95 – Yet You See I am Alive

Contents

Articles

• What Really Happened at Easter?, Eric Whittaker
• Yet You See I am Alive: Translating Grand Narrative, Dinah Livingstone
• Time for a New Story?, Victor Anderson
• The Power of Myth: Resurrection, Geoff Crocker
• The God of the Psalms, David S. Lee
• Cicely Herbert visits the Rev. Richard Coles, Cicely Herbert

Reviews

• Faith, Reason and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate, Michael Morton
• Coming Back to Earth, Victor Anderson
• A Spiritual Poetry for our Time?: Sunlight in a Champagne Glass and Giraffe under a Grey Sky, Kathleen McPhilemy

Poetry

• Birdsong: The final bird chorus in The Parliament of Fowls, Geoffrey Chaucer
• Numinous, William Oxley
• Psalm 119 (verses 33-40), Miles Coverdale
• The Heart, Danielle Hope
• The Dark Night, John of the Cross
• From Jerusalem, William Blake

Regulars and Occasionals

• SOF Sift: Thomas Paine saved my life, Barbara Burford
• Radio Rockall: The Penguin and the Phoenix, Barbara Burford

Editorial

When Christiana is terrified of going through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Great-Heart encourages her: ‘For my part, as I have told you already, I have gone often through this Valley, and have been much harder put to it than now I am.

Yet you see I am alive.’ The question for this issue of Sofia is whether the Christian Grand Narrative is dead if we discard its supernatural elements. Or in what way is the story still alive? In what way is Jesus Christ still present? In his article ‘What Really Happened at Easter?’ Eric Whittaker offers an imaginary reconstruction of Cleopas and his wife Mary on the road to Emmaus three days after Jesus’ crucifixion.

Whittaker points out that Paul, who has left us the earliest New Testament writings, never mentions the Empty Tomb, Paul’s meeting with Jesus ‘on the Damascus road was obviously a vision, and was in any case long after the forty day period’, but Paul always believed that it was on a par with Jesus’ other Easter appearances ‘and no one disputed this’.

His article inspired me to check Paul’s account in his letter to the Corinthians (I:15:3-9) in my Greek New Testament. He gives a list of appearances of the risen Christ and the verb he repeatedly uses (4 times) to describe them is ’ƹƶƨƧ (ophthe): meaning ‘he was seen’. This is an aorist passive form. He uses the same word for all the appearances, including his own vision on the road to Damascus ‘last of all’… In an extract from his forthcoming book Geoffrey Crocker argues that in stories like the Yet You See I am Alive Soon this cold winter will be over at last and Easter is approaching. The title of this issue of Sofia comes from the words of Bunyan’s Great-Heart. editorial SOF Annual Conference Leicester University 27-29 July 2010 Speakers:

Maryam Namazie, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International Third Speaker to be confirmed Don Cupitt will reflect on each day’s activities For more details and booking forms see insert fliers or contact Sea of Faith Conference 10 Brindle Close Southampton SO16 3PJ sofconf10@yahoo.co.uk 02380 445275 Resurrection, myth has greater power than a literal interpretation. I have also printed an edited version of the talk I gave to the Oxford SOF 2009 Day Conference, arguing that the Christian Grand Narrative can be translated fruitfully and without much difficulty into non-supernatural terms. On the other hand, another speaker at the Conference, Victor Anderson, thinks we should move on from that old narrative and suggests that the tremendous story of the Universe and our own Earth, including our own evolution, is more worthy of our respect because it is literally true. He has sent a résumé of his talk to be printed in this issue too.

At the bottom of page 3 you will find an announcement of this year’s annual SOF Conference, whose theme is Religion and Social Justice. You will find a booking form and further details on inserted fliers. Please book early for what looks as if it will be an interesting and challenging event, as well as all its social joys.

Jesus was not ‘seriously relaxed about the superrich.’ And in Psalm 119 the psalmist prays that his heart may not be inclined to covetousness or his eyes to vanity. This Sofia includes a meditation on that Psalm by David S. Lee, who says ‘none of these insights into the meaning of the psalms requires belief in a supernatural God.’ We have also included an extract from Psalm 119 in Miles Coverdale’s translation of 1535 (the version in the old Book of Common Prayer). We are delighted to show below another cartoon by Josh, done specially for Sofia, on the theme of Jesus’ famous camel joke.