Bible is a book we cannot afford to close...

He is absolutely right, that for some people religion is about hope, comfort and self improvement. The problem is that if a person looks for hope he wants to put his hope in something that is not going to fail him. Where does he find it?

Mr Gornall writes "I believe in no God but believe in the existence of Jesus as a good and reasonable man", and maintains the world might be satisfied with and find hope in "kindness, love and compassion", as expressed by one's neighbour.

It is one of the great joys of life to experience these things from others. However, even in a perfect world where we are surrounded by people who were falling over themselves to love us and be kind and compassionate to us, we would still be faced with our desire for complete security in the face of suffering and death.

Our loving brothers and sisters, if we are lucky enough to have them, cannot give us this. The only person who can give us this security (given the word "salvation" in the Christian religion) is Jesus Christ. Now the record of what he did to give us the security we are longing for is contained in the Bible. If we choose to ignore that book, we damage no one but ourselves, because we are powerless to give ourselves that security or salvation.

Can we really afford to close that book? We like to imagine we are already safe, even immortal, with the successes of science, but sadness, suffering and death (the "personal hells" Mr Gornall rightly points to) come to us whether we believe in God or not, either as friends or enemies.

These three facts of life can only become our friends if we realise that Jesus has already conquered them, by His Death and Resurrection. Without Jesus they spell only despair. So human kindness, love and compassion are not enough to console someone in a personal hell. Only the touch of the Wounded Healer can heal the tortured human heart with His promise of eternal life and love.

Rev Fr. John Seddon

St Augustine's Abbey,

Ramsgate, Kent