'What role have I left for religion?' asks Robert Farrar Capon, in 'The Parables of Grace'. 'None', he continues,'and I have left none because the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ leaves none.' At this point many Christians may get a little nervous, thinking that it's religion they believe in. But being Christian & religious are 2 radically different things, as Capon often says.'Religion consists of all the things ... the human race has ever thought it had to do to get right with God' (believing, behaving, worshipping, sacrificing). The church is not in the religion business, or at least, it shouldn't be. It's Christ who frees us from 'sin, death & the devil'. Not religion.
I got disturbed last night by someone in the media, dismissing faith, & I needed to get back into something that I, for one, find exceptionally riveting. Bedrock, basic. Capon, US Episcopalian priest, speaks my language. I love his 3 books on the parables, the 2nd one (The Parables of Grace) most of all. But it's another book I've started rereading, the third in a collection called 'The Romance of the Word'. It's called 'Hunting the Divine Fox'. A last quote (though I'm sure I'll get back to him in future blogs): 'God creates everything at every moment'.
Check out Capon if you get a chance.
