Why The Cathedral Quran Reading Deserved Its Rebuke
by Peter Ould, Christian Today:
As Anglican rebukes go, it was a storm force four gale kind of one. The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church (the Scottish equivalent of the Archbishop of Canterbury) wrote on Saturday that: “The decisions which have led to the situation in St Mary’s Cathedral are a matter for the Provost and the Cathedral community but the Scottish Episcopal Church is deeply distressed at the widespread offence which has been caused.”
Trust me – in Anglican circles where the major synodical debates tend to be over which kind of quiche to serve afterwards, that’s a pretty stinging rebuke.
A previous vicar here in Canterbury wrote a book in which one chapter was called ‘The Cult of Nice’ which pretty well summed up the conflict-averse Anglican Church, both north and south of Hadrian’s Wall. Bishop David Chillingworth’s naming and shaming of Kelvin Holdsworth, the Provost of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow, was about as harsh as it gets.
What brought us to this point? It all began just over a week ago when on January 6 St Mary’s Cathedral held a service to mark the day. The Feast of the Epiphany is the celebration of the arrival of the Magi, the wise men (oh, the irony) but it is much more than that. The Magi are Gentiles, non-Jews, and their acknowledgement that Jesus was the Son of God represents an ‘Epiphany’, a revelation to the whole world of who Jesus is. This isn’t just a Jewish prophet, not just a special little baby – this child is the Saviour of the World, God Incarnate, the one who is to be worshipped (Gold), the only good High Priest (Frankincense) and the sacrifice for our sins (Myrrh).
Into this heady mix Kelvin Holdsworth brought the spice of a reading from the Quran. A Muslim law student stood up and recited verses from Surah 19 – Mary. They told the birth narrative of Jesus from an Islamic perspective, as the miracle super-baby who can speak even though he’s a few days old. Well, controversial stuff and it led to some online criticism, including from the former Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali who knows a thing or two about inter-faith dialogue.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
