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Christians always look forward to Christmas, whatever our denominations, because it enables us to reflect once again on why we are Christians: we believe God decisively entered our world once and for all, in person, to redeem us; in so doing He had to become exactly one of us – and so begin the narratives in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels.

However, we are less confident on the period leading up to Christmas, Advent. What’s it all about? Well, we know that four clear Sundays before Christmas Day (hence the moving date for Advent Sunday) we are to make spiritual preparations for the celebration of the Incarnation. Over the centuries customs have varied widely: some have Lent-like fasts, many put up Advent wreaths and lights, or share special calendars to count off the days; then there are Advent carols, Christingle, a specific wreath with five candles lit Sunday by Sunday in many churches to remember the spiritual history leading up to the arrival of Christ (‘Advent’ means ‘arrival’), and no doubt other customs. So, what are we missing?

The Collect in the ASB prayer book for Advent includes:
…so that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal…
The original creed of Nicaea, the contemporary product in AD325 of the great Council of Nicaea states:
…[he] will come to judge the living and the dead….
And the New Testament frequently makes reference to the Second Coming, Jesus himself making reference to it in the eschatological discourse (e.g. Luke 21. 25ff), through the message of the angels at the Ascension, the epistles right up to the buffers of Revelation: “Amen. Come Lord Jesus!” 

Why don’t we make more of this profound Hope? I suggest three main reasons:
a) Over the centuries we have seen so many ‘millenarian’ movements proclaiming the imminent end of the world – ‘The Pursuit of the Millennium’ is a fascinating yet worrying read;
b) Post-Enlightenment Christianity has become embarrassed to hold such a blatantly supernatural article of faith (Article IV of the 39 Articles, for example)
c) It hasn’t happened yet!

To tackle these in turn:
a) We know even from the pages of the New Testament that an imminent Return of Christ (Parousia) was often expected, and that hope had to be realigned to the realities of the Christian life (2 Thessalonians 3.10, for example). Enthusiastic movements such as the 2nd Century Montanists plainly had some such expectation, and right through to the Jehovah’s Witnesses today this belief has been a great inspiration, even though all predictions have proved futile. It does lead many to re-assess whether such a belief should have any place granted this history. The simple answer is ‘No’; just because some people have got it wrong, the overall belief is not invalidated though it may need more careful consideration.

b) Familiar rationalism has created liberalism, which has been a valuable antidote to modern Fundamentalism and mindless, superstitious ‘faith’; poor Anselm’s credo ut intelligam (‘believe in order that I may understand’) has been misused to make blind ‘faith’ a virtue, which not even Jesus proposed – he told us to watch and not to let anyone deceive us, being ourselves as ‘wise as serpents’.. Realised Eschatology, its roots in the Johannine tradition, took off in the 20th Century, reinterpreting ‘eternal life’ to mean a virtuous quality of life rather than an endless quantity of life, and of course there is much to be said for this in terms of the moral and spiritual teachings of the New Testament and of Jesus himself. Albert Schweizer’s famous conclusion that Jesus was a failed eschatological prophet who flung himself to the cross trying to make God see his point of view, probably sums up the basis for redirecting the Second Coming hope towards a more spiritual and reasonable hope. But by the time the supernatural has been removed from the Gospel, Christology become Adoptionism, eternity become excellence in this world, and God merely the Ground of Our Being and not Trinity, there is not much left! Christianity is fundamentally supernatural or it is nothing.

c) For some in New Testament times the delayed Parousia was already a problem: ‘Where is the promise of His coming’ (2 Peter 3.4). This could, of course, mean we have always got it wrong if doubts existed even then, but Peter’s answer in this epistle is helpful: God does not work on our timescale, and if the Parousia is delayed, it is to give us time to turn to God rather than face judgement too soon, so live as if the Parousia is tomorrow, but plan to be here a long time! We sometimes call this ‘Now, and not yet’. Unfortunately, there is an industry of speculation among evangelicals, often based precariously on the Book of Revelation, to construct the agenda and scheduling of the Last Days, but since Jesus himself said that only the Father knows the times, it does seem pointless to pursue the Millennium through literalism in that most troubling of books.

In conclusion, Christians must hold on to the faith of the creeds and New Testament, that this chapter, entitled ‘Spacetime’, will conclude and another chapter begin. It is His Story and not our history, Otherwise, to recycle St Paul, we are of all people the most to be pitied. Advent tells us there is a great Hope to be eagerly awaited, whenever it may come, and that the arrival of the Son of God in the first place, and later his resurrection, are God’s promises to us that the Hope will be fulfilled: he will come again to judge the living and the dead. And to refer again to 2 Peter ch. 3: in the light of the Parousia, what sort of people should we be?

Enjoy the fun and Hope of Advent!

This resource was written by Richard Coupe, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

My Irish mother used to urge us to hurry by saying we should ‘run like a linty’. What? Well, a linty was a nickname for someone who lit the streetlamps in the days of gas lighting, and the lamps on their posts would often need the mantle changing, made of lint. As the linty had to hurry, and in changing mantles often got covered in lint fibres as he ran through the town from lamp to lamp, so he became a byword for someone in a great hurry. In this resource I want to slow him or her down and say we should all be thoughtful linties.

One of the great symbols of Christianity is light. ‘Lighten our darkness’ is the start of a familiar closing prayer in many Anglican services, the whole of creation began, we are told with the majestic ‘Let there be light’, and Jesus sensationally said: “I am the Light of the World” (John 8.12).

In the world up until the 19th Century, and in many parts still today, light means fire: candles, pitch, hearth fires, oil lamps, charcoal, anything that burns gives light. So, light meant heat, light could easily be extinguished, and kindling a fire/light was an arduous process, so don’t let the fire go out! All of these thoughts are involved in Christian thinking about light at this time of increasingly short days and long nights. But it is not the physical facts of light that matter, it is the spiritual significance which you can find in everything from infant baptism (christening) through to praying for the souls of the dead, from referring to conversion as ‘enlightenment’ to prayer for guidance (‘lighten our darkness’) or to making use of external light to illuminate stained glass windows.

Let’s concentrate on candles. At infant baptism in the major denominations a special candle is given and lit by the priest as a sign of that new life, a symbol of the one baptised, a picture of the light of Christ conquering the darkness of evil. Everyone who is baptised “walks in that light” for the rest of their lives, baptism being the start of that journey into faith and obedience. I quote the Anglican liturgy here:

Priest: God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and has given us a place with the saints in light. You have received the light of Christ; walk in this light all the days of your life.

All   Shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the Father.

This is how symbolism works here: Baptism does not of itself make you a believing Christian, which is why many Protestants delay it until a person can decide for themselves. However, baptising an infant, to cut a long story short, is seen as entering the family of faith prior to playing your part in later life. The light of the candle therefore serves:

1. As a reminder of the truths of walking in the light of Christ in your life;
2. As a reminder of Christ as the Light of the World;
3. As a fire, not an electric bulb, which burns away deadwood, heats, and purifies precious things: it symbolises therefore the indwelling Holy Spirit who works in us to the glory of God.

To take one more instance, All Saints (or Hallows/Souls) Day. In the last 25 years we have been overtaken by the commercialising of the evening before All Hallows Day reviving what are presumed to be ancient practices (a rather dubious claim) and encouraging people to dress up as the Dark Side. OK, for many this is a bit of fun. But if we instead remember the next day all the good and the great, the pioneers, saints and martyrs, heroes, both sung and unsung , it is a fantastic festival of lights, and we should be lighting candles and other illuminations to celebrate these – there is quite enough gloom around, so let’s have some good news!

So, as the scripture says, ‘God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all’ (1 John 1.5). Further, we are also told God is the ‘Father of lights’ (James 1.17): we can translate ‘lights’ here as ‘enlighteners’ – God is the Father of all those who seek to bring light to shine in the world around. This we remember in the baptismal candle, and then promise to do as we live our lives as linties.

This resource was written by Richard Coupe, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

Key words and concepts

Lord’s prayer: A prayer Jesus taught to his disciples when they asked him how to pray. A central prayer in many Christian denominations.

Taizé: An ecumenical Christian community with a strong devotion to peace and justice through prayer and meditation.

