The new presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church in the United States, Katharine Jefferts Schori, was recently interviewed in Time Magazine and she was asked a very straight question. You often find religious questions dealt with in a much more straightforward way in the secular press than in the religious press. ‘Is belief in Jesus the only way to get to heaven?’ She replied: ‘We who practise the Christian tradition understand him (Jesus) as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully small box.’In other words, according to Mrs Jefferts Schori, no, belief in Jesus is not the only way to get to heaven. It is for those of us who practise the Christian tradition – belief in Jesus is our vehicle to the divine, but there are other cars for hire or other taxis in the rank displaying various religious brand names that can get you to heaven equally well. To suggest otherwise is to put God in an awfully small box, she argues.At our bridgethegap@5 services in the run-up to Easter, we’re going to be looking at Jesus’ perspective on this question. Did Jesus teach that belief in him was the only way to get to heaven? In order to answer that question we’re looking at the so-called ‘I am’ sayings in John’s gospel, Jesus’ take on himself. These ‘I am’ sayings are not what other people said about Jesus – they are what Jesus said about himself. Jesus’ ‘I am’ sayings in John’s Gospel include: ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst (John 6v35); ‘I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’ (John 8v12); and ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me’ (John 14v6). None of us wants to put God in a small box, but we do want to make sure that we worship God on his terms not on ours. In fact, Mrs Jefferts Schori’s view is flatly contradicted by the official teaching of the Church of England. Article 18 of our 39 Articles of Religion states emphatically that Holy Scripture sets out for us only the Name of Jesus Christ by which men and women must be saved. All are welcome to join us at our bridgethegap@5 services – in the run-up to Easter the dates are: Sundays February 11th, March 11th and April 1st. Pop and buns are served from 4.30pm and there is opportunity for discussion and inter-action during these services.With all good wishes in Christ’s service,
Julian Mann
Vicar