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Impossible question time
There always seem to be questions that are hard to answer
so the editors decided to invite some from young people. Raymond Chapman gives his answers to two of these
questions below.
When Jesus talks to God is he talking to himself?
from Daniel, aged 11
This comes to the heart of the mystery in which the eternal Son of God took our nature and lived on earth as the man Jesus. He was fully human and also fully divine throughout his Incarnation, but in his love for us set aside for a time the privileges of divinity and accepted the limitations of a human life, even to suffering and death. St Paul writes that he 'did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave' (Philippians 2. 6-7). When he prayed to God, as 'Father', he offered the highest degree of human faith and love, in the strength of his divine power, giving an example to those who would pray in his name.
Who's to blame in the story of the Garden of Eden?
from Rachel, aged 10
The question of blame is not really appropriate, though it is natural when we read of how Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent. This is a myth in the real meaning of the word: not something untrue but a story which presents a truth in narrative terms. It tells how the human race has lost the innocence in which God created it, and tended to rebellion and disobedience. The serpent stands for a power of evil working though our weakness and the misuse of the free will given to us. The salvation brought by Jesus Christ frees us from that shared burden which is called original sin, and forgives us when we repent of our actual individual sins. He took upon himself the 'blame' of the Fall. |
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