Sunday Letter

 Benefice of St Mary’s Chard, Combe St Nicholas, Wambrook and Whitestaunton 

25th October 2020 

Dear Friends,

 This is the last Sunday of the period we call ‘Ordinary Time’ or Trinity. It is traditionally Bible Sunday when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Scriptures. 

The Bible is at the heart of our Christian faith and yet it has been misused as much as it has been used, and even today it causes controversy and heated argument.

 I must say straight away that I am not a fundamentalist when it comes to the Bible. I do not believe it to be literal truth and I think taking it as that misses much of the wonderful complexity of what the Bible is. 

First and foremost, the Bible is a record of humanity’s encounter and relationship with God. It tells us how those living centuries ago, and in other lands, saw God and how their relationship with God changed and developed over time. It is rich with history, with geography, poetry, songs, prophecies, parables and stories. The hundreds of voices that we hear speak to us across the centuries, telling us about their encounters with God and their faith, can still enrich our lives now and help us to understand our own faith. 

For me, the more I learn about the Bible, its history, its language. and its theology, the more I find it fascinating and the more I find it enriches my life. 

Reading and understanding the Bible takes time and it takes work. If we are to encounter God through it then we must take it seriously and try and understand why and by whom its many parts were written. It isn’t a story book, it isn’t a blueprint, or a guidebook. It isn’t purely history or literature. It is a testament to God and humanity bound together through time and God’s great work of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

In this way the Bible is the word of God, for most importantly, that word became flesh. The opening of John’s gospel, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God’ is John’s lovely explanation of who Jesus is. Jesus is the fulfilment of the Scriptures, the word of God incarnate. The New Testament is a fulfilment of all that went before in the Old Testament and it opens up God’s word not just to Israel but to all of us. 

However you encounter the Bible, whether it be on a daily basis, through Bible notes or a Bible study group or hearing it read and preached upon in church, I hope that it opens your heart and mind to wanting to know more, both about the Bible itself and about God. 

I encourage you to keep reading it, even when it doesn’t make sense, or it seems too hard or too harsh. Keep at it and you will be richly rewarded. 

Blessings Ann