Religion has been one cause of conflict and separation. There are signs that exclusive and conservative religious groups are still a danger to the peace of the world, writes a highly-regarded Pacific theologian Bernard Thorogood, who asks some questions for Christian people.

With an introduction by Ron Crocombe:

Bernard Thorogood is well known to older Cook Islanders. He was head of the London Missionary Society church (now Cook Islands Christian Church) in Aitutaki in the early 1950s and then replaced Reverend Murphy as head of the London Missionary Society for the Cook Islands, and Principal of Takamoa Theological College.

Kiribati and Tuvalu then asked him to go there and set up a theological college for them in Tarawa, which he did ...– Tangintebu Theological College still operates.

After Kiribati he became head of the Council for World Mission (CWM) based in London. CWM replaced the London Missionary Society after it encouraged each country to set up its own church. CWM helped churches throughout Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands that had been part of the London Missionary Society, with information, education and other services.

Next Reverend Thorogood became President of the British Council of Churches, a post he held until retirement. Then he migrated to Australia to retire but the Uniting Churches of Australia kept him busy conducting lectures and examinations at their eleven theological colleges throughout Australia. He lives in Sydney and sent a copy of this paper, which he recently wrote and circulated to friends in Australia. The friend asked if it could be made available in the Cook Islands and he said it could be used wherever it might be a stimulus to thought. As he is very highly regarded internationally, highly educated, and very experienced, we thought his views would interest friends in the Pacific.

by Bernard Thorogood

As an old missionary, now living in Australia, I have tried to face the deep questions that arise in the modern world about our faith. Perhaps others may be encouraged to share in this discussion and may come to different answers.

1. One Human Family

We cannot escape from the reality of one international family of humanity, for we are all interdependent. But religion has been one cause of conflict and separation. There are signs that exclusive and conservative religious groups are still a danger to the peace of the world. They occur in American fundamentalist Christianity, traditional Jewish groups in Israel, militant Islam and nationalist Hinduism in India.

Can we learn from the past and heal old wounds? Only if we are prepared to live as good neighbours with people of different faith, respecting their convictions. This means that we do not deny or ridicule everything they hold sacred. Perhaps we shall come to see that our faith is not exclusive by has room for mystery and new discovery. My truth does not always have to exclude your truth.

2. What kind of Book?

We build our Christian faith on the basis of the Bible. A century of scholarship has shown us what a complex book it is. Compiled from many sources over a 1000 year period, shaped by the cultures of the Middle East, it is as varied as coral on the reef. Some parts bring us the most exalted vision of God, others are full of nationalist anger and savagery. The four Gospels are compiled from varied material and none of them presents a full life of Jesus, which we would surely wish to have.

This makes me ask how we are to read and appreciate this strange and complex book today. It was written by people like ourselves, who used the popular language of their day and who could make mistakes. It tells of the journey of an ancient people from a belief in a God of the tribe to the worship of the Creator of all. It tells of the man from Nazareth who revealed the heart of God. So I believe that we have to read it with care, not as the quick answer to every modern problem, but as a precious window into the meaning of God and how God meets us in our human life.

3. Unchanging Faith?

I often wonder why we expect religious faith and practice to be unchanging when human life changes constantly through the centuries. There have been many social revolutions - science, humanism, democracy, feminism, population growth, the rise and fall of empires, technology and communications. These have changed the way we understand ourselves and our world. Can faith remain unchanged?

For example, the churches have been male-dominated for 2000 years, mainly because that is how society generally was organised. Now we all know that women can do every kind of work and have every talent. Some churches still do not recognise this and so fail to use the gifts of half the people, keeping to a male-only clergy. They may call this faithfulness to tradition, but I have come to see it as stubbornness and folly.

Or we can think what is meant by sacrifice offered to God to win forgiveness. It was, in that ancient world, the common way of pleading for mercy. But can we today think that God needed the sacrifice of Christ on the cross in order to be forgiving? I have come to see it the other way round ...– God makes the offering to us in the birth, life and death of Jesus.

I do not think that the ancient creeds determine faith for ever; they tell us how people understood Christ then and they witness to their great faith. We thank God for them but we also have to think for ourselves.

4. Christian Mission?

Like most people when I was a young man, I thought of mission as the expanding kingdom of Christ. I believed that other religions would fade away as Christianity became the universal faith. Now I doubt that for over 50 years, I have seen the other great faiths not fading away but becoming more active and confident. What is Christian mission in a world of many faiths?

First, to listen and learn. Christianity has a teacher-complex. It always seeks to teach, not to listen to the people. But we all have much to learn from the human family. Basic respect requires that we always seek to appreciate those we address.

Second, to serve. As neighbours in one world, we are committed to serve one another as best we can. To feed the hungry, care for the sick and rescue the oppressed is to serve Jesus Christ. That is how we meet Christ in our world.

Third, to witness. We are not called to convert others. For that is the work of God in the human heart. But we are called to witness what we have seen and heard and suffered, and to do that with intelligence and love.

That, very briefly, is where I have reached in my own journey of faith. I wonder whether others are on the same road?