Articles - Miscellaneous

Living with Difference

This was the title of the Annual Public Lecture which the Rt Rev Dr David Hope, Archbishop of York, gave to the Council of Christians and Jews in the Leeds Civic Hall last month. It was an eloquent and moving plea for tolerance in an age of extremism, with the underlying theme of genuinely loving our neighbour, regardless of race, colour or creed. It was a matter for regret that religion had been largely overlooked as a major shaping force in the world because "if religion is not part of the solution it will certainly be part of the problem".

Echoing the sentiments and arguments of Dr Jonathan Sachs, the Chief Rabbi, in his recent book "The Dignity of Difference" (2002) the Archbishop's lecture concentrated on promoting understanding, friendship and trust between people from all the faith communities. The challenge was essentially to honour the dignity of difference and diversity, so richly celebrated in the Bible from the opening chapters of Genesis to the Book of Revelation, where St John has a wonderful vision of those arrayed before the throne of God. Here the Archbishop conjectured whimsically: "You and I might just be a little surprised to discover who our neighbours are in the world to come".

The three "religions of the Book", the great monotheisms of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, so often in conflict, all worship the God who spoke to Abraham and Sarah, exhorting them to begin a journey to a world of justice, peace, compassion and love. Rather than a divisive factor it was imperative that religion helped to heal the wounds and bind peoples together in harmony. Reports emerging every 10 years between 1948 and 1998 from the Lambeth Conference, testified to the increasing necessity for a closer relationship with all the various religious communities. In fact, the 1978 Report declared that the common heritage between Christianity and Judaism of the Old Testament Scriptures provided a blue-print for studying the sacred writings of other world faiths. And at the last Conference in 1998, the means of fostering a deeper relationship with other faith communities formed a major part of the Conference agenda. This very difference and diversity was of itself God-made and God given. In dialogue with Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, African and other faith traditions, the Archbishop urged Christians to listen and to learn and to match words with equal cooperation in service.

Whilst concentrating on the inter faith dialogue, the Archbishop also touched on the denominational differences within Christianity itself (recently ameliorated with the National Covenant with the Methodist Church) and the differences within the Anglican Church arising from issues of human sexuality and the ordination of women to the Episcopate.

On each visit to Jerusalem the Archbishop described how he went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to the Wailing Wall and to the Mosque to pray and to reflect, in each reciting the words of Psalm 122 beginning, "I was glad when they said to me, we will go into the House of the Lord".

In conclusion, in our living with the differences of race, culture and creed, the Archbishop prayed God that we might "recognise and rejoice in the dignity of each and every human person formed in the image of the one God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob".

27 June, 2004