Editor's Page
Editor: Bishop Michael Wright, 18 Frenchfield Road, Peasedown St. John, BATH BA2 8SL, UK
Tel: (UK) 01761 433149, Fax: (UK) 01761 434388, e-mail (for Editor): Bpmwright@aol.com
Dear Friends
This editorial has been delayed by a few days. At the end of June unseasonable heavy rain disrupted my connection with the internet. The rain caused serious flooding in parts of the UK and this seems to have repeated in other parts of the world. An item on a religious programme heard or mis-heard on the BBC reported that five Church of England bishops had announced that the rain was a punishment from God! It seems improbable that Anglican bishop should be so definite. If there was anything in the report it would be more likely to be a comment by the bishops that the flooding was a consequence of ‘global warming’ rather than of a divine visitation.
In the past clergy found it quite effective to threaten hellfire, but such tactics have little appeal now. This does not mean that we have become complacent about our present world situation - the campaign against global warming is a example of widespread concern. It is true also that on occasion the Bible points to natural disasters as the consequence of our spiritual and moral failure. The lesson to draw from this is twofold, that all created existence is linked together as a unity and that mankind has a spiritual and moral responsibility within that unity.
If there is a link between global warming and unseasonable weather then the flooding is not a divine punishment inflicted on us by an angry God, but a consequence our misuse of the natural resources He has provided for our well-being. God’s anger, if we can call it that, is always corrective, since it springs from his abiding love of His creation.
