It\u2019s always a risk walking around with a dog collar on. People might ask you things. A bishop I know carries a list of the 12 disciples in his briefcase just in case someone puts him on the spot (the biblical list isn\u2019t entirely clear). It\u2019s like politicians being asked how much a second-class stamp is. Clergy dread being asked something they probably should know but forgot long ago.<\/p>\n
I was once in court as an expert witness, testifying on behalf of a member of our congregation seeking asylum on the basis of conversion to Christianity. The Home Office lawyer was scathing when he couldn\u2019t name six disciples and used this fact to challenge the genuineness of his conversion. In fact, he\u2019d named five, which I thought was pretty good. I asked our congregation the following Sunday. They got as far as Simon Peter, Andrew and John \u2013 most remembered Judas \u2013 but after that it was a stretch.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you be illiterate and be a Christian\u2019\u2019? demanded the lawyer. I was totally bemused by the question. Of the two billion Christians in the world today, a large proportion are technically illiterate. And for the first four centuries of Christianity, not a whole lot was written down in any case.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Great article by Lucy Winkett from @StJPiccadilly<\/a> \u2014 London Diocese (@dioceseoflondon) December 12, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
\n‘It\u2019s like politicians being asked how much a second-class stamp is. Clergy dread being asked something they probably should know but forgot long ago.’https:\/\/t.co\/UNTsByf2My<\/a><\/p>\n