Dive into a book and grasp some new ideas. Lord Harries’ latest work.

Lord Harries former Bishop of Oxford discusses his latest book at Burgh House

“The Beauty and The Horror – searching for God in a Suffering World” spawned an  interview by Piers Plowright and in deep discussion with an attentive audience Lord Harries noted on the holocaust at Auschwitz,  the question was not “where is or where was God?” but “where was man?” in those very dark days of history.  Oscar Schindler was not a man of faith but he did help to save Jews.  God is the source of all goodness, Lord Harries believes, and we are not in a post religious world, with more believers in Christ, especially growing in China.  On science and medical ethics and religion:- is there a clash?  Science gives us results we feel confident in but people can’t feel confident in religion in the same way.  Camus and the Karamazov brothers are both sources of allusions to the human condition – much of suffering is debatably made from making the wrong choices.

We are all born with a desire to look after ourselves and the will to survive pushes us forwards and we have to outgrow an innate egoism to accommodate other people.  We can change things and have done, such as slavery and apartheid, so hope is always there for a better world. Friend Jonathan Sachs believes in a cognitive difference between how the world is and how the world ought to be.

Christian faith is a package – there are certain kinds of “pillars” that are all part of it – i.e. God and Christ together. Views of Karl Marx are also alluded to.  For more information read Lord Harries’ latest book available on Amazon or at all good bookshops.

Penny Nair Price