The ideas in Circles of Thorns are being explored in Canterbury in the form of two lectures. If you would like to follow the themes and structure of Circles of Thorns in your own Lenten study, then please feel free to:

• listen to the podcasts. The Sunday evening sermons (c 20 mins) and the Tuesday lunchtime Lent lectures (c 40 mins) will appear the day (DV) after delivery.
• use this series of thoughts, readings, meditations and questions. A PDF can also be downloaded for easier printing and later reference.

Circles of Thorns: Circle 2 (Elements) Sermon version [ 30:16 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (251)

Circles of Thorns: Circle 2 (Elements) lecture version [ 42:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (283)

Circle 2 / Week 2 / Elements

It is indeed, marvellous that science should ever have revived amid the fearful obstacles theologians cast in her way. Together with a system of biblical interpretation so stringent, and at the same time so capricious, that it infallibly came into collision with every discovery that was not in accordance with the unaided judgement of the senses, and therefore with the familiar expressions of the Jewish writers, everything was done to cultivate a habit of thought the direct opposite of the habits of science. The constant exaltation of blind faith, the countless miracles, the childish legends, all produced a condition of besotted ignorance, of grovelling and trembling credulity that can scarcely be parallelled except among the most degraded barbarians.

William Lecky, The History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism (1865)

How much does the usual story of the warfare between science and religion affect you? Do you think science and scientific discoveries should inform your faith? Do you think science threatens religion, or your faith?

Usually even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and the moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn.

St Augustine of Hippo, The Literal Meaning of Genesis, e. C5th AD

What science do you think is necessary for the believer to know? Are you comfortable with Christian leaders or believers “talking nonsense” about science?

In medieval science the fundamental concept was that of certain sympathies, antipathies, and strivings inherent in matter itself. Everything has its right place, its home, the region that suits it, and, if not forcibly restrained, moves thither by a sort of homing instinct.

C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image (1964)

In what ways does Chaucer’s “kyndely enclyning” of creation still find expression today?

The universe is genuinely mysterious, grand, beautiful, awe-inspiring. The kinds of views of the universe which religious people have traditionally embraced have been puny, pathetic, and measly in comparison to the way the universe actually is. The universe presented by organised religions is a poky little medieval universe, and extremely limited.

Richard Dawkins, ‘A Survival Machine’ (1996)

What works of art, religious or otherwise, do you know which express a “genuinely, mysterious, grand, beautiful, awe-inspiring” view of the universe. Is it a film, a book, a painting, a photograph, a piece of music? What moves you, and why?

Questions for further reflection

1. Do you think it is important for Christian believers to understand the latest scientific discoveries?
2. Is it possible to be a Christian and a scientist?
3. Should Christians ever oppose the consequences of scientific discoveries? If so, on what should the opposition be based?
4. Theology was once called the “Queen of Sciences”. Does it still have something to teach science today?
5. C. S. Lewis said “astrology was a hard-headed, stern, anti-idealistic affair; the creed of men who wanted a universe which admitted no incalculables.” In what way is this similar to the role of science in our society today?

  Lenten Study Guide for Circles of Thorns: Week 2 (42.6 KiB, 73 hits)
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The ideas in Circles of Thorns are being explored in Canterbury in the form of two lectures. One, a sermon, delivered in St Stephen’s Church, on the Sunday evenings of Lent; the other, longer version, a lecture as part of the Canterbury City Centre Parish Lent Lectures, delivered in St Peter’s Church on Tuesday lunchtimes. The first will be about 20 minutes in length, the second about 40 minutes. Audio versions will be posted by the morning following delivery. Feel free to listen to either or both of them!

Circles of Thorns: Circle 1 (Politics) [ 24:15 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (321)

Circles of Thorns: Circle 1 (Politics) expanded version [ 38:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (257)

Circle 1 / Week 1 / Politics

Sometimes we are told that politics is the realistic science: there is no room for naivety or sentiment in working the art of the possible. We are told this, usually, when something unpleasant or unethical is about to be done in our name. Our liberties, our way of life, our system of government, is dependent on violent things being done by violent people. Bosch here shows the government of his day as good as complicit in Christ’s torture, and he refuses to allow us to look away. We can’t afford the moral luxury of proclaiming “not in my name” and thinking that lets us off the hook. Bosch here tells us that there is no neutral place to stand, no safe haven, when it comes to the ways of the world. The men and systems we look to for our protection may be the ones perpetuating the violence. As Bob Dylan wrote “We live in a political world / Love don’t have any place. We’re living in times where men commit crimes / And crime don’t have a face”.

How are we to be followers of Christ in such a world?

The Church has been responsible for much suffering in its long existence. It is a body made up of people, with a powerful idea at its heart. Any powerful idea is open to corruption, and the actions of the Church have, on occasions, been corrupting. Very rarely has these actions been the result of knowing wickedness. Even the witch-burners thought they were doing good, protecting their Church and their society from evil-doers. We can see the wickedness in the actions of our ancestors. Will our descendants look at our beliefs and behaviour and think that we were as corrupt as any? In what ways are we like the dark man, pretending a compassion for Jesus and his world, and yet behaving in ways that continue the crucifixion?

In what ways do we draw a tighter, harder, narrower circle of Christ’s love? In what ways do we use the Crown of thorns as a weapon?

If God is talking to you, too, Mr Cameron – don’t listen… If today the Church of England is wishy-washy and middle-of-the-road, that is no accident. It is the long-term result of Elizabeth [I]’s design. Britain has benefited enormously from a weak clergy that has mainly remained aloft from politics. Britain’s established church, headed by the monarch, has made few demands of our leaders or people… men of power who take instruction from unseen forces are essentially fanatics… theocrats, religious leaders or fanatics citing holy texts dictate violent actions. That constitutes the greatest threat to world peace today.
Michael Portillo, The Sunday Times, 25 February 2007

In what ways is Michael Portillo right? In what ways is he wrong? Does it depend merely on personal preference?

How do we live, as true to our religious and cultural heritage, when those who are “other” no longer live outside our borders, but among us, as part of us, as Europeans?

Questions for further reflection

1. Is it possible to think of Christ’s Passion continuing into Bosch’s day or even our own times? If not, why not?
2. If we can think of Christ’s mocking continuing in our own day, who would you place in the position of the four tormentors?
3. What does your choice of tormentor say about your relationship with Jesus: who do you need to protect him from?
4. Do the political choices you make add to Christ’s mocking? Which tormentor are you?

  Lenten Study Guide for Circles of Thorns: Week 1 (45.1 KiB, 103 hits)
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Although Circles of Thorns was not written as a Lent book, it has ended up being published as the Mowbrays Lent book for 2009, and the five “circles” of the book’s examination of Christ Mocked by Hieronymus Bosch can be easily applied to the five weeks of Lent.

In case there is anyone who is interested in keeping the “observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word” (in the words of the Ash Wednesday service of the Church of England), and would like to do so using the structure of Circles of Thorns, I will attach a series of thoughts, readings, meditations and questions. A new set will appear each Wednesday in Lent.

A PDF can also be downloaded for easier printing and later reference. Podcasts (audio files) of the Sunday evening sermons and the Tuesday lunchtime Lent lectures will also appear the day (DV) after delivery.