Scott Stephens on Catholic sexual abuse

Scott Stephens' piece over at the ABC is one of the most important things I've read in some time. Scott discusses the findings of a major new empirical study on The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010 – a report that has been widely ignored by the media, since it doesn't fit with the media's favourite grand narrative about the sexual deviance of Catholic priests.

The study, Scott says, shows "a sudden and disturbing increase in instances of sexual abuse from 1960, reaching its hellish pinnacle in 1975, followed by a sharp and sustained decline from 1985 to the present". By 2001, there were 5 reported cases of sexual abuse per 100,000 children (compared to 134 cases of abuse for every 100,000 children in American society as a whole in the same year). By 2010, there were just 7 reported cases across the entire Catholic Church in the United States. The report thus describes "the 'crisis' of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests" as really a "historical problem."

Scott discusses many other aspects of the report's findings. Most interesting, I thought, is his suggestion that "the foetid cultural soil of the 60s and 70s proved uncommonly conducive to the commission of sexual abuse" – and that the Church's reinstatement of a "punitive approach" to sexual deviance (as opposed to its earlier adoption of fashionable "therapeutic" approaches – counselling, treatment, relocation), together with "John Paul II's radical reform of seminary life and the spiritual formation of priests".

Thus Scott offers his own blistering conclusion: "Those who incessantly call for an end to sexual abuse in the Church are effectively trying to break down an open door." The deepest problem, he thinks, was the cultural milieu of the 1960s, with its vociferous opposition to all taboos, and its sinister promotion of unchecked sexual experimentation. (Sinister if you happened to be a child at the time.)

Speaking of Scott – if you're in Sydney, don't forget to come and join us tonight for a lively wine-and-cheese discussion with Tomáš Halik.

Michael Ramsey Prize winner: David Bentley Hart

This year the prestigious Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing has gone to David Bentley Hart for his book Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies (Yale University Press). The £10,000 prize was awarded today by Rowan Williams.

Williams described David Bentley Hart not only as "a theologian of exceptional quality" but also "a brilliant stylist":

This book takes no prisoners in its response to fashionable criticisms of Christianity. But what makes it more than just another contribution to controversy is the way he shows how the most treasured principles and values of compassionate humanism are rooted in the detail of Christian doctrine. I am pleased that we have identified a prize winning book that is so distinctive in its voice. It is never bland. It will irritate some, but it will also challenge and inspire readers inside and outside the church. No one could pretend after reading this that Christian theology was lacking in intellectual and imaginative force or in relevance to the contemporary world.

It's true: Hart is an extraordinary prose stylist and a brilliant controversialist. He's a unique voice in contemporary theology. Grumpy, elegant, outrageous, and delightful – often all at the same time. Though this isn't my favourite of his books – I don't think it's as good as The Doors of the Sea, for example – it's great to see his writing recognised in this way.

The other shortlisted books were:

• Thomas E. Reynolds, Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and Hospitality (Brazos Press)
• Christopher Cocksworth, Holding Together: Gospel, Church, Spirit (Canterbury Press)
• Richard Harries, The Re-enchantment of Morality (SPCK)
• Angel F. Montoya, The Theology of Food: Eating and the Eucharist (Wiley-Blackwell)
• Robert Hughes, Beloved Dust: Tides of the Spirit in the Christian Life (Continuum)

Has anyone read that last one by Robert Hughes? It sounds really impressive, but I haven't got a copy yet. If anyone has read it, I'd love to know what you thought of it.

On Narnia and talking trees

Drawing by Aaron Pocock

For quite some time now, I've been reading C. S. Lewis's Narnia books aloud to my children before bed – and we've just started on the seventh one, The Last Battle. So here's an email that my wife sent me today:

This morning Jamie came inside crying, looking very scared. He said, "There is a talking tree outside but it couldn't talk!" I asked a few questions, and it turns out the tree near the swing set has a crack which is most definitely a scary mouth, even though it didn't talk. I told him there were only talking trees in the land of Narnia, not in our world. He agreed this was true, but added that all trees have eyes and mouths and noses inside them. Then he changed his mind and said trees are actually made up of green and yellow jelly on the inside. Yummy.

Rapture: news update

Breaking news: Across America yesterday, ferocious packs of sharp-clawed bipedal dinosaurs were seen entering churches, prayer meetings, ladies' baking groups, and other hotbeds of evangelical piety. Many of the country's most outspoken Christian leaders, including Family Radio broadcaster Harold Camping, have been taken by the grisly predators. It is believed that the prehistoric visitors were the result of a small but significant spelling error in the heavenly Diary. According to sources close to heaven's Department of Future Woes, the entry for 21 May reads: "Unleash the raptor on the saints."

The mistake is thought to be the most serious blunder in the heavenly Diary since the mass outbreak of appendicitis in Jerusalem in 1994 – an incident that was later found to be the result of a scribal error in the Diary: "6 September 1994: Now beginneth the Abdomination of Desolation."

Tomas Halik in Sydney

I've posted before on Tomáš Halík's remarkable book on atheism, Patience with God. And I'm very happy to say that Halík will be coming to Sydney next month for an evening of theological conversation. In a public interview with ABC's Scott Stephens, Halik will discuss faith, doubt, and atheism in today’s world. There'll also be wine and cheese – so come along and join us! Full details here.

King James Bible: anniversary site

OK, drop everything and head on over to the ABC's new anniversary site for the King James Bible.

The site will be featuring loads of good stuff in the weeks ahead, all celebrating the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. Already you can read Diarmaid MacCulloch on politics and the KJV; Tom Wright on Bible translation (including some samples from his own forthcoming translation of the New Testament); Barry Spurr on the Bible and liturgy; Philip Jenkins on the Bible in Luther and Africa; John McClean on the Bible and the word of God; and Laura Knoppers on the Bible and the English revolution.

The site will also feature a growing number of audio readings from the King James. You can hear John Bell's (very lovely) reading from the Song of Solomon; and Tim Costello's (very Australian) reading from Ephesians.

Elsewhere in the ABC, I'd recommend this wonderful audio recording of Robert Alter's lecture on the eloquence of the King James Bible. And – just to mention it one more time – if you haven't read his Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Bible, it's still the best of all the new books I've seen on the King James.