God Has No Favourites

By Carmody Grey

God Has No Favourites is the York Course written for Lent 2022 by Dr Carmody Grey.

In this 5 session course Dr Grey explores how each of us is called to discover that God is completely inclusive. He does not apportion his welcome or love according to our prejudices or preferences. God Has No Favourites, because God favours everyone.

Every single human being, whatever age, sex, class, race or religion is in God's image. Jesus has identified himself personally with each one of us, God's love and the power of the Holy Spirit is for everyone, no caveats.

As with previous Lent York Courses, the standard study book is supported by an in-depth interview, covering all 5 sessions between Dr Carmody Grey and Simon Simon Stanley available on CD, as a Digital Download or as a transcript in either paperback or ebook.

This York Course is available in the following formats
Course Book (Paperback 9781909107335)
Course Book (eBook 9781909107366 both ePub and Mobi files provided)
Audio Book of Interview to support God Has No Favourites York Course (CD 9781909107373)
Audio Book of Interview (Digital Download)
Transcript of interview to support God Has No Favourites York Course (Paperback 9781909107342)
Transcript of interview (eBook 9781909107359 both ePub and Mobi files provided)
Book Pack (9781909107380 Featuring Paperback Course Book, Audio Book on CD and Paperback Transcript of Interview)

SESSION 1: The best picture of God
God’s favour is not dependent on anything we are or anything we do. His acceptance is unconditional. If we want to know what God ‘looks like’, we simply need to look at one another.

SESSION 2: Neither Jew nor Gentile
In Christ, God is telling us the most important thing about himself: he leaves no-one out. Being willing to include everybody is the only rule for those who want to be with Jesus. God is love and, in Christ, humanity is one.

SESSION 3: Neither male nor female
The most profound human difference is that created by our gendered bodies. But even this important difference is superficial compared to the deepest and truest identity of each one of us; through Christ we see that we are all children of God; all heirs to the kingdom of heaven.

SESSION 4: Neither slave nor free
Our world is grossly, torturously unequal, and before Christ came, no-one expected or looked for anything different. Jesus scandalized those around him by acting as though every human being mattered. We are to follow him to the margins.

SESSION 5: What is a Christian?
Jesus did not come to found a religion: he came to give people life. When he wanted his followers to understand his identity and purpose, he didn’t give them a theory or explain an idea, he shared a meal with them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SPCK
• Release date: Jan 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781909107366

Carmody Grey

CARMODY GREY is Assistant Professor of Catholic Theology at Durham University, and has degrees in theology from Trinity College Oxford, King’s College Cambridge and the University of Nottingham. She teaches and speaks publicly in a variety of arenas, is a columnist for The Tablet, and sits on the Advisory Board of Las Casas Institute (Blackfriars Hall, Oxford).

Book preview

GOD HAS NO FAVOURITES

Transcript of Audio

[1]

GOD HAS NO FAVOURITES. A five-session course from York Courses with Dr Carmody Grey and Simon Stanley

[2]

SESSION 1

THE BEST PICTURE OF GOD

Hello, I’m Simon Stanley, and it’s a great pleasure to welcome Dr Carmody Grey of Durham University. Carmody, welcome, and thank you for writing this course, God has no favourites, and thank you for agreeing to talk to me about some of the issues that arise.

CG: So, thank you so much, Simon, for that introduction, and it’s wonderful to be part of this process and wonderful to participate in conversations going on around the country, and perhaps the world, by this means.

Let’s just fill in a detail or two. You’re Assistant Professor of Theology in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University. You’ve won a number of prizes for your work from several eminent universities, so as you can imagine, I’m a bit nervous, but I do know that you have the reputation of making complex and difficult things understandable, so I think we are all in good hands.

One more thing to mention is that from time to time, as we go along, we’ll hear three people from different Christian backgrounds who give their opinion about some of the questions we’ll be discussing. They are Bernadette, Jim and Frances, and we call them simply our ‘Voices’. So let’s give them a chance to go first, shall we? I ask them if they’ve ever felt as though they were less important to God than other people are?

BERNADETTE: Yes, most of the time. I’ve spent most of my life in the entertainment industry – and how does that compare with being a nurse or a farmer or a dentist or a teacher? Then sometimes I think about those people who are, not nurses and doctors, but who, you know, appear to live, as it were, a very simple life, but who actually have fantastic influence, and make a real difference to their community. And they’re the perfect example of how God doesn’t value one person over another because of what they do. It’s just because you exist, you matter.

JIM: I think I have done that at times, and particularly in my youth, when worshipping at the local parish church where I was brought up in Glasgow, it seemed to me that other young people carried evidence of their faith and commitment in the form of their crucifixes around their necks or other signs. I did feel feelings of inadequacy as far as my value in God’s eyes. I think my confidence grew with exposure to a bit more learning about New Testament teaching and what was expected of people, and the assurance that the outward signs weren’t the important ones.

FRANCES: I haven’t felt as though I was less important to God than other people. But I have felt that other people have felt that I was less important than other people.

Well, they’re all a bit unsure of their value and with feelings of inadequacy. Do you think that’s common among believers, Carmody?

CG: Yes, I think that’s extremely common. In