Icon: Painting or mosaic of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, a saint, or a Church feast. Used as an aid to devotion, usually in the Orthodox tradition.

Ecumenical: Movement within the Church towards co-operation and eventual unity.

Prayer: A request for help or an expression of thanks usually addressed to God. For many people it is a way of communicating with God about anything at anytime and anywhere. Prayers can be said alone or with a faith community, at home or as part of a religious service.

Forgiveness: The act of letting go of anger and resentment against someone who has offended or hurt you in some way. In many religions, forgiveness is about showing mercy and compassion towards the person who has offended or hurt you regardless of whether they are truly sorry.

Giving thanks: In this context; saying thank you to God for the world, people and events that happen in life.

Learning activities

The lesson resource is a sung prayer; ‘Oh Lord Hear my Prayer’, originating from the Taizé community, a monastic, peace-building Christian community in France. Taizé particularly supports young people.

You will need the lyrics to the prayer. There are many videos on YouTube featuring both images and lyrics as the prayer is sung. If you find a video you like that has no lyrics, search the internet for lyrics separately and hand them out or read them to children.

Stage 1: O Lord Hear My Prayer:

Create a calm and quiet environment before listening to the song. Some ideas:

• Have the music playing before the children enter the room. Explain that they are going to listen to some very special music and they have to be quiet
• Sit the children in a circle and light a candle (adhering to the schools health and safety requirements). Ask children to close their eyes and listen to the music.

When the music has ended ask them to think of one question they want to ask. Children share their questions and they are written down (organise into Who, What, Where, Why). [It is important not to answer the questions at this point].

(10mins) Invite the children to select an activity to do while they think about the questions. Choose activities that allow children to reflect. Avoid ‘small world’ items for example, which children will be tempted to simply play with. [Have the instrumental version playing while the children are active]:

• Colouring patterns rather than pictures;
• Modelling clay, e.g., Play-Doh;
• Selection of books and cushions (reading area);
• Threading activities;
• Painting;
• Collage and making materials.

Bring the children back together and think about the questions as a group. [They may have made something relating to the music]

Stage 2: O Lord Hear My Prayer

Listen to ‘O Lord Hear My Prayer’ again and remind the children of the previous discussion.

Ask the children the following questions if they haven’t already been covered:

• Why do you think they are singing this?
• How does it make you feel?
• Why do you think they say the same words over and over again?
• Can you think about what the people are doing as they sing this? Are they standing, sitting? etc…
• Where do you think they are?
• Do you think anyone can sing this?

Show the children some Taizé photographs. There are many online, both on Taizé’s website and Google images. Explain that Taizé is an ecumenical Christian community in France (ecumenical means that people come from all sorts of Christian denominations, the aim is to be together rather than pursue one way of being Christian). The music is an example of prayers used during meetings. In the Taizé community, short songs repeated over and over create a meditative atmosphere and it is believed that this allows people to find and listen to God in prayer. It is also a way of joining everyone together in prayer. Meetings usually take place in a church or other welcoming space. Let the children know that some Christians like to pray or meditate in this way. There are often icons, candles, a cross, an open Bible, flowers in the church or prayer space. People can usually choose whether to sit on the floor, a bench or chair, stand or kneel during prayer.

Ask the children to suggest ways of making a quiet space in the classroom for them to go and think, reflect, pray:

• What would they put there?
• What would it look like?
• When could they use it?
• What would they use it for?

Stage 3: Prayer

Show images you have found online of Christians praying- in different places, different types of people, different types of prayer.

Explain that this lesson is about Christian prayer but many people who belong to many religions around the world also pray. Many Christians believe that you can pray anywhere and at any time. There are lots of different ways to pray too.

Show the words of the Lord’s Prayer- a very important prayer in Christianity.

Explain that when some people pray to God the prayers say: “I’m sorry” or “I love you” or “Thank you” or “Please help me”. Ask the children who they say these things to? [This may be related to family, friends and /or religion.]

Ask the children to imagine they could speak to that person now, what would they say? [Relate to the four areas above “I’m sorry” etc. Children can write/draw in a large speech bubble.]

Stage 4: Reflecting

Explain that people also pray for others around the world and show the children a selection of photos to illustrate different things people may pray for, e.g.:

• people who are ill;
• people who may not have enough to eat or drink;
• countries involved in war.

Ask the children to say why they think people pray for these people.

Set up an area where children can look at the photos, take a pebble and drop it into an imaginary river (blue material etc) with their thought, wish or prayer for these people.

Stage 5: Prayer and music

Introduce children to some more examples of music being used in prayer. Music is also used to prepare people for worship and can range from chants to rock Some examples:

• Happy Day by Ladysmith Black Mambazo
• Traditional Christmas singing at Kings College Chapel, Cambridge
• The Muslim call to prayer, or adhan
• Christian rock or pop, for example from a Hillsong concert
• Sikh singing in the Temple these songs are called  ragaas and are part of worship

Stage 6: Exploring…introducing prayer in Judaism and Islam

Explain that when people pray they sometimes use things to help them. Show some images of icons in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, such as of saints, Mary and Jesus, and Jesus and his disciples. Some of these icons will be painted on the walls and ceiling of Orthodox churches.

Ask the children sit in a circle and pass a tambourine around: but to do it so that it doesn’t make a noise! Talk to them about taking care of important objects and that they are going to pass some special objects to each other that are used in prayer.

Show the children a Jewish Tallit (prayer shawl). This is used by Jewish people in prayer (usually only men). It cloaks the person like God’s love cloaks us in life.

Now pass the artefacts around carefully [This can be done in small groups], e.g., the tallit, Hajj robe, an Islamic prayer mat, cushion (hassock), prayer beads (selection), rosary, icons, cross, prayer hats from Muslim and Jewish traditions.

Ask children how they think these things are used in prayer. Can they say which things appear to be similar for different religious people?

What questions do they want to ask about these objects?

Use stories to put prayer in context, e.g., ‘Goodnight Sh’ma’ by Jacqueline Jules or ‘I am a Muslim’ by AGGARWAL and M.

Ask the children to say what helps / would help them to sit and think? (or pray if appropriate).

Jesus’ parables reveal the range of different approaches to interpretation, or hermeneutical method. Compare historical and reader response approaches. From an historical perspective we can always try to put the parable in the context, the situation of the time. Some parables open up a narrative world, and invite a response from the reader. Which is correct? Will they lead to a ‘right’ interpretation?

Dodd’s definition of a parable is “At its simplest the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to provoke it into active thought.” This is often summarised as a story with a hidden meaning, but actually key active elements here are doubt and active thought. They stimulate engagement. This is a little different from suggesting that there is a single hidden meaning that can be explained easier and definitively. They are metaphors, rather than simply analogies as they are person-centred. They are vivid, drawn from everyday life. So they are about just and unjust managers, they are focussed on agriculture, or some other aspect of culture or working life. Other scholars suggest some parables contain self-evident truths, rather than the uncertain doubts to which Dodd refers.

Anthony Thiselton (Hermeneutics, An introduction, 2009, Eerdmans, Cambridge) thinks both views are a little right, and both are a little wrong. Parables have quite different patterns and are not easily analysed or simplified by these definitions. He argues, “A parable proper catches a listener off guard. It wounds from behind. How did the prophet Nathan approach King David when God told him to expose his adultery with Bathsheba? He could simply have confronted him, but confrontation is seldom wise with Oriental kings, even an Israelite king. He told him a story… The parable draws the listener into a narrative world, and gently the application places him under attack.”

Thiselton considers the different approaches including existential, historical, rhetorical and post-modern.

There are existential readings of parables. For example, in the parable of the labourers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) every worker receives an agreed upon wage. Some object feeling that justice is more important than grace, and the latecomers should not get as much as those who truly worked all day long. In tragic parables, such as the parable of the foolish maidens, the maidens presumptuously believed their wellbeing was guaranteed, that someone else would look after them and they were deceived because for a long time nothing happened.

The historical approach is concerned to establish whether the parable is authentically Jesus’ words, whether it is based on the life of Jesus or the life of the early Church, whether it relates to general truths or specific situations. Many parables are concerned with the Kingdom, a central element of Jesus teaching. Some parables cannot be understood unless groups such as Pharisees, or tax collectors are understood in their historical setting. It may be argued that if we understand these elements, we are more likely to have a better grasp of the meaning.

