Crucifixion, fact. Resurrection ...?

If you follow this link, you will find a stimulating article by Simon Heffer in the Daily Telegraph attributing to the English Reformation under Henry VIII the establishment of freedoms which led, ultimately, to the greatness and prosperity that England later enjoyed:

Every half-millennium or so an event occurs in our history that changes the basis of society. The Romans come, the Romans go. The Normans come; and between their arrival in 1066 and the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 there is one seismic event after which society sets off (after a false start or two) on an entirely new course: the Reformation in England. When the Convocation of Canterbury of the Church in England agreed in March 1531 to accede to Henry's demands about church governance that included the clergy's recognition of him as head of the English church, it also triggered a process of such profound economic and political change that even today there is still dispute about the extent of the consequences. Let me add my three ha'porth: without the Reformation we would not have had what Seeley called "the expansion of England", we would not have had a middle class educated and powerful enough to initiate the industrial revolution, we would not have had the empire we did, and would not have had the land and sea power that kept us free from invasion and foreign influence: not to mention the theological consequences.

That itself is worth pondering, especially on St George's day. But halfway through the article comes an additional interesting comment. Referring to the posting of Martin Luther's 95 Theses, Heffer writes,

it is an event in a foreign land in the ninth year of Henry's reign that stands as the most significant in all Christendom since the crucifixion (which we accept as historical fact: the resurrection, more significant to those who hold the Christian faith, is not for atheists like me).

Now my question is this: on what grounds do we accept the crucifixion "as historical fact" which are not also grounds for at least considering the resurrection as an historical fact? The evidence for the crucifixion is largely documentary - the attestations of those within and without the Christian tradition in the relevant period. But it is documentary sources also (indeed sometimes the same documentary sources) which testify to the resurrection.

On a different note, I would (naturally) contest that for Christians the crucifixion is (or ought to be regarded as) "more significant" than the resurrection. But that is another debate.

John Richardson
23 April 2009


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For England and St George

As my contribution to St George’s Day, I’ve copied out my old school song —the first time I’ve done so since having to write it out three times by hand in a class detention (for us being noisy) back in the early ‘60s. (Not having your school hymnbook in morning assembly was also a punishable offence, which meant most of us carried the hymnbook in our blazer pockets for our entire school career. I still have mine.)

I have a lot of affection for this song, written by James Edward Geoffrey DeMontmorency (a former Quain Professor of Comparative Law), because it establishes what I think is the basic principle of citizenship, namely ownership of a story (something which I explored here early last year). It is the same thing which drives so many people to take an interest in genealogy — who we think we are is affected by the story of which we feel ourselves to be a part.

This, however, is why I cannot accept the underlying political philosophy of the British National Party, who regard citizenship as essentially an ethnic concept. It is a fundamental biblical principle that citizenship of God’s people is open to anyone who will ‘own the story’. Ruth is characteristic of this (and is, of course, a profound challenge to the concept of exclusivity even on the basis of God’s judgement):

“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” (Ru 1:15-16)

According to Deuteronomy 23:3, no Moabite could become part of Israel, yet Ruth was a Moabitess (Ru 1:4). And in case anyone should think the exclusion was itself restricted, in the days of Nehemiah it was still taken to apply to mixed marriages (Neh 13:1). Whatever else this may mean, it surely is a word to those who would draw tight ethnic boundaries around social identity.

The same is true of the Passover regulations regarding non-Israelites, “An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land.” (Ex 12:48) The key to joining in the Passover is simply identification with the Lord’s Covenant people. And of course the Passover was itself celebrated as the recapitulation of a story:

In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand. (Ex 13:14-16)

(I wonder, incidentally, whether the Passover is not a significant challenge to those who would deny the penal element of Christ “our Passover” dying on the cross.) The Passover feast made, and makes, every Jew part of the story. But it is not initially restricted to ‘born Jews’, provided the person wishes to embrace the Covenant.

But this is why I cannot accept the idea of a ‘multi-cultural’ nation which has been foisted on us in this country for the last half-century. If a country is to be more than a dormitory — a place where people sleep and work, but to which they feel no sense of belonging — then it must require of its citizens an awareness of and identity with the communal story. And what better way to do that than in song? So here it is, in all its glory — the John Roan School Song:

Here’s to old John Roan, who lived and worked and died
In the mighty days of Cromwell, of Milton, and of Blake*;
We were born in days of passion, we were reared in days of pride,
That gave the sea to England with continents beside;
Is there nothing we can give her for our Founder’s sake?
Ourselves we give to England till John Roan shall wake.
Here’s to old John Road, sing him loud, sing him low,
He it was who placed us on the road that we shall go.

