Noel

Christians believe that God is perfect. He is perfectly good, perfectly just, perfectly kind, perfectly loving. God is the epitome of love, of justice, of truth.

We must, however, in our minds separate God from the church. The Christian Church is far from perfect. Like all religions, it is flawed. Not only is its history replete with acts of cruelty, barbarism and terror but, to this day, it suffers from the same maladies as other institutions staffed and run by men.

Yet, despite this, when church members challenge or even question certain aspects of what we are asked to believe, some religious leaders pounce on their expressions of doubt as if they are heretical. As an Anglican, I have always felt free to question, to even challenge, some aspects of what the church teaches, but in recent times some of my colleagues have begun to look at my questionings askance. My recent questions on the 'Epiphany', the calendar event of the church that follows Christmas, have again raised eyebrows.

Pope infallible

The problem stems from the fact that Christians believe that Christ said to Peter, the disciple, "upon this rock I shall build my church." So, Peter was ordained by Christ as the leader of the church. After his death others were elected to follow Peter. Thus came the concept of the pope. Since these times the Christian church has grown into a world-wide phenomenon with a large number of denominations and varying versions and interpretations of the doctrine. Only the Roman Catholics still focus on the leader of the church as being the direct 'descendant' of Peter and that when he speaks ex cathedra (from the chair of Peter) he is perfectly correct always - he is infallible.

But, on the other hand, most denominations seem to believe that the church itself is infallible because 'the Holy Spirit would not allow the Church to err in its belief or teaching'. This thinking led to the early church becoming self-important and self-righteous and led to people who disagreed with the church's teachings being considered heretics and often put to death (notwithstanding the fundamental Christian principles of love, charity and "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us").

But there are quite a few church-going Christians who do not accept the idea of the church as being infallible. This does not affect their faith as this is based on the idea that it is God, in Christ and the Holy Spirit, who is infallible.

It is this idea of the fallibility of the Church that has led to my being eyed with suspicion by my zealous friends. I have always averred that, because of how and by whom it was compiled, it is possible that the Bible is too 'Holy Land-based'. As a result, I believe, the general view of the Epiphany is misleading. 'The Epiphany' refers to 'the revelation of Christ to the gentiles (non-Jews)'. The way it is presented suggests that these non-Jews had Christ 'revealed' to them. But the Bible states clearly that these men had been looking for a sign and, on receiving it, travelled to worship - and bear gifts for the Saviour of the world. These men were among the first true 'worshippers of Christ' or Christians. They then returned, their faith, their belief in this Saviour, affirmed and strengthened, to their home countries - where they were important men.

Are we to believe that, in their homelands, they were alone in their belief? That they did not spread the 'good news' to others? If so, where is the record of their lives, their work, souls that were won? Where is their 'gospel' for us to read? Could they be among the 'other sheep have I' to which Christ referred?

I have a personal interest in these men, seeing that they tend to look so much more like me than most of the other persons who were around the Christ Child.

Keith Noel is an educator. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com