A third approach is rhetorical and literary criticism. This focuses on the literary style, rather than historical or theological. Here patterns of language and form are sought out in the text. As dynamic and potent words they invite a reader response. They can lead to a modification of the tradition. In some parables there is a profound reversal, such as the unforgiving servant. And so in reading parables reversals or unexpected turns should be a feature of how they are understood.

More post-modern approaches are drawn from the work of Paul Ricoeur and others. Ricoeur sees the world of the active agent, and the self as a narrative world. Readers therefore are participants, active agents and not simply spectators. Dialogue with the parables and the text is what is necessary.

Do parables have a correct interpretation? For some the answer is a clear ‘yes’, while other approaches suggest this is not the case. Can one interpretative approach be taken over the others? Or from the other approach, is it possible to mix post-modern or reader responses with historical approaches? Consider these questions with the parables you are studying and identify how different interpretations may be drawn from these and other distinctive hermeneutics.

An investigation into differering Christian repsonses to environmental issues.

for 15-19 year olds. Originally written by Anna Davis, updated in April 2019.

Key words and concepts

Anthropocentric: human-centered; focusing on human beings as of most value and importance, especially in relation to animals or the rest of the natural world.

Apocalyptic: in biblical studies, refers to a kind of literature that reveals God’s perspective on current and future events, often with vivid and coded imagery, stark opposition between good and evil, and a prediction of what is to come. The best-known biblical example is the Book of Revelation (the Greek title of which is equivalent to the word ‘apocalypse’) in the Bible

Conservative Evangelicalism: a Christian tradition, found across a range of established and independent churches, which places particular emphasis on the authority and infallibility of the Bible, among other doctrines.

Dominion: sovereignty or control. Especially used to refer to the idea that humanity has power over the rest of creation. See Genesis 26-28.

Ecology: the part of biology that looks at how different organisms relate to one another and to their physical surroundings. Some environmentalists are concerned that human activity is damaging the delicate balance of ecology and thus endangering the future of the planet.

Ecosystem: a particular group of organisms that understood in relation to their physical surroundings.

Environment: the natural world, particularly as it is affected by human activity.

Environmentalism: a movement that is concerned with protecting the natural world from the harmful actions of humanity.

Eschatology: used by theologians to refer to beliefs about the future, and particularly about the ultimate ‘end’ of the world. It comes from the Greek word ‘eschatos’ meaning last or final. Also used to talk about God’s plans for the future of creation, including humans, animals and the environment.

Evangelism: spreading the Christian gospel with the particular aim of converting people to Christianity.

Francis of Assisi: an Italian Catholic friar and preacher of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries who founded a number of monastic orders and has become known as the Patron Saint of animals and the environment.

Fundamentalism: in this context, a form of Christianity focused on what are believed to be its fundamentals, with a particular emphasis on the authority, infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible. This label overlaps with Conservative Evangelicalism (see above).

Gaia hypothesis: the view of scientist James Lovelock that the earth is a kind of superorganism – a complex system that automatically self-regulates in ways that maintain an environment in which life can flourish.

Genesis: The first book of the ‘Old Testament’ or ‘Hebrew Bible’. It begins with two accounts of God’s creation of the world and contains various commands by God about how humans should act in relation to other parts of creation. These commands have been the subject of differing interpretations, hence the existence of current debates about how Christianity should respond to environmental challenges.

Global warming: a gradual increase in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere and oceans. Generally attributed to the ‘greenhouse effect’, which is caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs and other pollutants as a result of human activity. There is concern that global warming could cause sea levels to rise, having catastrophic effects of human life.

Imminent expectation: in this context, refers to the belief of some Christians that Jesus will return soon – perhaps within their lifetimes – to bring about the final end of the world.

Parable: a story or image used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus and recorded in the Gospels.

Rapture: the transporting of believers to heaven during the Second Coming of Jesus at the end of the world.

Stewardship: in Christianity, the idea that humans have been given responsibility for the rest of the natural world, and have a duty to care for it.

As well as enabling students to engage critically with different approaches to environmental stewardship, this material also develops knowledge about the Bible, and the different ways this can be approached and understood. Different methods used in Biblical Studies underpin this, as outlined below:

Historical criticism

Historical criticism is based on the presumption that the task of the biblical scholar is to discern what the text originally meant, and what events actually happened, from an objective and unbiased perspective. It has value not least in ‘distancing’ the Bible from its contemporary readers: the Bible is a collection of ancient texts, rooted in the cultural assumptions of ancient societies, that cannot cogently be regarded as simply a textbook of eternal religious or moral truths. Using this method, students can be encouraged to approach biblical texts critically, as historical sources. They may, for example, seek to identify different sources and traditions, to question which sayings of Jesus are likely to be authentic, or to consider aspects of biblical teaching that reflect ancient cultural or cosmological presuppositions. Historical criticism is no longer an uncontested or dominant method in biblical studies since it has been recognised that detached, objective historiography is impossible, and may in fact serve to conceal the interests and commitments that underlie particular construals of the past and particular readings of the texts. Nonetheless, it remains significant to a critical engagement with biblical texts as part of the study of topics such as environmental ethics.

History of interpretation

A recent development of interest within biblical studies is in the history of interpretation and influence of biblical texts (their Wirkungsgeschichte). Rather than looking to the world behind the text – the social context in which it arose, as in historical criticism – this approach instead concentrates on the world in front of the text, that is, on the diverse ways in which the text has been understood and has shaped and influenced aspects of life and culture from art and music to ethics and politics. This method means that rather than assuming that the text has one clear, correct meaning, and attempting to decide upon this, attention is directed instead to the diversity of meanings that has, through history, been derived from this text. In relation to environmental issues, it enables consideration of how Christians at different times and places have interpreted texts like Genesis 1–2 in relation to their particular convictions and concerns. It also serves to connect biblical studies much more directly with the study of issues and approaches in Christian ethics, from the earliest times right up to the present.

Reading from modern perspectives: the located reader

More recent methods of biblical study reflect the conviction that different readings can be generated depending on the social identity and location of the reader, and have given rise to feminist, black, liberationist and many other readings of the Bible. Such approaches place much greater emphasis on the role of the reader in the construction of meaning and on the influence of the reader’s context – a development which is also to be found in the study of other kinds of literature, as well as in disciplines such as history and politics, given a widespread acknowledgment that objective and detached analysis is impossible, and that the researcher’s own convictions and approach shape their presentation. Students might therefore be encouraged to ask how modern convictions and contexts shape readings of the Bible, or how different groups might read and respond to different texts.

Christian perspectives on the environment

The Evangelical Churches and Organisations

There are a number of evangelical Christian organisations that strongly support the idea that Christians must care for the environment. Stewardship is a prominent theme.

The Evangelical Environmental Network has stated that:

Because we have sinned, we have failed in our stewardship of creation. Therefore we repent of the way we have polluted, distorted, or destroyed so much of the Creator’s work.

 

They argue that we need to take better care of creation – to become better stewards – in order to live as God desires. (On the Care of Creation)

Other motivations for environmental care include an appeal to love of neighbour, encouraging people to act justly and out of consideration for those who are less fortunate. For example, the Evangelical Environmental Network includes ‘human and cultural degradation’ as among the ways in which we harm creation when we fail to act as stewards.

Tearfund, the Evangelical Alliance’s relief fund, campaigns on a variety of global humanitarian concerns including matters affecting the environment and climate change to encourage people to consider how their actions harm those who live in countries that are adversely affected by climate change. It cites a paraphrase of Romans 10.13 – ‘Love does no harm to its neighbour’ – as a call to responsible stewardship so that others do not suffer from the effects of climate change.

The Church of England

In 1991, the General Synod of the Church of England prepared a report on ‘Christian Stewardship’ with the aim of encouraging ‘a critical review of human responsibility to the living environment’. It states that:

Christians believe that this world belongs to God by creation, redemption and sustenance, and that he has entrusted it to humankind made in his image and responsible to him; we are in the position of stewards, tenants, curators, trustees or guardians, whether or not we acknowledge this responsibility.

