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 | Articles by
Richard Holloway
former Anglican Primus of Scotland |
The Absence of God
In this Lenten Talk written for the BBC, Richard Holloway highlights the difficulties of using words to give meaning to the world around us. When he tries to use words to get to the divine behind the things of the world, he finds himself waiting in "The Absence of God" as faithfully as he can.
The Danger of Sincere Religion
We think we know what the Parable of the Good Samaritan means. But familiarity sometimes obscures the truth. In "The Danger of Sincere Religion", first preached at St Mark's, Broomhill, UK, Richard Holloway turns the accepted meaning of the parable on its head to good effect.
The Sixth Paradigm
Hans Kung developed five paradigms to describe the main forms which Christianity has taken over the ages. Richard Holloway proposes a Sixth Paradigm which is in the process of emerging. The Christian faith is presently exploring the borders of entirely new territory.
The Burning Mystery
We tend to insist on knowing "what really happened". When this modern paradigm is applied to the Bible, problems arise. Richard Holloway's sermon to the 1999 Anglican Consultative Council helps us understand The Burning Mystery.
Religion on the Level
Gresham Lectures
by Richard Holloway
What's the use of God?
Claims to absolute truth result in exclusivity. The better route to truth is passionate questing - that's what "God-botherers" do!
What's the use of the Bible?
How can those who haven't found ultimate answers use the Bible? What happens when we question the underlying
assumptions of fundamentalism?
What's the use of Jesus?
Unlike ecclesiastical powers, Jesus spoke with an intrinsic
authority which touches us deeply. He calls us to forgive even enemies and to harness power for justice.
What's the use of the Church?
An ancient human response to anxiety is to create barriers
against uncertainty. Thus the Church is both anti-life as it
protects its power, and also the body which witnesses to the
staggering unconditional acceptance of Jesus.
What's the use of Hell?
The insecure use the terrors of hell to control others. In fact,
Hell exists in the history of mankind and in the "blackmail
of the ideal" of perfectability.
What's the use of Heaven?
Theologies of anxiety need a Heaven in the hereafter as an
"image of longing" for the perfect. Another, life-affirming
tradition works through repentance to transform the world.
The Myths of Christianity
Gresham Lectures
Richard Holloway
The Broken Myth
Why is it that some need to preserve certain religious images? They give it a reality which is fundamentally different from the past and yet cling to their myths tenaciously. The Myth of Original Sin
Theologians tend to blithely dismiss the Old Testament story of Adam and Eve as a "myth" - that is, as essentially untrue. But is it? Or, despite Augustine's sick distortions, does it still eloquently describe a permanent human reality?
The Myth of Justification by Faith
Paul began the long process of turning his liberating experience of Jesus into a so-called objective fact of Christian dogma. Paul experienced slavery to the Jewish law and found joyful freedom through Jesus.
The Myth of the Incarnation
As a myth, the Incarnation can convey powerful truths about the young Jesus. Used as an absolute truth, as a power-play to cajole or force others to conform, it's transformed into a false teaching.
The Myth of the Resurrection
The Christian belief - indeed any religious belief - can be merely a device for containing obsolete interpretations of truth. What really matters is the "cash value" of our convictions.
The End of Religion
We are creatures who, by nature, seek the meaning of life and the of the universe. A majority of our Western culture now perceive meaning in terms very different from ages past. A few still cling to constructs from ancient times - even though they mean little to the contemporary mind.
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Richard Holloway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Holloway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard F. Holloway (born 26 November 1933) is a Scottish writer and
broadcaster and was formerly
Bishop of Edinburgh in the
Scottish Episcopal Church.
Holloway was educated at
Kelham Theological College,
Edinburgh Theological College and the
Union Theological Seminary, New York City. Between 1959 and 1986 he was a curate, vicar and rector at various parishes in England, Scotland and the United States. He was Bishop of Edinburgh from 1986 and was elected
Primus of the
Scottish Episcopal Church in 1992. He resigned from these positions in 2000 and is now regarded as one of the most outspoken and controversial figures in the Church,
[1] having taken an agnostic worldview and commenting widely on issues concerning religious belief in the modern world. His own theological position has become increasingly radical and he has recently described himself as an "after-religionist".
[2]
Holloway is well known for his support of
progressive causes, including campaigning on
human rights for
gay and
lesbian people in both
Church and State. He is a patron of
LGBT Youth Scotland, an organisation dedicated to the inclusion of
LGBT young people in the life of Scotland. He has questioned and addressed complex
ethical issues in the areas of
sexuality,
drugs and
bioethics. He has written extensively on these topics, being the author of more than 20 books exploring their relationship with modern
religion.
A Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh, Holloway was Professor of Divinity at
Gresham College in the
City of London. From 1990 to 1997, he was a member of the
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and held the position of chair of the
BMA Steering Group on Ethics and Genetics. He was also a member of the
Broadcasting Standards Commission and is currently chair of the
Scottish Arts Council and of
Sistema Scotland.
Holloway has been a reviewer and writer for the broadsheet press for several years, including
The Times,
The Guardian,
The Independent,
Sunday Herald and
The Scotsman. He is also a frequent presenter on radio and television, having hosted the
BBC television series
When I Get to Heaven,
Holloway's Road and
The Sword and the Cross. He currently hosts the
BBC Radio Scotland book review programme,
Cover Stories. Holloway presented the second of the
Radio 4 Lent Talks on 11 March 2009. On May 28 2012, he began presenting a fifteen-minute programme about faith and doubt, following
The World at One on
BBC Radio 4, called
Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle.
Holloway lives in
Edinburgh with his American-born wife Jean. They have three adult children; two daughters and a son.
Selected works
- Beyond Belief (1981)
- Paradoxes of Christian Faith and Life (1984)
- The Way of the Cross (1986)
- Crossfire: Faith and Doubt in an Age of Uncertainty (1988)
- Who needs Feminism? (1991)
- Anger, Sex, Doubt and Death (1992)
- Dancing On The Edge: Faith In A Post-Christian Age (1997)
- Godless Morality: Keeping Religion out of Ethics (1999).
- Doubts and Loves: What is Left of Christianity (2001)
- On Forgiveness: How can we Forgive the Unforgivable? ISBN 1-84195-358-X (2002)
- Looking in the Distance: The Human Search for Meaning (2004)
- How To Read The Bible (2006)
- Between the Monster and the Saint (2008)
- Leaving Alexandria: A Memoir of Faith and Doubt (2012)
- Leaving Alexandria: A Memoir of Faith and Doubt (2012)
External links
References
- ^ Archer, Bert (2009-10-24). "Ex-bishop preaches a kinder atheism". Toronto Star. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ Turpin, Adrian (August 3, 2008). "Richard Holloway dissects the nature of evil". The Times. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
