I was recently stopped in the street by a pair of young Christians who wanted to know if I knew Jesus.  Foolishly, perhaps, I did not make polite noises and move swiftly on.  Instead, we talked.

As I had expected, it soon became clear that our crucial difference was the Bible.  They were Biblical literalists and I am not.  This meant that, although they may have found me a congenial and engaging person, in their eyes I was not an authentic Christian.

It was not my Biblical stance alone that did for me.  I think what crunched it was my clear conviction that there is nothing anyone has to do to be saved/redeemed/justified/accepted; that, in Christ, what needs to be done has been done, once and for all - for all.

We have a gospel to proclaim and it is grace, grace, grace and, in case you missed it, grace.  Not only amazing but also outrageous and scandalous grace.  Make your list of the top ten most villainous people in history and then the top ten most commendable - presumably, neither includes you - and then consider how you feel  when I remind you that all twenty are counted in; they are precious sons and daughters of the living God; they are forgiven loved and home free.

Robert Farrar Capon, an American Anglican priest, writes theology that will make you laugh out loud in public.  A good starter would be "The Mystery of Christ and Why We Don't Get It".  He suggests that to describe the Church as catholic is a contradiction in terms; that the Church is a human organisation which cannot help defining people as in or out,  and that the grace of God is universal - includes everyone.

Perhaps it is truly Anglican to be a churchperson who believes in the grace of God.

Peter Knight
Rector
Malvern Link with Cowleigh