The report cites Genesis 1.26-30 as giving humans authority over the natural world. However, at the same time it reads Genesis 2.15-17 as instructing humans to both ‘work’ it and ‘care’ for it. So humans have ‘dominion’ over the earth but this is a gift from God. This means that humans should care for the world ‘in the way God himself demands’.

Other motivations for environmental care include an appeal to love of neighbour, encouraging people to act justly and out of consideration for those who are less fortunate. For example, the Church of England writes of how ‘we are tenants of the world only in our own generation’, highlighting the importance of preserving the natural environment out of concern for the wellbeing of future generations. (Christians and the Environment: Report by the Board for Social Responsibility).

The Catholic Church

The Catholic Church understands stewardship as resulting from humans having been created in the image of God (the Catholic doctrine of the imago Dei).

Agneta Sutton from the Catholic Truth Society writes that:

From the very first, the biblical account of our role in creation declares that we have a special position and stand in a special relationship to God and so to the rest of creation. (Ecology and Stewardship: What Catholics Believe About the Environment. London: CTS. 2012. p. 8)

The International Theological Commission states that humans are:

…made in [God’s] image to participate in his work, in his project of love and salvation, indeed in his own lordship over the universe. Since man’s place as ruler is in fact a participation in the divine governance of creation, we speak of it here as a form of stewardship. (Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God, Section 57)

Pope John Paul II, a former leader of the Catholic Church, has spoken of the need for an ‘ecological conversion’. He remarks that:

Man’s lordship is not absolute, but ministerial…not the mission of an absolute and unquestionable master, but of a steward of God’s kingdom. (Communion and Stewardship, Section 73)

So for Catholics, ‘God appoints man as his steward in the manner of the master in the Gospel parables (cf. Luke 19:12)’. (Communion and Stewardship, Section 58).

The Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church understands Genesis 1 as a call to stewardship, requiring humans to be responsible for creation. This is also linked with the Orthodox emphasis on ‘deification’ – the idea that humans come to share fully in God’s being and nature through the process of salvation. The Report of the WCC Inter-Orthodox Consultation states that:

We are called to exercise dominion over all creatures on earth (cf. Gen. 1:28), i.e. to be stewards … of God’s material world, caring for it, maintaining it in its integrity and perfecting it by opening it up to God through our own deification.  (Orthodox Perspectives on Creation, Section 11).

Orthodox theology also places emphasis on the importance of priesthood, not only as an office within the Church, but as a role that can be played by humanity in relation to the rest of creation: humans can help to offer the creation to God and mediate and express its praise to God. This may be linked with the idea of ‘deification’: the goal for humanity and for creation is to be transformed, renewed, perfected, and taken up into God. Some have suggested that these ideas about the transformation of all creation – its incorporation into the divine – may be especially valuable ideas to inspire environmental care. They express different ideas and emphases from the kind of stewardship expressed in the Protestant Churches, which is more concerned with the role of humans in relation to the rest of creation.

Conservative Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christian groups opposed to environmentalism

Not all Christians agree that we should be concerned about preserving the environment, or acting to reduce carbon emissions. Some conservative evangelical and fundamentalist groups see the environmental movement as a dangerous threat – a false, non-Christian religion.

It is important to note that such groups do not necessarily reject the idea of stewardship, but that they understand it in particular ways. Members of such groups are likely to put greater stress on the importance of evangelism (converting individuals to faith), the imminent return of Jesus, and ethical values related to sexual and family ethics than on conservation or care for the planet. Certain biblical texts to do with the end of the world are of particular importance here, for example, 1 Thessalonians 4.13-5.2 and Mark 13.7-31.

Sometimes these views are expressed in academic books, or on organisations’ websites, but more often they are to be found at a popular level on individuals’ blogs and websites.

For example, the American Evangelical organization Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation the environmentalist view of the world which it claims ‘elevates nature above the needs of people, of even the poorest and the most helpless’. The Cornwall Alliance argues that such environmentalism is a ‘green dragon’ that presents a major threat to the Christian religion.

Further, Calvin Beisner, spokesman for the Cornwall Alliance, sees the domination of nature by humans as an essential task. He writes: ‘…continued population growth will result not in the depletion but in the increased abundance of resources, and not in increased pollution of the earth but in its increased cleansing and transformation from wilderness to garden, “from its bondage to decay…into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21).’ (Where Garden Meets Wilderness: Evangelical Entry into the Environmental Debate. Grand Rapids, MI: Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty/Eerdmans. 1997. p. 107)

In more popular literature, Spencer Strickland, through a blog published by Jeremiah Daniel McCarver, ‘Saving Earth One Human at a Time’ draws attention to the impact of beliefs about the imminent end of the world on concern for the environment:

Christians should not be carried away into the frenzy that is being stirred up in popular culture. While it is true that we are all stewards of the earth and should thus take care of it, we should also be aware of the fact that the “heavens and earth which are now” are being prevented from being destroyed by the Word of God (2 Pet. 3:7). God will one day destroy the earth with the fire of judgment, and this is the warning that Christians must take to those who are lost, in order that they might be saved through the obedience of the Gospel.

Similarly, Todd Strandberg, writing on his website ‘Rapture Ready’ states that, in his view, ‘any preacher who decides to get involved in environmental issues is like a heart surgeon who suddenly leaves an operation to fix a clogged toilet.’

Learning activities

1 Is Christianity to blame?

As a class, read and discuss the ‘Beyond Stewardship?’ stimulus text ‘Lynn White: Is Christianity to blame for our ecological crisis?’ Available to download here.

2 Origins of stewardship

Divide the class into small groups. Give each group one of the following texts:

Genesis 1

Genesis 2

Genesis 3

Genesis 4

Within their groups, the students read the texts and then discuss whether:

• the text encourages care of the planet?
• the text suggests humans are ‘in charge’?
• the text suggests the land has intrinsic/instrumental value?
• humans being made in the image of God change their relationship with the Earth?

The students should be encouraged to give reasons for their answers, and should refer to the texts the back up their views.

The groups can present their findings and views about the text they have studied to the rest of the class.

3 Contemporary Christian views

Display images depicting modern environmental problems, such as the destruction of the rainforest to grow palm oil, collapse of insect populations, reduction in water tables for cotton production and plastic pollution. Discuss what the images suggest about contemporary attitudes towards how we should care for the environment. Can any implications be drawn about Christian attitudes?

Establish the critical question: Is Christianity to blame for the Ecological Crisis? This is based on Lynn white Jr’s argument.

Divide the class into small groups. Give each group:

• one of the viewpoints from the ‘Christian Perspective’ section of this resource;
• a large recording sheet with space for notes on their Christian viewpoint, and THREE additional viewpoints.

Using their recording sheet, each group works together to create succinct notes recording their viewpoint and three others in relation to the critical question.

After reading and discussing their viewpoint, groups send one or two envoys to other groups to discuss and learn about other viewpoints, before returning to their original group.

Allow plenty of time for reading, discussion, definition and note-taking. Students will end up with a multi-layered analysis of Christian views and a critical view.

If time, listen to a brief answer from each group to the critical question, or set as a written homework, drawing on the evidence gathered.

4 How do different Christian views shape the argument?

Ask groups to copy this graph:

In groups, place each Christian perspective on this graph: do they place human authority over nature above human responsibility to protect nature; do they value humans above the natural world, etc?

Share and discuss graphs. As a class, ascribe reasons to each positioning; what are they based on? Either give a theological argument or a biblical reference to support each position. Through the course of the conversation, ensure these two positions are defined:

Christian Environmentalism: humans must transform the way we treat the environment; the natural world must be protected and nurtured, in both Evangelical and denominational Christian thinking.

Conservative Evangelical or Fundamentalist non-Environmentalism: God will destroy the earth at the End Times, this is God’s plan for humanity and the natural world.

Debate

Divide the class into two groups: Christian Environmentalism and non-environmentalism. Each groups has 15 minutes to create 4 strong arguments in favour of their position, in response to the motion (below).

Groups should also predict counter-arguments and prepare to meet them.

Motion:  The earth is ours to use

An investigation into the relationship between the development of the universal declaration on human rights and some key texts from three religions.

KS4. Originally written by Adrian Skilbeck, updated in April 2019.

