Big Beliefs in Small Bites: The Pilgrim’S Projects

By Reg Nicholson

PRAISE FOR BIG BELIEFS IN SMALL BITES

A wonderful miscellany of topics, some serious and troubling, some purely informative, some entertaining, but all full of wisdom and insight. Whether for reading from end-to-end, for dipping into randomly, or for seeking guidance on a specific problem or issue, this collection is an invaluable contribution to the thinking Christians library.

Dr Ray Harlow, Professor of Linguistics, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

If you have questions about religion, youll find some answers in this volume written by Reg Nicholson MNZM. Learn about the history of the Church and solidify your faith. Youll also get answers to some big questions, such as:

+ Was Jesus really a carpenter?

+ What are religions nine biggest mistakes?

+ What is the best three-letter word for a Christian to use?

+ Which major religion acknowledges millions of gods?

+ Did a Bible translation help Hitler?

+ What was the worlds greatest-ever invention?

Many people will be delighted with the authors viewpoints. Some may not concur with all of them, but most may find themselves nodding in agreement in places and even letting out an occasional chuckle. Explore the mystery, beauty, and compassion of God with Big Beliefs In Small Bites: The Pilgrims Projects.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abbott Press
• Release date: Jun 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781458208842

Reg Nicholson

Reg Nicholson has spent many years preaching and writing on spiritual subjects. He is also a former newspaper columnist and editor of a number of periodicals. His books include A Century of Progress; Empty Tomb Or Empty Faith; and Secrets of The Three-Legged Stool. An archdeacon, he was awarded membership in the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Book preview

BIG BELIEFS

IN SMALL BITES

THE PILGRIM’S PROJECTS

REG NICHOLSON

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Copyright © 2013 Reg Nicholson.

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Except when noted otherwise, Bible translations are from The New Revised Standard Version.

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ISBN: 978-1-4582-0883-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4582-0885-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4582-0884-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013906419

Abbott Press rev. date: 06/12/2013

Contents

Preface

Here be dragons

What are big beliefs?

Seeing isn’t believing!

The worst word

The best word

Sins of the Church

A very wise Pope

What good news?

Religion’s big mistakes

More religious mistakes

‘I stab people,’ he said

Not a carpenter?

Man of many prejudices

Communion on moon

Too many changes?

Am I being poisoned?

Vicar used F-word

Paul and his mother

Explaining death

The Holy Radiator

The world’s end

The oldest chestnut?

Dramatic wedding

Churches should be free

‘You married me!’

Proud of my modesty

Umbrella threat

Archbishops in history

Effects of prejudice

Bible minus ‘Jesus Christ’

Bible that helped Hitler

Some different words

Pentecost: God speaks

Tea or coffee, anyone?

Neither blind nor deaf

Set prayers

An unfinished work

Science and the Church

Friends keep in touch

Monks and the litany

When someone dies

Helping the king

God saw her feeding birds

Churches’ different language

A message from Dad

Singing in the reign

Scared of thirteen

Ashes-in-a-flash in USA

Calling God ‘Mother’

Beauty of stained-glass

Strangely-named Sunday

Day to recall the dead

Sorry for wet holidays?

Jesus—handsome or ugly?

I stayed with Sodomites

Woman despised hymns

Origin of bad language

Like a mighty tortoise

Way to get good results

Having another birthday

Watching our words

Animals in heaven?

‘Don’t let God take him’

People’s amazing dreams

Things Christians believe

Good Friday is not Easter

Place of women in Church

Facts about St Peter

Bashing little children

Venerating symbol of death

Saint ahead of his time

Nation knew how to lose

Oddities of popular hymn

Toast, fish fingers, toilet rolls

Odd thing in the papers

Churches to be wary of

Churchill was inspired

The two-faced god

Triumphed over depression

Suicide is painful

Do trees get stressed?

Near-death experiences

Death ‘not so hard’

The vulnerable clergy

‘Don’t let the vicar in!’

Saint for sore throats

But that was then

Re-examining psychics

Keeping out of sex

Marriage as in the Bible?

