Creation at Worship
Chris Voke is Deputy Principal at Spurgeon’s College in London, and his new book is a very readable and well argued account of why we need a good doctrine of creation.
He starts out by showing how protestant worship in some places tends to separate spiritual concerns from physical ones, implying (in almost a gnostic way) that Jesus saves us FROM the world. But he goes on to show that a properly Christian view of the world is one that embraces all of it as God’s concern.
The word “creation” is a somewhat fraught term in some ways, because it launches discussions too easily into an argument about the scientific origins of the world. But Mr Voke isn’t arguing about how the word came into being; he’s simply starting from the assumption that God is involved in the world as we know it, and challenging the way Christianity negotiates that relationship.
The later parts of the book go on to engage with how a thoroughgoing doctrine of creation will lead to faith having a strong thread of ecological concern: instead of conceiving of ourselves as threatened by the world, or separate from it, the responsibility for the earth is both challenging and cheerful, and will not only affect our life, but also the way we worship. And happily, this turns out not to be worthy-but-dull, but an inspiring description of Christianity. Go read!
One Response to “Creation at Worship”
Comments
Reply
-
author musician theologian
Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
In an increasingly secularised society few people have a good working knowledge of the Bible. Yet a great deal of our culture is built on stories or ideas that come from the Bible. Literature, art, music, language and even the fabric of our society - such as our justice system - are built on Christian concepts and biblical references. The Writing on the Wall provides a fascinating introduction to the Bible's best-known, and most influential, stories. Each chapter gives some background to the text of the Bible, and shows how the stories have become enmeshed in Western culture. Adam and Eve, the ten plagues of Egypt, The Prodigal Son and Mary Magdalene all feature - along with how the Bible has influenced everyone from Shakespeare to Monty Python, and Caravaggio to Banksy. 
Giving It Up explores the Lenten idea of 'giving up', taking it beyond the traditional idea of simply abstaining from something, and suggesting instead that what we need to give up is our existing ideas about God. With a daily readings for each day of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, it follows the heroes of the Bible who had to give up their own too-small ideas about God.
This is Maggi’s bestselling book of daily readings for each day of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Advent is the beginning of the Church year, and marks the anticipation of the coming Messiah. These readings explore how beginnings and endings in our own lives are illuminated by the different Gospel narratives of Christ's coming.
-
Search
-
-
I’ve recently read Robert Webber’s Ancient-Future worship and he talks about worship as telling God’s story of Creation – Salvation – Recreation. Another one on the Wish List.