Key words and concepts

Human Rights: those rights which are inherent in our nature and without which we cannot live as human beings. Human rights and fundamental freedoms allow us to develop fully and use our human qualities, our intelligence, our talents and our conscience.

Universal: in relation to human rights they are conceptually possessed by all people in the world, by virtue of being human.

Inalienable: again in relation to human rights it is the idea that what we possess should not be taken away from or given away by the possessor.

Responsibilities: In relation to human rights it is the idea that those who are in possession of their human rights have a responsibility to help those who do not. In respect of religious teachings, it is common to all the main religions that followers are taught they have a responsibility for those in need.

Needs: as a variation on the concept of rights they are those things required by human beings because they are essential and not merely desirable. In Simone Weil’s work needs are both needs of the body and needs of the soul.

Obligations: acts or courses of action that a person is morally bound to carry out. In relation to human needs they are the things human beings are required to do for other human beings to ensure their needs are met.

Promised Land: The land that God promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 12:7), a land said to flow with milk and honey.

Jerusalem: A holy city for Jews, Christians and Muslims. The name means ‘city of peace’. Israel claims it as its eternal, undivided capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Today Israel controls the whole city, and its ongoing status is disputed.

Homeland: a person or a people’s native land.

Palestine: Often called the Holy Land. Historic region on the east of the Mediterranean Sea, comprising parts of modern Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

Zionism: The belief that Jews should have their own nation. Zionism gained much support in the first half of the twentieth century, leading to the founding of the state of Israel in Palestine in 1948.

Diaspora: the dispersion of the Jews beyond the borders of their country. In general a diaspora refers to any more or less homogenous group of people with a shared heritage or homeland who have moved out to other parts of the world.

Shoah (The Holocaust): a biblical word meaning destruction which has come to stand for the mass murder of European Jewry by the Nazis and their associates during World War 2.

Angel of Death: The figure that appears in the animation is taken from the reference in the Old Testament Book of Exodus Chapter 11 and 12 to the angel who delivers the tenth plague upon Egypt – the death of the firstborn which the Jews are warned to protect themselves against by marking their doors with lamb’s blood. In Judaism the angel of death is known as Samael, Sariel or Azrael, in Islam as Malak Al-Mawt. The visitations of the plagues upon the Egyptians is also described in the Qur’an in Surah al- A’raf 133.

Pupils will need some background information that puts both the animation and the Israeli – Palestinian conflict in context so that they can make sense of it and begin to articulate their responses which will then lead into the rest of this resource.

The song ‘This Land Is Mine’ is taken from the 1960 Hollywood film Exodus, which is about the founding of the state of Israel following World War 2 and in the aftermath of the Shoah (Holocaust). The film focusses on the life of Ari ben Canaan (‘ben’ means ‘son of’) and his attempt to create a peaceful Jewish homeland in Palestine. It is a tale of struggle which does not question the underlying assumptions expressed by the central character and places his actions in an heroic light. Nina Paley’s animation challenges the absolute nature of the statement that ‘This Land is Mine’. Nina Paley is an American Jew and so the animation should be seen as a critical American response to what the Palestinian scholar and writer Edward Said called ‘the main narrative model that dominates American thinking’ with regard to the foundation of Israel, that the Israelis have a God-given right to the land of Palestine. Paley’s film brings out the contrast between the absolute claim to land based on holy scripture and the historical reality of a land that has been fought over by many different peoples for thousands of years. It introduces us to human rights and the complex relationship between religion and politics in the modern world.

This is a stimulus resource that can be used for a range of different pedagogical outcomes. It is used here to facilitate discussion of human rights but it could also be used to explore issues of peace, conflict and reconciliation, the relationship between art and religion, the different ways in which individuals express their beliefs, values and commitments and the conflict between personal and religious/cultural values.

You will need to find ‘This Land is Mine’ by Nina Paley. It is available online.

You will also need to find the following texts online:

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Draft For A Statement of Human Obligations by Simone Weil
• Luke 10: 25-37, the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Learning activities

Activity 1: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict

(adapted from Susanna Hookway’s ‘Conflict: Jerusalem’ in Questions of Truth)

Before introducing Nina Paley’s ‘This Land Is Mine’, split the class into four or five teams. Each team is presented with five statements about Israeli/Jewish claims to the land and five statements about Palestinian/Muslim claims to the land. Remind pupils that not all Israelis are Jewish and not all Palestinians are Muslims. The following statements are simplified for this activity – not all Jews or Muslims believe exactly this!

Israeli/Jewish

1. Our history is one of suffering and persecution, especially in the Holocaust. We have been and still are, badly treated and regarded with suspicion by other cultures. We need to establish our identity, freedom and national development and we need to secure the land to do that.
2. God made promises to Abraham which included that we would live in the land forever.
3. The Jews are now a political nation with Israel our historic homeland.
4. For centuries we have prayed that we would celebrate the Passover ‘next year’ in Now our prayers are being answered.
5. Our ancestors have lived here since the twentieth century BCE.

Palestinian/Muslim

1. Our ancestors have lived in the land for at least thirteen centuries.
2. Jews and Palestinians are blood brothers. We share the same father, Abraham, and the same God.
3. The 1922 mandate said the rights of non-Jews should be protected. American presidents promised to consult Arabs. These promises have been broken and continue to be ignored, creating suffering and misery.
4. We have a stake in Abraham’s heritage. Abraham himself never tried to take away anyone’s land. The only land he owned was the field he purchased in order to bury his wife Sarah.
5. We have suffered greatly and been cruelly treated. We need to establish our identity, guarantee our basic human rights including our right to respect, our freedom and our right to self determination as a Palestinian people.

Ask the teams to group their facts under three headings: Religious, Historical and Political. Explain that there will be overlaps but the teams should aim to recognise the close connections between the three.

Encourage the pupils to develop their reasons for their groupings. Do they find any of the statements more persuasive than the others?

Activity 2: ‘This Land Is Mine’: the song and the animation

Bring up the lyrics of the song on a whiteboard. [These can be found on several lyrics websites, but note that although Nina Paley freely shares her material, the lyrics of the song are copyright and should only be used for educational purposes within your Use the information provided in the Key words and concepts section above to provide the relevant context but take care not to reduce the impact of the animation by saying too much about it at this stage.]

Ask pupils for their initial impressions of the lyrics – the thoughts and sentiments expressed, images invoked, the tone of the lyrics.

In small groups, ask pupils to make a list of all the positive words, phrases and images in the lyrics. As a follow up ask them to consider whether there is anything negative in the lyrics.

Play the song (it can be found on You Tube and is the version sung by Andy Williams). Did the music bear out their thoughts? What words would they use to describe the mood or feeling of the song?

Tell the class they are now going to watch a short animation in which the song is Play the animation.

What are students thoughts about the animation? Were they shocked?

Suggested questions:

• What kind of images do the words of the song evoke?
• What kind of feelings/emotions/thoughts do they express?
• What were your reactions to hearing the song?
• What kind of impression did the song and the music make on you?
• How surprised or shocked were you by the video?
• What images were memorable?
• How has it changed your understanding of the song?
• Leaving aside the violent action of the animation, how is the land represented?
• What is the position of the film-maker in relation to conflict in general and the Israeli – Palestinian conflict in particular?
• Does she favour one side over the other?
• Is this a biased or unbiased video?
• What is the film maker saying about the conflict?
• How does the film help us understand the religious nature of the problem?
• The animation has been described as ‘facile’. This means it is too simple and avoids the complexities of the conflict. Do you agree?
• How is the artist using the figure of the angel of death in the animation?
• Which people did you recognise in the animation? [It might be worth identifying the section from the appearance of the British onwards as the important one for the discussion of human rights.]
• The animation uses stereotypes to make a point. Which stereotypes did you recognise?
• The animation is both shocking funny. Why do you think Nina Paley has used humour to make a serious point?

Activity 3a: What is human in ‘Human Rights’?

(adapted from the Human Rights Resource Centre)

Write the words ‘HUMAN’ and ‘RIGHTS’ at the top of chart on a Smartboard. Below the word ‘human’ draw a circle or the outline of a human being. Ask pupils to suggest what qualities define a human being and write the words inside the outline. For example, ‘intelligence,’ ‘sympathy.’