Dinner at White House

Suspicious of cathedral

Prayer and coincidence

Differences of the sexes

Death of the Church

When music divides

Who do you think you are?

Confusing king with a saint

Daft and dangerous

About my funeral

Greatest-ever invention

Student to Governor-General

Much-loved entertainer

Before writing letters

Too good to be true?

Upside-down in Church

Language is changing

Cults have things in common

Sensing unseen companions

Eating a poisonous love apple

Still believe in heaven?

Still believe in hell?

God’s work of art

Fear of minority groups

We have to be perfect

Keeping Christ in Christmas

Not keeping Christ in Christmas

Everyone sings at Christmas

Sadness of Christmas

More Christmas sadness

Believing Christmas dreams

Changes at meal-table

On the wrong committee

Some bow their heads

When children fight back

Dangers in overhearing

An English heretic?

Dangers of democracy

Think the earth was flat?

Unknown pioneers

Strange connections

More religious firsts

Was St Paul anti-women?

Angel warned of accident

Time to own up

Think you are too old?

Troublesome literalists

Fences and circles

What Jesus looked like

Hurt by the Church

Really in the Bible?

Honesty and the Creed

Hope for beggars

If I only had time!

Coronation Street gospel

Finding a perfect priest

Truth on headstones?

Archbishop sought disturbance

Cromwell and Columbus

Keeping on keeping on

Sparing the rod

What makes a family?

Thinking about shepherds

Getting rid of fear

How to communicate

How churches communicate

Millions of gods

Bread & cheese snobbery

Gambling and the Bible

Jesus didn’t write a book

How sects began

Can we die alone?

Confusion over sex

First women bishops

No General Strike

Eccentric used by God

Worrying about the divine

Not the only option

Brief subject index

For Sarah

PREFACE

One of the world’s most famous books, The Pilgrim’s Progress, was begun soon after the Great Fire of London, and was completed in an era of superstition, anti-popery, belief in hobgoblins, fairies, witches and devils. Today’s world was quite beyond the imaginative powers of the author John Bunyan, a tinker of Bedford. While his famous seventeenth century volume had a great influence in the past, I wonder at its value in today’s age of scientific enquiry and travel to other planets.

This book, sub-titled The Pilgrim’s Projects, does not claim to be as imaginative as The Pilgrim’s Progress. These pages are intended for the twenty-first century. It is a book in which you will discover about 170 short articles (blogs, to use the language of today), dealing mainly with religious and spiritual projects. All of them deal with matters I wish I had read and understood as a young Christian.

Looking back, there was a period when I was fairly fundamentalist in my outlook. But as the years went by, and as I meditated on the life of Jesus, I started to develop in my attitude to the Bible, the Church, the saints, and the way I regard people of other denominations and beliefs.

There was a time in some parts of the world where you weren’t welcome in the Church if you were of the wrong politics, or if you didn’t obey some of the Church rules, or if your skin was thought to be of the wrong colour. Above all, you were in mortal and spiritual danger if you were a thinking person and questioned some of the Church’s teachings. And not only matters about religion, either. Centuries ago, people like Galileo who had different ideas about science were cast out—excommunicated—from the Church. People who had opposing ideas of religion were burned alive. If a nation was thought to have departed from the true faith, it was deemed perfectly all right for those of another country to attack and murder its people. All in the name of religion! All because people couldn’t accept that men and women are made differently, and that there is room in the world—and especially room in the Church—for differing points of view!

However, in fairness I should warn you. You may not like this book if you are an atheist. You may not approve of it if you are a fundamentalist. On the other hand if you are one of the many Christians who believe in enquiring and asking questions, this volume will almost certainly provide you with a few answers and maybe a little entertainment. And who knows? It may cause you to nod in agreement and even encourage you to let out an occasional chuckle.

Many of the pages contained in Big Beliefs In Small Bites began in a feature which appeared over several years in the weekly pew sheet of St Peter’s Cathedral, Hamilton, New Zealand. I am grateful to the members of the cathedral for their support, and especially grateful to a fellow-worshiper, Fran Edwards, for valuable suggestions she made when the book was being compiled. Dr Ray Harlow has earned my lasting appreciation for checking the pages and for writing an endorsement of the volume.

