St Mary Redcliffe Parish Magazine March 2019

lationship with the environment, and an explanation of our fallible nature
(i.e. “the fall” in Christian theology). The Jews saw Genesis in much the
same way except they see the knowledge of good and evil as being about
humanity acquiring moral responsibility rather than inherent sinfulness.
The Muslims were puzzled how it could ever be wrong to know good from
evil. They saw their passage as being about God’s gift of intellectual ability
to human beings. We were all agreed that both passages warn us against
elevating human wisdom above God’s wisdom.
Eve: Adam’s side-kick or equal partner?
The rabbi explained that the word translated as “helper” in our Genesis
passage is eizer k’negdo in the original Hebrew. “Eizer” indeed means helper.
But the second part, “k’negdo”, means “alongside or in sight of” — i.e. Eve
is not subordinate to Adam; her skills and abilities are complementary
to his, and each plays to the other’s strengths. The word also carries the
sense of “as if opposite” — i.e. each partner can bounce ideas off the other,
and re-think or even oppose where necessary.
The human race and the environment
The Jewish view of Genesis 1:28 (humankind to subdue/dominate the
earth) is that although those English words do correctly translate the
Hebrew word k-v-sh, that verse must not be read in isolation. In Genesis
2:15 Adam is put in the Garden of Eden to till and tend it, and even when
Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden, they (and by extension, we)
retain those responsibilities. The Muslims explained their Arabic word for
“stewardship”, which is their concept of our responsibilities towards the
earth and all its creatures, based on our God-given ability to reason and
to invent. The Christians emphasised the spiritual aspects of being human,
and made the point that of all God’s creatures Adam alone was the one
into whom God himself breathed life. We all agreed that human beings
are called to be God’s stewards of his creation.
Conclusions
The Imam had spoken of wanting to offer us both intellectual and practical
hospitality. He and his five devout but cheerful young Muslim students
certainly did that in spades. The whole evening was conducted in an
atmosphere of harmony and friendship. The contributions to our discussions
made by very able clergy from all three religions enabled us to avoid
woolly generalisations. If it felt strange to be doing a sort of Bible study
with people who do not have the Gospel, I also felt how vitally necessary it
is that religions learn to talk to each other, and that through his Spirit our
Lord surely was present with us as we tried to do that.
Anthony Acton
— For further information
readers may be interested to visit the Scriptural Reading website at
http://www.scripturalreasoning.org — Ed
community arts
LENT, LISTINGS & ARTLOVERS!
DEAR READERS... A note to say that
the pieces overleaf caught my eye. I
find that the arts (all of them) open up
our understanding on many a level,
and that these in particular resonate
with the season of Lent.
The first article is about a painting by
RAPHAEL titled The Mond Crucifixion,
and is from an online resource for
parish magazines (which I was rather
intrigued to find!), and has a
thoughtful commentary.
The second/third are downloaded
from mainstream art and church
contexts in London featuring the
work of contemporary artist BILL
VIOLA — Bill Viola / Michelangelo,
the current exhibition at the Royal
Academy (ends 31st March); and
Martyrs, a video installation by Viola
that is on long-term loan at St Paul’s
Cathedral. Inspiring?
A note also to say that you will need
to access the relevant images online
(follow the links), or in print of course,
as I am unable to reproduce them
here — but the words are thoughtprovoking
so I hope you will find the
entries stimulating. And if you are
in town this month you can see all
three listings at one go!
— Eleanor
Ps: thinking about the famous Renaissance
artist trio, a reminder about the exhibition
of Leonardo’s drawings at Bristol City
Museum (on till 6 May).