Next ask pupils what they think is needed in order to protect, enhance, and fully develop these qualities of a human being. List their answers outside the circle.

and ask participants to explain them. For example, ‘education,’ ‘friendship,’ ‘loving family.’ [Note: save this list for use in Activity 3b.]

Explain that everything inside the circle relates to human dignity, the wholeness of being Everything written around the outline represents what is necessary to human dignity. Human rights are based on these necessities.

Explain that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) sets the standard for how human beings should behave towards one another so that everyone’s human dignity is respected. Display these two sentences from the UDHR and ask pupils to read and reflect on them for a few minutes:

…recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of the freedom, justice, and peace in the world…

Preamble, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 1, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Activity 3b: What do we mean by rights?

Ask pupils to suggest different meanings the word ‘right’ can have (e.g., ‘correct’, ‘opposite of left’, ‘just’.) Ask them to consider common expressions like ‘We’re within our rights’ or ‘You have no right to say that’. Record these different meanings on the board. What is the meaning of ‘right’ when we speak of a human right?

In small groups, ask pupils to suggest a definition for human rights: write these possibilities on the board. Negotiate a definition that gains class consensus and write it on a chart sheet by itself.

Write on the whiteboard this definition of human rights:

Human rights belong to all people regardless of their sex, race, colour, language, national origin, age, class, religion, or political beliefs. They are universal, inalienable, indivisible, and interdependent.

Ask the pupils what they think is meant by: ‘universal’, ‘inalienable’, ‘indivisible’, ‘interdependent’? and then to look up these terms in a dictionary and to write down their meaning.

Write ‘SURVIVAL/SUBSISTENCE,’ ‘HUMAN DIGNITY,’ and ‘CONVENIENCES AND LUXURIES’ on another part of the whiteboard. Discuss the meaning of these terms, then remind pupils of the list of things needed in order to protect, enhance, and fully develop the qualities of a human being that they created in Activity 3a. Ask them to place each item under one of the headings. For example, is education necessary to survival? To human dignity? Is education a convenience or a luxury?

Activity 4: Ranking rights

Provide pupils with a simplified version of nine of the articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are:

• No one should be held in slavery.
• No one should be tortured.
• Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression of that opinion in any way they wish.
• All human beings are born free and equal and should treat all people as if they are brothers.
• Everyone has the right to a standard of living that allows for good health.
• Everyone has the right to be taken care of if they are unemployed, sick, disabled, widowed, old or unable to look after themselves.
• Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
• Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
• Everyone has the right to education.

Using the Think-Pair-Share strategy, encourage pupils to decide on what they think is the most important human right from the list provided. As a pair they then rank the others. A good approach to the second part of this would be to do it as a Diamond Nine activity. Where does freedom of thought, conscience and religion figure in their ranking?

Activity 5: What Is a Universal Right?

Show pupils the comments of Eleanor Roosevelt, Chair of the UN commission that drafted the UDHR, on the importance of universal human rights standards:

Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere.

Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.

Eleanor Roosevelt: The Great Question

Engage pupils in some reflection on Eleanor Roosevelt’s words.

Ask them then to suggest examples of how someone’ s human rights might be infringed on a local level and to identify which article in the UDHR is being infringed.

Encourage pupils to work in small groups to develop and role-play a scene in which they show the infringement of the right. Techniques such as marking the moment and thoughts aloud can be employed to explore the significance of the moment and the thoughts of those involved. Who does the person appeal to in order to redress the wrong? Are they taken seriously?

Activity 6: Religion and human rights

Explain that in order to gain a full picture of human rights they will now have the opportunity to investigate teachings from Judaism, Islam and Christianity about the importance of social justice, our responsibilities for others, particularly looking after the most vulnerable in society and to compare the teachings with the Declaration of Human They will be making decisions about which article best matches the religious teaching.

Provide pupils with the following quotations and give them time to read and reflect:

Islam

It is righteous to …spend of your substance out of love for [Allah], for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves (Surah 2:177).

And of his signs is this: he created you of dust and you are now human beings dispersed everywhere (ar-Rum 30:20).

You who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in your devotion to God, bearing witness to the truth in all equity; and never let hatred of any one lead you into the sin of deviating from justice. Be just: this is closest to being God-conscious. (Surah 5:8).

Judaism

[The Lord]… secures justice for those who are wronged and gives food to the hungry (Psalm 146:7).

Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ (Genesis 1:26).

If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: (Leviticus 25:39).

Christianity

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me (Matthew 25: 35-36).

Human life is precious (Luke 12: 6-7).

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

Explain that the three religions here do have much more to say about rights and responsibilities, but that these verses are a focus for the current investigation.

Ask pupils to decide in pairs which articles of the UDHR may be linked to different quotations and to offer some analysis of how religious teachings such as these, which predate the UDHR by hundreds of years, may have been influential in the formation of the Declaration.

Encourage them to make some notes on the similarities and difference they have noticed in the statements.

Activity 7: Comparing Simone Weil’s idea of needs and obligations with human rights via the parable of the Good Samaritan

Explain to pupils that they will have the opportunity now to gain some real depth in their understanding of the possible relationship between religion and human rights through a ‘triangular activity’ in which they compare versions of two texts through the medium of a third:

The two texts are extracts from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Draft For A Statement of Human Obligations by Simone Weil

Mediating text: Luke 10: 25-37, the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Introduce pupils to Simone Weil’s work in the context of human rights and the period in which she was writing and provide them with copies of (a) the UDHR.

Remind pupils of the Parable of the Good Samaritan by reading Luke 10:25-37 and encourage them in twos or threes to read through the UDHR and Simone Weil’s essay, picking out features that could be related to the Parable. Ask them to share their connections in a brief class feedback session.

Ask the pupils to then imagine that following a human catastrophe that has wiped out most of humanity, they have been tasked with providing guidance in the setting up of a new human community. Working in two groups or in larger groups that are then split into two, ask one group to draw up a set of ten fundamental rights, and the other to draw up a set of ten fundamental needs and corresponding obligations, with justifying wording in the appropriate language. Encourage each group to then decide on recommendations for ensuring the guidelines can and will be met, how they are to be kept under review and a mechanism for revising them.

Provide an opportunity for the groups to relate their proposals, e.g., as posters displayed on the walls, or as a digital presentation, and ask the class to work out how they will decide on which set of proposals would be the most effective.

Set pupils an evaluation questions, such as, ‘How far do you think some Jewish, Christian and Muslim teachings are consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?’

An examination of the life and work of Daisaku Ikeda, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

For 10-14 year olds. Originally written by Mary Myatt. Updated in April 2019.

Key words and concepts

Justice: the moral principle of fairness for all.

Freedom: the rights of individual to be able to take part in civil and political life without discrimination or repression.

Non-violence: the power of refusing to use violence; the restraint required not to descend to the violence used by oppressors. Gandhi and King used non-violent tactics, inspired by Jesus and other political activities for justice.

Learning activities

Ask your learners to think about ‘the price of justice’. To stimulate discussion show the Muppet Christmas Carol – Marley and Marley (find it on You Tube). Ask them why the characters are in chains. What is holding them captive? What could set them free?

Ask what sort of things people are usually sent to prison for. Write them up on a picture with some prison bars. Show pictures of Gandhi and King in prison and ask your students if they know or can guess what they were supposed to have done that is ‘wrong’. Add these comments to the bars.

Find two or three more examples of contemporary political prisoners or prisoners of conscious. Amnesty International’s website is a good place to look, especially their current letter-writing campaigns. Draw out as a class why these people have been imprisoned. Add the reasons and any quotes that sum up the issue to the bars.

King wrote a famous letter while he was in Birmingham jail, which was written on scraps of newspaper and smuggled out. One of the things he said was that ‘we have a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.’ Ask your students to work in pairs to work out what their message from prison would be and what the possible consequences of different messages might be. Encourage them to write it out for display on newspaper inside prison bars.

Ask students to investigate what Paul said about being in chains for the sake of the gospel. Read the whole passage in Philippians 1: 12-26, or cut up key passages and give to groups to explore. Discuss what the chains represent; what freedom has Paul found? What does he feel about the chains? Add these notes to the prison bars.

Search a quote website for Gandhi’s sayings on ‘freedom’, ‘courage’ and ‘strength’. Display 10- 20 or copy and paste onto sheets. Give groups one or two quotes, either of their own choice or randomly distributed, to discuss and explore. Share with the class. Add these thoughts to the prison bars.