I am especially grateful, of course, to my wife Joan, for her continued help and support.

HERE BE DRAGONS

Where can we find dragons today? What’s that, you say? You’ve never seen a dragon? Be assured, they are all around us. People have been warning us about them for centuries.

The caution Here be dragons was used by medieval mapmakers when they wished to describe uncharted areas. Often the phrase—and other warnings that meant the same thing—suggested places unknown, places of peril and danger, or places inhabited by monsters. This phrase did not die. In later years, theologians and other church leaders used it (and phrases like Here may be dangerous spirits) to depict areas they felt did not warrant examination—things like sexuality, psychosis, witches, demons, the spirit world—in fact, anything about which the authorities felt threatened or unsure. A sad result of the words of caution was that they caused vital parts of human experience to be neglected for long periods. These warnings served to discourage people from thinking.

Even today there are people who are afraid to investigate some areas, largely because of the inordinate attention being given to imaginary fears.

Some historians tell us the earliest descriptions of dragons may have arisen because of large water-spouts at sea. One ancient chronicle records that a water-spout was described as a great black dragon descending from the clouds. It hid its head in the water while its tail reached to the sky. Ships disappearing into the water-spout were said to have been swallowed up, along with their contents, by the dragon.

Dragons are mentioned in the Bible. They are usually—but not always—depicted as sea-monsters. In the New Testament the word dragon occurs in Revelation, beginning with the appearance in heaven of the great red dragon (12:3). In Ezekiel 29:3 and 32:2 in the King James Version the word dragon refers to the Pharaoh of Egypt. The battle between Saint George and a dragon was used as an allegory of the triumph of Christianity over paganism.

Dragons can be loosely divided into two main categories—East Asian dragons (generally depicted as benevolent, wise and lucky), and Western or European dragons (more commonly evil, aggressive and fearsome). In the Middle Ages, Europeans regarded dragons as the embodiment of all evil and blamed them for the otherwise inexplicable epidemics that afflicted much of the world.

When I hear about people being stunted in their spiritual growth or being forced into a discipleship of superstitious fear, I wish they could look at the dragons they face and realise they are merely dark shadows.

Something to consider, 1: Superstition is the religion of feeble minds (Edmund Burke).

WHAT ARE BIG BELIEFS?

A young man went to visit an elderly monk in the desert. He found the monk sitting in the sun, with a dog lying lazily at his side.

The young man asked: Why is it some people who follow God quit after a year or so, while other people remain faithful to the quest for a lifetime?

The old man smiled and replied: "Let me tell you a story. One day I was sitting here quietly in the sun with my dog. Suddenly a large, white rabbit ran across in front of us. Well, my dog jumped up, barking loudly, and took off after that big rabbit.

He chased the rabbit over the hills. Soon other dogs followed, barking across the creeks, up stony embankments, and through thickets. But gradually, one by one, the other dogs dropped out of the pursuit, discouraged by the course and frustrated by the chase. Only my dog continued to hotly pursue the white rabbit.

The young man sat in silence, then said: I don’t understand the connection between chasing after a rabbit and following God.

The monk answered: You fail to understand because you fail to ask the obvious question. The question is this: why didn’t the other dogs continue the chase? And the answer to that question is that the other dogs had not seen the rabbit! They were simply attracted by the barking of my dog. But the dog who had seen the rabbit, never gave up the chase. Seeing the rabbit, and not following the commotion, is what keeps me seeking God.

Big beliefs come from big experiences.

People who have had an experience of Jesus in their lives do not usually give up the quest of seeking God. And people who have had a vision of heaven stay in the chase and continue to keep the faith. Sometimes people join the Church because of the encouragement of members of their families or their friends. Although this may be commendable, it can be a little like the dogs that joined the chase because of the barking of another dog.

People who have sensed or who themselves have walked with God are like the dog that actually saw the rabbit. They follow God because of their personal experience.