Here in Greenwich once walked England’s deathless dead,
Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, here made their music sweet;
Drake and Blake and Nelson in Greenwich broke their bread,
Flamstead, Halley, Airey, the ranging star flocks led;
While Wolfe still dreams among us beside the roaring street,
Of the broad realms of Canada he laid at England’s feet,
Then to old John Roan, sing him loud, sing him fair,
He it was who made us, sing him sweet for his care.

Here’s to those that come hereafter, the lads we shall not see,
The men of generations who will have new foes to fight;
We look forever forward, seaward, landward free;
Yea, in the air and in the depths, wherever men should be,
Our Greenwich men are lighting new beacons in the night,
John Roan’s men, the Roan boys, are building up the light.
Here’s to old John Road, sing him loud, sing him clear.
Sing him round the continents, sing him through the year.

* John Roan died in 1644, Oliver Cromwell in 1658 and John Milton in 1674. William Blake, however, died in 1857, making him an unlikely candidate. I presume this is therefore a reference to Robert Blake, 17^th century Parliamentarian and naval hero, who was laid in state in the Great Hall of the Queen’s House at Greenwich, following his death at sea in 1657, see also the second verse. Revd John Richardson
23 April 2009

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Speak for England!

As noted on the Chelmsford Anglican Mainstream blog, one of the disturbing things to me about the imminent departure of the Bishop of Rochester is that, ironically given his origins, he has been one of the few public figures to speak powerfully for this country.

On Saturday last, I was speaking at our Men’s Breakfast. As we were eating, one of our number remarked on how much he enjoyed visiting Scotland: “There’s something about the atmosphere there,” he said, “the people are proud to be Scottish — not like here, we’re not proud of our country at all.”

And it is true. This must be one of the few countries — no, surely the only country — in the world, where to speak of national pride is to invite moral opprobrium.

At one stage I started sending out circular e-mails with a small logo of the Union Flag on them. I was soon told to stop as it looked ‘right wing’ and might offend people.

What? Are Finns offended by the Finnish flag, or Russians by the Russian flag, or Tobagans (if that’s what they are called) by the Tobagan flag?

The truth is, Great Britain as an entity, and England as a nation, have been systematically and deliberately dismantled and undermined from within. And I hate it!

I am reminded of the words of Leo Amery in the House of Commons on 2 September 1939, when Arthur Greenwood stood up to speak for the Labour Party following Neville Chamberlain, and Amery called across the floor to him, ‘Speak for England, Arthur!’, implying Chamberlain had not. Who, now Rochester is going, will ‘speak for England’?

And by the way, I know that is the Union Flag, not the flag of England (duh!), but it was undoubtedly England that held together the Union, not Scotland, Wales or Ireland. Thus it was taken for granted that if Arthur Greenwood had spoken ‘for England’ he would have spoken for the whole nation. And hence it was essential, in dismantling the British ‘project’ that the English element should be diminished at the same time as the other elements were elevated. A weakened England was necessary, otherwise the whole thing might have continued to hold together.

Revd John Richardson
5 April 2009

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A Prayer for St George's Day

The following prayer is my own composition:

Almighty God,
We have been taught by the legend of St George
to fight against dragons and to rescue the helpless.
Deliver us by the truth of the gospel
from that great dragon who leads the whole world astray.
Free us from our slavery to sin and death.
And grant that your light may dawn again on this nation of England.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen


Another prayer that might be suitable for assemblies:

Heavenly Father, give us the bravery of St George to stand up for what we believe. Give us the strength to overcome the dragons in our lives and in the world. And where we see people in distress, give us the compassion to help them. Amen


The following prayer is from "THE ORDER OF SERVICE AT MATTINS ON THE OCCASION OF THE 80TH BIRTHDAY OF HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN AT ST GEORGE'S CHAPEL, 23 APRIL 2006". I do not know anything other than that about the source:

The collect for St George's Day

O God of hosts, who didst so kindle the flame of love in the heart of thy servant George that he bore witness to the risen Lord by his life and by his death: grant us the same faith and power of love that we, who rejoice in his triumphs, may come to share with him the fullness of the resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

There is also this, given as the Collect for St George's Day, in Franz Hildebrandt: Mr. Valiant-for-Truth:

O Lord God of hosts who didst give grace to Thy servant George to lay aside the fear of man and to confess Thee even unto death, grant, we pray Thee, that we and all our countrymen who bear office in the world, may think lightly of earthly place and honour and rather seek to please [Jesus] the Captain of our salvation who hath chosen us to be His soldiers, to whom with Thee and the Holy Ghost be thanks and praise from all the armies of thy saints, now and for evermore. Amen.