Use the Buddhist Wheel of Life below (For an A4 version please see Appendix 1 of the download available at the end of this resource). Around the outer circle are the ’12 chains of causation’; the elements of human life that keep us trapped, such as craving, desire, sensation, and so on. Discuss whether this represents a different type of being ‘trapped’ to Gandhi’s, and Paul’s. What freedoms are being referred to? How do they differ?

Encourage students to make connections between the quotations. They might add some of their own comments about ‘the chains that bind us’ from these sources to the prison display.

“I stood by when           ” Tell your students how, in 1961, seven black and six white young people known as the ‘Freedom Riders’, decided to travel by bus from Washington to New Orleans, crossing six southern states of America, to challenge local practices of racial segregation. In Birmingham, Alabama, police stood by when members of the Ku Klux Klan beat the Freedom Riders with lead pipes, baseball bats and bicycle chains. Ask students if they can think of other examples of people ‘standing by’ when wrong- doing was taking place. Explain that in 1945 Daisaku Ikeda was a teenager in Japan when the US dropped two nuclear bombs and that he decided then that he could not ‘stand by’ while the existence and threat of these weapons has remained. Ikeda is well-known today as a Buddhist philosopher and writer, and founder of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), the world’s largest community of non-ordained Buddhists, or Buddhists who are not monks or nuns. Show students some ideas from the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) website campaigning against nuclear weapons and ask students if they know the reasons people give for keeping nuclear weapons.

Remind your group of the story Jesus told of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (Luke 10.25-37). Explain that Martin Luther King, as a Christian, was influenced by this story, and Gandhi and Ikeda also held Jesus in high regard and followed the teaching of this parable. Ask students to rewrite the story as a poem from the point of view of the priest, the Levite (I stood by when….) and the Samaritan (I didn’t stand by when …..).

Your students could write a similar poem thinking about instances when they might be tempted to just stand by, and instances when they have the courage to not stand by. Alternatively they could write a poem in the style of ‘First they came…’ by Martin Niemoller (find this poem online).

The poems could be written on paper chains. At the end of the poem they could make a record of two or three questions about such dilemmas and suggest how people might go about answering them.

Ask students to consider in pairs whether there are differences in the basic beliefs of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Daisaku Ikeda. Ask them to say what experiences each man had that helped form their views. Issue the pairs or small groups of students with pictures of Gandhi, King and Ikeda. They can stick these in the middle of large sheets of poster paper. Around each picture they should write a number of statements about the beliefs and the experiences of each man so far as they have been able to discover so far. Ask them to link up similar statements and encourage them to explain how some people use religious sources such as the parable of the Good Samaritan to help them understand how to act in difficult circumstances.

Find a clip online of blacksmiths making chains. Accompany this with some music such as Alexander Mosolov’s Zavod (The Iron Foundry) 19. Ask students about their reactions to the short film and the music and the idea of people being in chains. Ask them to reflect, on their own, on what they are making of their lives so far. What might they do in their future life to help ‘set people free’? Gather some views and then offer them Ikeda’s saying that, ‘true and lasting peace will be realised only by forging bonds of trust between people at the deepest level in the depths of their lives’. Ask students to talk to a partner about the difference between chains of despair and chains of strength that bind people together. Can they give examples of each? Gather views from the class.

Show images of Martin Luther King’s marches in 1960s America and Gandhi’s march for equal rights for Indians in South Africa. Ask students how different they think these marches were from the riots and protests that sometimes take place in Britain today (e.g., in London in 2011, or more recent example if appropriate). Ask if students can identify current stories in Britain or America that reflect concerns about exclusion, racism and freedom.

Ask students to work in pairs to consider problems in the world today and to draft some ideas on what (a) Martin Luther King; (b) Gandhi and (c) Ikeda might write on a protest placard. What would students write on a placard about injustices in today’s world? Ask them to create placards with a written explanation to display.

Remind students of the posters they produced around the pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Daisaku Ikeda and offer them some further quotes, e.g., Gandhi’s, ‘You must be the change you want to see’; King’s ‘Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love’; and Ikeda’s ‘A great revolution of character in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and further will cause a change in the destiny of humankind’. Find and display more quotes along these lines, or ask groups to choose quotes online.

Some students might like to go further and make quotes into poems, raps, and songs. Search online for a rap based on Gandhi’s quote, ‘Be the change that you want to see’ and Martin Luther King’s ‘Free at last’ speech set to rhythm / percussion.

To challenge students to demonstrate their level of progress through this investigation, encourage them to refocus on the key question, ‘What price justice?’ Ask them to work in small groups to research and put together a presentation that could be written or filmed that has the following features:

• a description of the ‘price paid’ by Gandhi, King and Ikeda in their fights for justice;
• an outline of responses to Gandhi, King and Ikeda from different Hindus, Christians and Buddhists;
• use of different sources and arguments to explain the reasons for different responses by Hindus, Christians and Buddhists;
• students’ own views on how the life and teaching of Gandhi, King and Ikeda inspires people to fight for justice in the world today;
• what students find to be the most important features of the life and teaching of Gandhi, King and Ikeda for themselves

An investigation into the character of Abraham and the story of the binding of Isaac.

For 10-14 year olds. Originally written by David Aldridge. Updated in April 2019.

Key words and concepts

Abraham: Abraham is often known as the Father of Judaism. It was Abraham’s faith in God, having been brought up in the polytheistic society of Ur, that initially singled him out.

Isaac: Isaac was the only son of Abraham and Sarah (although Abraham had another child, Ishmael, by Sarah’s slave Hagar); Isaac’s arrival was miraculous, as Sarah was past childbearing age when he was born. He is believed to be the outcome of God’s promise to give Abraham a line of descendants. His name means ‘laughter’ and expresses the old couple’s joy at finally having a child together.

Akedah: This is the Hebrew word for ‘binding’ and is the name given by Jews to the story of Abraham and Isaac; Abraham binds his son before placing him on the altar.

Sacrifice: the ancient Hebrews practised ritual sacrifice, slaughtering animals and giving them to God as burnt offerings; neighbouring tribes also practised human sacrifice.

Faith: the word faith could refer to someone’s confidence or trust in God or a higher principle, or their devotion or willingness to obey.

Angel: in the Tenakh, angels are supernatural messengers who communicate God’s wishes to His followers.

Covenant: The word Covenant, which literally means an ‘agreement’, is taken by Jews and Christians to refer to a number of promises that God makes to Abraham. For the purposes of this resource, the most relevant one is the promise of numerous descendants. “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You shall be the father of a multitude of nations. And you shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fertile, and make nations of you; and kings shall come forth from you. I will maintain My covenant between Me and you, and your offspring to come, as an everlasting covenant throughout the ages, to be God to you and to your offspring to come. I assign the land you sojourn in to you and your offspring to come, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting holding. I will be their God” (Genesis 17:4-8).

Moriah: This is the name of the mountain range where God commanded Abraham to take Isaac for sacrifice.

Scripture: This word, which literally means ‘written down’, refers normally to the holy texts of a religion.

Revelation: The process by which God makes His will known to human beings.

Tenakh: The Jewish scriptures, considered to be revealed by God; the Torah is included in the Tenakh. The Tenakh is also the first half of the Christian Bible, in which it is called the ‘Old Testament’.

Torah: The first five books of the Jewish scriptures are called the ‘Torah’; they are the books of law and the most holy texts in Judaism; the story of Abraham and Isaac is found in Genesis, the first book of the Torah.

Talmud: The Talmud is the collected text of Judaism’s ‘oral tradition’; it contains the different opinions of thousands of rabbis on a variety of subjects, including the correct interpretation of the difficult story of Abraham and Issac.

The distinctiveness of the approach offered here is that it encourages students to do justice to the ambiguity of the scriptural source for the story of Abraham and Isaac. This is a story that challenges believers in both the Jewish and Christian traditions and has produced a range of divergent interpretations.

It is tempting, for 10-14 year olds, to present this story as a simple example of faith as being prepared to give up anything for God, and then to ask students what they would be prepared to give up or sacrifice for the values that are important in their lives.