The Scriptures tell of a day when some people stopped following Jesus. We are told that Jesus asked the twelve apostles: Will you also go away? St Peter replied: Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God (John 6: 68-69). There we have it. The disciples believed and stayed with Jesus because they experienced him for themselves.

Something to consider, 2: Pray not only because you need something, but because you have much to be thankful for.

SEEING ISN’T BELIEVING!

It has been refuted often but people keep accepting it. Seeing isn’t believing. It isn’t, really!

Seeing is—well, just seeing. Believing is trusting when you can’t see. As the Bible says, seeing can be the opposite of believing, the assurance of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is experiencing God and then having a belief to which you hang on, even when you cannot provide proof.

The bestselling author Dr Wayne W. Dyer gives us an interesting illustration to describe faith. He calls it The Mango Experience.

When speaking to a large audience he invites someone who has never tasted a mango to volunteer for a little experiment. Then he asks people who have tasted a mango to tell the volunteer exactly how a mango tastes.

As each person attempts to convey the flavor of a mango they realise how fruitless their attempts are. The conclusion is that it is impossible to convey this information in words. Wayne Dyer says the mango tasting exercise is analogous to our ability to have faith where there is doubt.

Just as we cannot know the taste of a mango unless we have had the experience of eating a mango, we cannot know faith without having had an experience of God (There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem, page 197).

This reminds me of the story I mentioned in the previous chapter, the tale of the dog that chased a rabbit. Dogs that haven’t actually seen the rabbit abandon the chase—just as most people who haven’t experienced God sooner or later seem to abandon religion.

Some years ago I sat on a missionary committee with a number of concerned Christians. Forgive me for sounding judgmental, but one of them was one of the most narrow, bigoted people I had ever met. He seemed to lack compassion, insight, and humility.

At one stage of the meeting people were talking about missionary opportunities, and this man said: The answer is easy. We just have to introduce people to Jesus. I couldn’t help thinking that the Jesus he would introduce to people would be far different from the Jesus I have been in contact with.

The Jesus I know closely resembles the Jesus of the gospels. The Jesus who acted like a shepherd rather than a law-giver. The Jesus who loved to see people happy. The Jesus who shed tears when his loved ones died.

How can one introduce people to Jesus if one hasn’t met up with Jesus oneself?

Something to consider, 3: I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn’t, than live my life as if there isn’t and die to find out there is (Albert Camus).

THE WORST WORD

What would you suggest is the worst word often used by Christians, a word so bad it is almost the exact opposite of ‘Christian’? (You don’t have to say the word aloud, just think it). Atheist, perhaps? Sinner, maybe? Wickedness, possibly? Thief, Adulterer, Paedophile, Murderer? The most anti-Christian word is none of these. It is a word used frequently. It is unashamedly used in polite company. It has nothing to do with sinfulness or religion. Some people see nothing wrong with it.

The word I mean is the word Exclusive. It is a word that suggests narrowness, intolerance, parochialism. Some people, and some social sets, are proud of exclusivity. But the Church should never be exclusive, because God is the opposite of exclusive. When making the world, God created a tremendous diversity, in planets and the stars; in animals and shrubs; in people of every sort. One thing which marks the universe in which we live is its tremendous diversity. For centuries a fear of the unknown made people apprehensive of diversity. Now that many fears of the unknown are disappearing, we should start to celebrate our diversity and exult in our differences.

Great religious leaders have united in a call for us to live in friendship, helpfulness, unselfishness, interdependence and cooperation as sisters and brothers in one family—the human family—God’s family. As St Peter said, God shows impartiality (I Peter 1:17). Sadly, however, much religion which should foster sisterhood and brotherhood, and should encourage tolerance, respect, compassion, and sharing, has frequently done the opposite. Religion has often fuelled alienation and conflict, and has encouraged intolerance, injustice and oppression. Some terrible atrocities have happened in the name of religion. History is rife with instances of demagogues who caused distress and suffering when they preyed on the fears of people. In the Middle Ages, religious leaders were often guilty of this. A man named Titus Oates caused alarm in seventeenth century London when he spread lies about Roman Catholics and caused many of them to be jailed and even killed. A major political example in the twentieth century was the way Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party flourished after manufacturing and spreading lies about those born into the Jewish faith. However as much as possible we should refrain from demeaning others. We should never be exclusive, for God’s kingdom is never exclusive.

