Tuesday 6 December 2011

Incarnational confusions

Dr Peter Mullen is right here when he speaks of the usual suspects giving us their rather dubious interpretations of the Christmas story - the "single homeless teenage mother" thing.
"Homeless?" Well, hardly: "because there was no room for them at the inn" is a far more profundly disturbing verse than can be explained by a temporary lack of accommodation in Bethlehem. And the presence of St Joseph, the exemplary man of faith and honour, makes the other seasonal stereotype somewhat redundant too.
No, The Church's legitimate - necessary -  concern for all those in need comes not from the misinterpreted incidentals of the Christmas narrative, but from the far greater reality of the Incarnation, God's assumption of  our flesh in Jesus Christ.
But, for many of our contemporary clergy and theologians, that's just the problem isn't it.......?

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