Such an approach tends to flatten or ignore the deep problems that believers encounter in their attempts to make sense of this text. The treatment of this stimulus is inspired by the concept of the anguish of Abraham that we find in Kierkegaard’s well-known philosophical exploration of Genesis 22, Fear and Trembling. Although it is not likely that you will find much in Fear and Trembling that is directly accessible to students of age 10 to 14, the text is available online >> and recommended for background exploration. Kierkegaard’s is not a conventional or mainstream Christian reading, and it certainly does not arise from the Jewish tradition, although much of what Kierkegaard is concerned about is foreshadowed in the range of ingenious interpretations of the story that are offered in the Talmudic texts.

Kierkegaard sets himself the task of understanding Abraham psychologically rather than reading him as a ‘type’ or analogical figure in the text, and offers a range of different attempts to do so. His exploration centres on what faith must mean if Abraham is considered the exemplar for it. What are the grounds of faith, what is its relation to our ordinary or everyday ethical understandings, and what hopes or expectations for the future must it be based on?

Learning activities

Introduction

Explain to the students that over the next few lessons we will be asking the question ‘What is Faith?’ with particular reference to the Old Testament / Tenakh story of the binding of Isaac / Akedah. Ask for initial definitions of the word ‘faith’ but explain also that this series will have a critical component. We are trying to understand what faith is and why someone would have it, but also what it is acceptable to do out of faith, and what it is appropriate to put our faith in.

Mirror

The purpose of the activities suggested below is to establish that students already have perspectives on issues that pertain to the broader question of ‘what is faith’, with relation to the stimulus text, and this prepares them to see the stimulus as challenging and relevant to their own perspectives. The issues are the nature of scripture and revelation, their views on whether and how God might communicate directly with people, and the question of what is most important in their lives, and on what grounds they might give it up. This prepares them to engage with some of the complexities and ambiguities of the scriptural story of Abraham and Isaac.

Ask students to consider / list the ways in which people believe that God communicates with people. Ask students to produce a mind map as groups or as a whole class. Select individual students to consider how they would feel if they thought God was communicating to them in one of these ways. What doubts or concerns would they have? What other explanations might they give for what was happening? Encourage students to add these different explanations to their mind map.

Ask students to list three things that are most precious to them. In a pair activity, a partner is to try to persuade them to give up that object, person or experience. Were they successful? What would the cost be? Select pairs to feed back to the class – perhaps try to get an interesting range of precious possessions, people and costs.

Drawing on previous answers, as a class, create NINE ways of seeing scripture, or religious texts. Create together, whatever the individuals’ own views, all can contribute. For example: ‘direct word of God’, ‘God’s attempt to communicate with humans’, ‘interpreted by humans’, ‘written by humans’, etc.

Using these ways of seeing scripture, ask pairs to rank them in a diamond nine shape for themselves. On the board, show the continuum of views towards scripture, with ‘totally reliable’ at the top and ‘totally unreliable’ at the bottom.

Window

Find a clip of Abraham’s sacrifice online, such as the animation created by ‘Testament’.

Alternatively, find a graphic bible version of the story online and print for groups.

Teach the word Akedah (‘binding’, see key vocabulary). Ask students to watch out for this moment.

The sacrifice occurs in Genesis 22. Students will benefit from being given certain contextual information:

• The history of Abraham’s faith relationship with God, for example his willingness to leave his home, or his doubt when God promises him a line of descendants (and hence his recourse to Hagar).
• The importance of Isaac as the miraculous fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham, the meaning of Isaac’s name (laughter).

Remind students about the key question. We are trying to understand ‘What is faith’ in relation to Abraham as an example of religious faith. What was Abraham’s faith, what did it mean to him, and does that make sense to us?

It is important, having watched the video, to return to the scriptural source of the story. Read Genesis 22 with the class and invite responses. Invite students to consider why God decides to test Abraham, what they would have done in his place etc. (See previous section for a list of appropriate questions to ask here).

Analysis task: point out also that Abraham’s reaction in the video/ graphic bible offers a particular interpretation of how Abraham responds.

Discuss what is mentioned in the text, as opposed to what is shown in the video/ graphic bible. Ask students what other interpretive decisions have been made, and what alternatives could have been chosen.

Variation

Students are now introduced to a variety of ways of interpreting the video/ graphic bible. The reason for choosing these interpretations is to introduce key decision points around whether students will choose to try to understand Abraham’s complex psychology or whether they will see him as a cipher or analogue for some other important truth; they will also need to make judgements about the nature and coherence of scripture.

Introduce students to three ways that can be used to make sense of the story of Abraham, using the stimulus cards available at  https://www.reonline.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/What-is-Faith-cards.pdf

Students do not have to agree, or to come to their own critical view. The purpose of the cards is to experience a variety of critical views.

Take time to discuss, deconstruct and explore together.

Groups could be set further research to find out more about one view, such as Plato’s Euthyphro or Molochite child sacrifice.

Further critical views could be a Christological view (considering the story in the light of Christian theology) or a modern philosophical view, such as Jean Paul Satre’s.

Child Sacrifice. The practice of child sacrifice occurred in the Ancient Near East, such as in the Molochite tribe. The story of Abraham shows God overturning Abraham’s expectation that God wanted him to sacrifice his son, and the rejection of this practice.

The problem of God’s commands. This problem is raised in Plato’s famous play Euthyphro. Euthyphro encounters Socrates and informs him he is taking a certain course of action because the gods demand it. Socrates asks Euthyphro whether his action is good in itself, or only good because the gods demand it. Through this conversation Plato asks on what basis humans should follow the gods’ commands.

The Rabbinic commentaries. In these Jewish scholarly commentaries of the Tenakh the historical context is offered. At the time of Abraham, the son would be considered as entirely the possession of the father. Therefore Abraham has total control over his son’s life and death. However this does not solve the ethical problem of Abraham’s own duty of love and care for his son, or Isaac’s own right to life. The Rabbinic commentaries view the story as a test of Abraham’s faith rather than justifying a father’s total control over his children.

Once students have been introduced to these three possible interpretations, particular groups should be given one interpretation to explore in depth. They should then produce a storyboard for their own video, which would present the story of the Akedah in the light of this particular interpretation. Link back to your earlier discussion on the interpretive decisions that were made in the video stimulus. Depending on your (or your students’) confidence with the range of animation software available online students could also produce these animations.

Conversation

Role play / drama task. Encourage students to enact the events of the Akedah taking it in turns to portray Abraham. At a point in the story of your choice, freeze the frame and interrogate Abraham about his thoughts and feelings. Who does he think is speaking to him? Why is he sure of this? What does he think about what God has asked him to do? Why is he prepared to do it? Encourage other students to question Abraham or further interrogate his answers. They can begin their questions with, “But what about…?” or “What if…?”

This is a critical realist use of drama. This task should not be confused with other uses of drama, which encourage empathy with a believer. Students are being asked to do more here than empathise with a Jewish interpreter of the story, for example. In either articulating their own account of Abraham’s psychology, or questioning that of a peer, they are engaging critically with a range of interpretations of this story and beginning to identify their own. They are not so much empathising with Abraham as offering an account of his story’s meaning in the context of their own beliefs about scripture. You should explain to students that events are only fixed up to the freeze frame. After that, allow the drama to continue and Abraham’s actions to play out in accordance with the discussion, which has just ensued. Their Abraham may, if they wish, make other decisions. This would constitute an expression of a critical judgement about the coherence of the story or its validity as the expression of the will of a benevolent God.

Interesting alternatives / extensions are to do the same thing with Isaac, who can be asked to explain what he thinks of his father’s actions or decisions, and why he is compliant with them, or even God, depending on whether you think it is appropriate to do this with your class. God could explain his motivation for testing Abraham in this way. I would run this task as described above, meaning that their God may, if they wish, make other decisions.

Depending on how much time you have to allocate to this drama activity, students could be assessed on their participation to the task, either through their portrayal of key characters or through their role as questioner.

Students are well prepared, if appropriate in your context, for a written assessment on the Faith of Abraham. They could write about what it meant for Abraham to have faith and whether they would be able to have the same faith, ensuring that they articulate their view on the nature of Old Testament/ Jewish scripture and refer to a range of possible interpretations of the story.