One of the main acts of Jesus Christ was that of reconciliation, and the Christian Church should participate in leading with this. The Church should never deny a place, for instance, to couples who are unmarried. It wasn’t until after the twelfth century that marriage had much to do with religion at all. The Church should never forbid people who find it hard to believe. The main mistake of those called the Puritans, I believe, was they overlooked what Jesus had so clearly told them, that God’s kingdom doesn’t discriminate between those who are pure and those who are impure. The Church should never exclude people whose genes and makeup are different from those of the majority, nor should the Church take it upon itself to judge those thought not good enough for the kingdom. God’s kingdom doesn’t discriminate between Protestants and Catholics, between orthodox believers who belong to established churches, and those who we think are on the fringe because they belong to religious sects. God does not discriminate in religion, and it is a mistake to imagine that God is a Christian—let alone a Catholic, Baptist, or Presbyterian.

No religion has a monopoly on God. As Archbishop Tutu said: In truth there are no outsiders, no enemies—unless we put them there in our minds. Black and white, rich and poor, man and woman, gay and straight, Jew and Arab, Muslim and Christian, Hindu and Buddhist, Hutu and Tutsi, Pakistani and Indian—all belong. When we start to live as brothers and sisters and to recognize our interdependence, we become fully human. For centuries the Church tried discrimination; it took a mighty long time before it was remembered that Jesus said love attracts. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).

An ancient Christian legend says when the Son of God was nailed to the cross and died, he went down to hell and set free all the sinners. The devil wept, for he thought he would get no more sinners for hell. Then God said to the devil: Do not weep, for I shall send you all those who are self-righteous in their condemnation of sinners. And hell shall be filled once more until I return.

Something to consider, 4: Don’t judge me by my past, I don’t live there any more.

THE BEST WORD

It was long, long ago, when I was a theological student that I first began to realise the inclusiveness of Christianity (or at least, how inclusive it was meant to be). I noticed it in the great commission of the Church, which are the words spoken by Jesus before his ascension.

I am sure you remember the words, but I shall repeat them (they come from Matthew 28:18):

And Jesus said to them, All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all things that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Notice the emphasis on the word ‘all’. All authority, all nations, all things, all ways . . .

Sadly, people argued about the use of the word ‘all’ for centuries.

First, they argued whether it applied to people of all faiths (did you know there was a time when Roman Catholics could be beheaded in England, and there was a time when Quakers were hanged in parts of America simply for being Quakers?).

Then people argued over whether the word ‘all’ applied to women. Some people took seriously the statement that all men are created equal—but it took centuries before it was decided that this may also apply to women.

Then people struggled over whether the word ‘all’ applied to those born with different-coloured skin. Even today prejudice exists in some places when some people look different from the majority.

Then people argued over whether the word ‘all’ applied to children (which was reflected in the debates of different years over whether it was justifiable to inflict violent punishments on those of tender years).

Even in church—where we probably should have known better—there has been a mighty struggle over the word ‘all’.

Does it apply to lepers? Does it apply to divorcees? Does it apply to Christians of other denominations? People of other religions? How about atheists, and people who have grown up without knowing about God?

Does it apply to homosexuals? Does it apply to prostitutes? I often think about the parable of the dragnet in which Jesus said the kingdom of heaven would gather all sorts of fish. All kinds. All sorts. All varieties. In Matthew Chapter 13 Jesus gave seven parables that show different aspects of the kingdom. Here is the last of the seven:

The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind (verse 47).

Of all seven parables in that chapter, this last one is least familiar to most people.

It tells of the fishermen using a dragnet. The dragnet was pulled behind a boat, or spread between two boats. It captured a shoal of fish. This particular form of fishing, said Jesus, illustrates the