I was extremely disappointed to see the March front cover caption describing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as the place “where Jesus’ body was placed before his resurrection” and to realize that the author missed what, to me, are the most precious places in the entire world: Golgotha, the place of the skull where Jesus was crucified, and the nearby Garden Tomb, the Protestant site, discovered in 1883 by the British officer Gen. Charles Gordon. Many believers consider this the biblically accurate place where Jesus was buried and rose again.

I would like to see the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the Presbyterian Record refer to Calvin’s Christian name as Jean instead of John, as he has been called in the English-speaking world since the Reformation.

Several decades ago, my wife and I took a tour to Israel and we visited both that church and the Garden Tomb, where I had the honour of conducting a communion service. It seems obvious to me that both sites can’t be the right one.

I’ve just read the March issue and feel a rising indignation within me, particularly due to two articles that put Jesus Christ on the same level as any other “saviour”—Two Kinds Of Knowledge—or with Mohammad—Journey To The Centre Of Our Faiths. I don’t get it? I don’t get how anybody who has met Jesus can then say He is not Lord of all Lords, God of all Gods, King of all Kings, Saviour of all saviours.

Science rests on the presupposition that the phenomenal world is perceived only through the five senses. Anything beyond that is not a fact and scientifically verifiable. Religion, on the other hand, is based on experience. This experience is communicated from person to person and generation to generation through rituals, dogma, theology and so on. More often than not, these instruments or vehicles of communication become institutionalised and substitutes for The Experience.

I would agree with Dr. McLelland’s view that science and religion should not be treated as opposed to each other, they should be both able to correspond with and compliment each other; their relationship is more subtle and intimate than generally acknowledged.

Dr. McLelland rather neatly categorizes the first eleven chapters of Genesis, up to the birth of Eber (the first Hebrew?) in 11:14, as Saga. Such a division of the Genesis account is quite arbitrary, to say the least, and is done to support a particular worldview or cosmology. McLelland implies that a more prevalent literal understanding did not become widespread until the 19th century rise of fundamentalism. Saga, of course, need not be synonymous with Legend, and in fact may be rooted in history. The historicity of the biblical accounts of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph was accepted both by the Israelites and the early Christian church, and is accepted by a majority of Christians today. Yet those particular chapters (Genesis 12ff.) contain many more of the elements of Saga than do the first eleven chapters.

Rev. Dr. McLelland writes in his usual entertaining yet provocative style. As usual, he is writing about the current leading edge of theology. In today’s world, that edge is of course inter-faith dialogue. McLelland calls us to recognize with humility that we as Christians may not be the apple of God’s eye, but rather that we recognize that other faiths could be circling around God with their varieties of faith and truth just like us.

What a delightfully sane article from — if I may take the liberty — an old curmudgeon of the church!

Dr. McLelland surmises that science develops many theories on many topics in a quest for the truth and then uses these theories to reach a conclusion it believes to be true. However as has been demonstrated it never ends there and there are always unanswered questions and new theories to consider. Science never quite obtains the whole truth and often leads to confusion. For example—the claims as to the veracity of the Bible in such areas as the age of the creation of humans and the building of a large boat (Noah’s Ark) have never been satisfactorily disproven.

Having visited Israel twice, I really do find Jerusalem to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The photographs that accompanied the March feature article on Jerusalem really bring that to expression.

Thank you for your article, Breaking the Silence, February, about clergy and human weakness. Too many have carried emotional burdens, too heavy, for too long. My father tried lay ministry in northern Ontario over 50 years ago, when I was very young. With no guidance, and with unrecognized emotional issues going in to the position, he struggled, floundered and attempted suicide before his trial year reached an end. He carried this “secret” deep inside ever since; never telling anyone—not his own family, not his siblings, nor any friend. I believe this isolation; his anger and his shame affected his whole life. He is in a nursing home now, 87 years old, struggling with dementia. To what extent his occasional violent outbursts relate back to these old issues is anyone’s guess. Ministers, priests, deacons, and all leaders of the church give so much to so many, but often at great cost.

I look forward to reading more from Rev. Ian Clark on water in the Jordan Valley. According to a detailed, thought provoking, and sad CBC Radio documentary, drought is not the only issue. Security is indeed a matter of water, as Clark states, but water supplies are being managed primarily to supply and secure Israel, notably Israeli settler communities dotted across the West Bank on hill tops, and Israeli farming.

It must be emphasized that, unfortunately, with racial/ethnic diversity, often comes bigotry—and it’s not a white and non-white immigrant issue that can be alleviated by some miracle.

Re: story on ‘awesome healing mission by the Blue Mountain Pastoral Charge, N.S.’ This submission appeared only in your online version and not in the printed magazine.

Just got the March Record and was interested to see some grad pictures from Ewart College on the back cover.

I read Principal Vissers’ March article entitled Teaching The Teaching Elders with great interest. As a theological student who has a great respect for the historical witness of the Reformed Church and its accompanying doctrine, there was much to celebrate in Vissers’ treatment of Calvin’s case for theological education.

Re The P in PCC, part four, January Letters

As a Christian minister I am involved in community here in Camrose, Alberta. My wife teaches high school to young single mothers who are marginalized by many who never bother to meet these young women. The name “Obama” has become symbolic of hope and an “I can do it,” attitude for the people with whom my wife and I work. What saddens me is that the name “Jesus” is more often viewed as symbolic of repression and judgment.

I am not sure that Term Eldership works. I am an elder at Calvin, Abbotsford, B.C. Our congregation has been allowed to experiment with term eldership. We have been doing this for several years. Our term is six years. Unfortunately, it is has been difficult to replace elders whose term is up. That leaves more and more work with fewer elders to do it. I believe the old system, life eldership, can work. I know that it requires a great deal of commitment on the part of certain people, however, under the old system, a person could demit from the office if they felt they could no longer do the work, or take a sabbatical year (or two) if they needed a break. I know that the reason we are considering term eldership is that it is difficult to get people to commit to a life-time position. If that is the case, then six years is too long. Other denominations have three-year terms. Theologically speaking, it creates a distinction between two different types of elders: the teaching elder (i.e. the minister) whose term is life, and the ruling elder whose term is six years. I know that people say once an elder always an elder, but that does not work out in practice. Once a ruling elder's term is up, his/her rightful authority is stripped from him/her. He/she cannot act as an elder in his/her own church. He/she cannot attend session meetings or exercise to the full his/her leadership ability. I would encourage further thought on this matter. Paul says to Timothy in I Timothy 3:1, “The saying is sure: whoever aspires to the office of bishop (overseer), desires a noble task.” Term eldership, I believe, may make it a little less noble. Eldership in the Church of Jesus Christ is a very important calling. Let's treat it as such. (One alternative might be to let those who are willing to serve longer (indefinite) terms do so and allow those who are willing to do shorter terms do so.)