at different times hopefully mean that there is something for everyone.
Getting started
START or Alpha courses - at St John’s we are happy to run short getting started courses like Alpha and the START course at a time and place to suit those that are interested. These courses cover the basics of the Christian faith and give plenty of opportunity for discussion and questions. Just let one of the staff team (Jonathan, Jean or Geoff) know if you would like to do one of these courses.
Baptism & Confirmation – Baptism and Confirmation are the two big moments when people are able to say publicly that they want to live as Christians. At least once a year we will run a course specifically preparing for baptism and/or confirmation. Ask the staff team for the dates of the next course.
Going deeper
Advent/Lent courses – each year we run courses in the Advent and Lent seasons looking at a particular aspect of Christian faith. Often these are shared with other churches in the Seven Kings Fellowship of Churches. Ask the staff team for details of the next course.
Going Deeper services – the Evening Service on the second Sunday of each month is a ‘Going Deeper’ service. At this service there will be a more in-depth talk or presentation combined with discussion and questions; all set within the context of worship.
Homegroups – St John’s currently has five homegroups each meeting fortnightly for bible study, discussion and prayer. Small groups give a great opportunity for asking the questions you have always wanted answers to and receiving support from others in exploring faith. Our housegroups meet fortnightly.
Quiet Days/Prayer Walks – Quiet Days combine meditations and reflections with time for stillness and prayer. Prayer Walks are an opportunity to pray for our area while walking around a part of the Parish. We alternate these events on an annual basis; one year having several quiet days and the next going on four Prayer Walks to cover our whole Parish in prayer.
Websites & blogs – St John’s has its own website and MyChurch site plus blogs written by Huw & Helen’s homegroup and by me, as Vicar. As well as providing information and ideas, these sites give the opportunity to leave comments and start conversations on different topics. The sites can be found at:
Delirious? - Deeper.
Psalm 1 says that when we delight in God’s Word and meditate on it day and night then we are like a tree with strong roots getting all the sustenance it needs and therefore staying healthy and producing good fruit. It is a picture of how God wants us to be.
So, how can we go deeper into our faith, putting down strong roots? Well, here at St John’s we want to help and have a range of ways in which we can grow more deeply in our faith. Different approaches at different times hopefully mean that there is something for everyone.
Getting started
START or Alpha courses - at St John’s we are happy to run short getting started courses like Alpha and the START course at a time and place to suit those that are interested. These courses cover the basics of the Christian faith and give plenty of opportunity for discussion and questions. Just let one of the staff team (Jonathan, Jean or Geoff) know if you would like to do one of these courses.
Baptism & Confirmation – Baptism and Confirmation are the two big moments when people are able to say publicly that they want to live as Christians. At least once a year we will run a course specifically preparing for baptism and/or confirmation. Ask the staff team for the dates of the next course.
Going deeper
Advent/Lent courses – each year we run courses in the Advent and Lent seasons looking at a particular aspect of Christian faith. Often these are shared with other churches in the Seven Kings Fellowship of Churches. Ask the staff team for details of the next course.
Going Deeper services – the Evening Service on the second Sunday of each month is a ‘Going Deeper’ service. At this service there will be a more in-depth talk or presentation combined with discussion and questions; all set within the context of worship.
Homegroups – St John’s currently has five homegroups each meeting fortnightly for bible study, discussion and prayer. Small groups give a great opportunity for asking the questions you have always wanted answers to and receiving support from others in exploring faith. Our housegroups meet fortnightly.
Quiet Days/Prayer Walks – Quiet Days combine meditations and reflections with time for stillness and prayer. Prayer Walks are an opportunity to pray for our area while walking around a part of the Parish. We alternate these events on an annual basis; one year having several quiet days and the next going on four Prayer Walks to cover our whole Parish in prayer.
Websites & blogs – St John’s has its own website and MyChurch site plus blogs written by Huw & Helen’s homegroup and by me, as Vicar. As well as providing information and ideas, these sites give the opportunity to leave comments and start conversations on different topics. The sites can be found at:
- Church website - http://www.stjohns7kings.org.uk/
- Housegroup blog - http://interim-mutterings.blogspot.com/
- St John’s MyChurch site - http://www.mychurch.org/stjohns7kings
- Vicar's blog - http://joninbetween.blogspot.com/
- Work-based email group - http://groups.google.co.uk/group/work-emails
Work-based email group – people in this group receive a weekly email with a short work-based reflection and prayer plus brief information about a resource for Christians in the workplace. To join the group send an email to work.admin@stjohns7kings.org.uk.
----------------------------------------------------------------------Delirious? - Deeper.
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