tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post6987152211427127849..comments2024-03-12T03:53:57.725-04:00Comments on Faith and Theology: Rowan Williams: a letter to a six-year-oldBen Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800127501735910966noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-66145092504663288552015-02-23T20:34:25.789-05:002015-02-23T20:34:25.789-05:00Beautifully put Archbishop Rowan. I always did get...Beautifully put Archbishop Rowan. I always did get more from the kids stories!<br />B. Richardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-27538103932664395472015-02-22T10:57:00.253-05:002015-02-22T10:57:00.253-05:00Jesus saved the woman from stoning and forgave her...Jesus saved the woman from stoning and forgave her. Love and forgiveness - last time I watched the news looks like our world could heed this example. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-46729320576206016452015-02-22T10:53:17.773-05:002015-02-22T10:53:17.773-05:00Bull? Why does your belief have to be right and th...Bull? Why does your belief have to be right and the arch bishops wrong? He's done his research to be fair. How much have you looked into faith? I wouldn't say the Jewish faith is Bull because I only have the world/media edited viewpoint. Jesus may be a swear word to many in the UK but he basically said love each other. Last time I watched the news this world could do with heeding this advice more than ever.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-31392712033876368172015-02-21T19:31:50.661-05:002015-02-21T19:31:50.661-05:00Lovely.I had the pleasure of haveing a cup of tea ...Lovely.I had the pleasure of haveing a cup of tea along side Rowan Williams Archbishop in the vestry of st Matthews church Treorchy, Rhondda.A very nice person.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-58258116891012948462015-02-21T16:24:46.528-05:002015-02-21T16:24:46.528-05:00Oft times the most profound is said in such a simp...Oft times the most profound is said in such a simple way that one misses the simple truth it conveys !! <br />Richard W. Jenkins Jr, D.MinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-7094129758878850202015-02-21T12:30:38.416-05:002015-02-21T12:30:38.416-05:00It was Barth who said, I believe, in another place...It was Barth who said, I believe, in another place, that the whole of his 600 +/- volumes could be summarized thus: "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05753026573655367047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-75054563669051413712015-02-21T11:19:18.865-05:002015-02-21T11:19:18.865-05:00I think this is so good. A shame the others didn&...I think this is so good. A shame the others didn't reply or didn't reply in a meaningful way. A good reminder to us all not to over complicate theology. I hope that both Child and Parent may via this reply have a chance to look for and find GodColinWaldockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03275980588732051617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-47690891194998407552015-02-21T08:44:08.726-05:002015-02-21T08:44:08.726-05:00"Life of JC" includes resurrection, teac..."Life of JC" includes resurrection, teachings, the whole idea of an ordinary man with extraordinary ideas and resolve. "Resurrection of JC" focuses on one part of the story wich is sad and troubling for a child and less easily understand by many. Maybe a horrible story with the message that awful stuff happens to us all in life but with God's help and the example of JC we can get through it. I don't think a 5-yr old needs to hear all that just yet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-67065415011949752772011-12-23T21:17:47.428-05:002011-12-23T21:17:47.428-05:00That's so lovely!
I'm particularly touch...That's so lovely! <br /><br />I'm particularly touched by the effort the father went to get an answer for his daughter, particularly as he is a non-believer.Kiwi Orangehttp://pulse.yahoo.com/_UGRR7ELTVWWFCX263NLJMK5WJAnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-24457815561879521192011-07-28T23:59:36.538-04:002011-07-28T23:59:36.538-04:00Faith in the supernatural is, like many other nice...Faith in the supernatural is, like many other nice concepts, both simple and mistaken. Truth is almost always both mundane and complex.Stutznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-68510218840550491052011-05-27T05:36:28.737-04:002011-05-27T05:36:28.737-04:00It's a wonderfully written letter, and I love ...It's a wonderfully written letter, and I love the spirit that comes through in it. But I do want to quibble about this sentence: "From time to time I sent them some hints – specially in the life of Jesus – to help them get closer to what I’m really like." Perhaps it's just the one instance of poor phrasing in the letter, but that particular sentence seems to tend toward the idea that Jesus' life was important, special, and even unique - but not the Incarnation of the Living God. I certainly hope that the Archbishop of Canterbury is more orthodox than this one sentence makes him sound - but I guess the reason it stood out to me is that what I've read and heard from him didn't leave me with the conviction that his thought was, in fact, completely or even consistently within the Christian mainstream. But surely he wouldn't be mucking with Chalcedonian Christianity . . . would he?Ken Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09031647503349727336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-13610013195009917002011-05-20T15:50:35.471-04:002011-05-20T15:50:35.471-04:00God was just there all the time, that's his an...God was just there all the time, that's his answer? It's a lovely story, but just declaring this by fiat is nothing more than special pleading.<br /><br />Obviously a six year-old won't see through his fallacy, but I hope her dad will.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-84164204932013511932011-05-03T14:15:52.116-04:002011-05-03T14:15:52.116-04:00I once told Stanley Hauerwas that if he really wan...I once told Stanley Hauerwas that if he really wanted to see if his theology holds up, he should write children's books. <br /><br />He just laughed. Apparently, he taught Sunday School for a while, but, in his words, wasn't very good with six year olds. Oh well...