Re God's Creation, April editorial

Virtually all Christians agree that Jesus was baptized by John and at that time received the Holy Spirit. And virtually all Christians have the Resurrection at the core of their belief. Then many part company in their interpretation of scripture.

It was heartening to read John Vaudry's letter in May protesting Laurence DeWolfe's statement that Jesus became the Son of God at His baptism (January). Vaudry declares the issue raised by DeWolfe's view to be for more serious than the current concern about homosexuality in the church.

The article states that after the Second World War ministers from Ireland couldn't find work because of their limited educational background and the surplus of clergy. My father was one of those ministers who immigrated to Canada with his family in 1951. He had served churches in Northern Ireland for 16 years. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, a highly reputable university, with his BA before attending Presbyterian College in Belfast. He completed his MA in the late 50s.

Re Ministers Mix It Up, May.

I was shocked. What were you thinking?

I received the June Record and was appalled at the cover. Do you think this Christian magazine should be placed in my grandchildren's hands? How can you justify putting a pin-up girl on the cover of what I thought was a Christian magazine? "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap".

Due to an Internet server problem at national offices in April, emails sent to the Record may not have been received. If you sent a letter, a People and Places submission, or any other email, please resend and make certain it has been received.

David,

Dear Andrew,

Re Articulating Faith, Letters, March 2008

Hi Andrew, I just read your online article in the Record on Bruxy Cavey. Are you sure you have done your homework on him? I know him for almost 10 years and worked closely with him on his book and I can say you are way off. Grab a coffee with him sometime and I think you will be surprised. Have a listen to his sermons, they are all online.

It was with a certain amount of wry amusement that I read about anti-English attitudes by the Scots when “Kesting (Moderator, Church of Scotland) made her remarks in an address for Lent after visiting London.” ('Scots perpetuate sectarianism' PR April) I am seventy-seven and in my young day in Scotland we neither observed nor celebrated Lent. It was a strictly Roman and Anglican event. I checked with a contemporary friend from Aberdeen and she agreed. Nor for that matter did my wife, a Canadian from Ontario, remember Lent being observed. Back in the 16th century John Knox did not observe Lent because it was not mentioned in Scripture.

The April issue was reasonably good at raising questions but not very good at answering them. David Harris began with a critique of the church's approach to the environment, to which I thought he gave rather short shrift. The Old Testament passages to which he refers, in Genesis and the Psalms, are in my view the ones with which he must begin. The New Testament references are not much help. John 3:16-17 does talk about God loving the world, but unless you believe that polar bears and palm trees are capable of repentance, “world” means society rather than creation as a whole.

Re April Issue:

Re May Editorial, Civilized and Assimilated

Re Andrew Faiz's April column, My Global Footprint

While I don't always agree with the Record's editorials, editor David Harris deserves the return on his wager for God's Creation in April. He is right in saying we have been “sinfully selective” in “our own culpability” regarding abuse of the environment.

I was very happy to see the title The Sacredness of Soil (April); and found the lead article to be a wonderful reminder to all of us about how much we can gain spiritually when we feel the connection with the earth through our food.

I am astounded and shocked at Laurence De Wolfe's January article on the baptism of Jesus. De Wolfe tells us that the first Christology was adoptionist. What about Paul in Philippians 2 and 2Corinthians 8? De Wolfe informs us that the Gospels are hopelessly full of contradictions and that “different New Testament communities had different ideas about where Jesus came from and what that meant.” Many students of the Bible, however, will feel that the differences should not be exaggerated and that there is a marvelous unity in the New Testament portrait of our Lord.