<br /><br />I get the impression that Rowan would be a lovely Sunday School teacher, especially if he dressed up like Gandalf! Sunday School would be magical!Patrick McManusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-50353365062245332112011-05-03T04:44:11.326-04:002011-05-03T04:44:11.326-04:00One has to be amazed, not that the child asked the...One has to be amazed, not that the child asked the question, because it is my fiorm belief that children know God better than most adults, they ask US the questions in order to sound out what one may not believe in order to be accepted by the adult world. The kingdom of God belongs to them, they loose sight of it in contact with those whose sight has become impaired.<br />The venerable Rowan is quite close to what Jesus said: become like a child or the kin gdom goes on without you.<br />Terrific response.. and to those who say it is not an answer to her question I must say: if there was an answer to 'who invented God' then the eye can see itself while watching the world.<br />And to the best of my knowledge the eye never sees itself.. is it therefore no eye?<br /><br />Teddy Donobauer, Bible Teacher and retired Chef...Teddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01722990773133643329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-12392125559050314452011-05-01T02:16:45.580-04:002011-05-01T02:16:45.580-04:00awwwww i really like this :)awwwww i really like this :)Conrad Gairahttp://cguyra.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-49028543025400970242011-04-30T16:28:15.467-04:002011-04-30T16:28:15.467-04:00I don't think I could criticise the archbishop...I don't think I could criticise the archbishop's reply to the little girl. He packed in a lot in simple words, which is much more difficult than it looks, and he did it in a lovely way. One can nit-pick, and there may be ways to improve it a bit, but the love and concern shining out of it and the simple way Dr Williams said God can be seen in creation and specially in Jesus was brilliant. Thank you, Dr Williams!tungsramhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16048635565886863313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-14392605922191617202011-04-29T23:14:36.184-04:002011-04-29T23:14:36.184-04:00This fortunate young girl has asked a very searchi...This fortunate young girl has asked a very searching question in the way that so many children can. Growing up can ruin us, or at least, make it harder to find access to our most pressing questions in this world. Alvin Plantinga has said that "God Is Not Less Than A Person", which is a rather roundabout way of saying that God's personhood is definitve, and that he is, actually far more than a person compared to the personhood of humans; that is, we are "derived" creatures, so to say, compared to our God, Creator. Her question goes beyond even these issues, of course, toward deeper matters. One thinks of Leibniz, and of Eberhard Jungel, among others. DWLindemanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-14573405524085852992011-04-29T19:15:58.362-04:002011-04-29T19:15:58.362-04:00As brilliant as it is lovely.As brilliant as it is lovely.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-73926175989198153312011-04-29T01:36:00.468-04:002011-04-29T01:36:00.468-04:00“It's wrong to lie to children. It really is. ...“It's wrong to lie to children. It really is. No matter how sweet the lie.” I agree with this entirely. If you don’t believe in Santa and yet you play this cultural mythology game with your kids, then yes, you are lying to them and this will teach them not to believe you in relation to other things when they find out both that Santa does not exist and that you never believed it yourself. But, dear Anonymous, are you saying that Rowan Williams does not believe in God? If that were true, indeed he would be lying to this child, and that would be heinous. But lying is telling a deliberate falsehood, it is pretending to believe something you know to be false. If you had read anything that Rowan Williams has written about God, I would suggest you would not have ventured to imply such an obviously liable claim as that Williams does not believe in God. But what I take you to be actually implying is that you do not believe in God, so you take it that Williams is telling a falsehood (though he believes it to be true) to this young girl. Now, who is more likely to have thought this matter through on a deeper level – you or Rowan Williams? If you are going to simply proclaim the ‘obvious’ falsehood of the existence of God in a three sentence morally superior manner, as a mere assertion without any justification, then I find it hard to take your comment seriously.Paul Tysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00469200454286176877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-65959577159453868432011-04-28T18:38:16.670-04:002011-04-28T18:38:16.670-04:00It's wrong to lie to children. It really is. N...It's wrong to lie to children. It really is. No matter how sweet the lie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-71772489205401729942011-04-28T14:01:25.249-04:002011-04-28T14:01:25.249-04:00Those who are rubbishing this letter should take a...Those who are rubbishing this letter should take a look at their own beliefs - you're calling it "drivel" etc just because you don't believe in God? No matter how rational you are you probably believe in some things others don't - that's your right but you should respect others rights as well. Rowan Williams doesn't attack anyone or their different beliefs so you should respect his too and see this as what it is - a very sweet and well thought out letter to a six year old. <br /><br />I'm an agnostic by the way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-7654363946011741832011-04-28T13:45:07.487-04:002011-04-28T13:45:07.487-04:00What a LOAD of drivel.What a LOAD of drivel.Darwinhttp://beautifully.simple.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-2278818910680515432011-04-27T22:59:19.728-04:002011-04-27T22:59:19.728-04:00I must say, you’ve got one of the best blogs I’ve ...I must say, you’ve got one of the best blogs I’ve seen in a long time. What I wouldn’t give to be able to create a blog that as interesting as this. I guess Ill just have to keep reading yours and hope that one day I can write on a subject with as much knowledge as you’ve got on this one!Italiahttp://easterbliss.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-61885460510878738072011-04-27T21:52:12.660-04:002011-04-27T21:52:12.660-04:00Lovely!Lovely!Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16931621360901478360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-31072958076572175602011-04-27T18:22:38.055-04:002011-04-27T18:22:38.055-04:00I got chills. Love it!I got chills. Love it!C. Michael Pattonhttp://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blognoreply@blogger.com