An Investigation Into the History of Brechin Cathedral
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SHARDS OF HOPE – An investigation into the history of Brechin Cathedral from an eschatological perspective by Roderick James Grahame A DOCTORAL PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF PITTSBURGH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2015 © Roderick J Grahame, 2015 All rights reserved To my father, Bert (1929-2004) - who would have enjoyed this Something had been buried that was not yet dead -Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong CONTENTS CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................ V FOREWORD ..................................................................................................................................... VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. VII CHAPTER ONE: PREPARING THE STAGE ............................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER TWO: BIBLICAL PROPS AND THEOLOGICAL SCENERY ...................................................... 13 THE ESCHATOLOGICAL SCENERY ...................................................................................................... 13 THEOLOGICAL PROPS ....................................................................................................................... 37 The doctrine of Providence .......................................................................................................... 37 The Divine agency ........................................................................................................................ 44 THE PRACTICES OF THE KINGDOM ................................................................................................... 53 CHAPTER THREE: PERFORMING THE DRAMA ................................................................................. 60 1.THE CARE AND EDUCATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE. .......................................................................... 61 2. THE ROLE AND PLACE OF WOMEN ............................................................................................... 70 3. CHARITY TOWARDS THE STRANGER. ............................................................................................ 79 4. CARE FOR THE WHOLE INDIVIDUAL – HEALTHCARE AND THE ALLEVIATION OF POVERTY .......... 86 5. FORGIVENESS AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION ................................................................................. 93 WITHIN THE FAITH COMMUNITY ..................................................................................................... 93 6. THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE SABBATH ..................................................................................... 107 7. THE “HIDDEN WORK” OF THE KINGDOM .................................................................................... 117 8.THE DIVERSITY OF THE KINGDOM ............................................................................................... 122 CHAPTER FOUR: ENTER STAGE LEFT? ........................................................................................... 128 RESPONSE TO WAR AND INVASION ............................................................................................... 129 RESPONSE TO PLAGUE ................................................................................................................... 137 LACK OF RECONCILIATION AND THE PROBLEM OF DIVISION IN THE FAITH COMMUNITY. ............ 142 CHAPTER FIVE: THE CRITICS FIND VOICE ....................................................................................... 149 THE LIMITATIONS TO THE EVIDENCE .............................................................................................. 149 THE QUESTION OF THE ESCHATOLOGICAL TELOS. ......................................................................... 153 PANNENBERG’S UNDERSTANDING OF PROVIDENCE ..................................................................... 156 THE ESCHATOLOGY OF KATHRYN TANNER. .................................................................................... 161 THE SECULARISATION OF SOCIETY ................................................................................................. 168 CHAPTER SIX: THE END OF THE STORY OR A NEW BEGINNING: FINIS OR TELOS? ......................... 176 APPENDIX ONE: THE CATHEDRAL’S TIMELINE ............................................................................. 187 APPENDIX TWO: TABLE OF CLERGY OF BRECHIN CATHEDRAL, 1156-2015 .................................... 190 APPENDIX THREE: AUTHORISATION FORMS AND QUESTIONNAIRES UTILISED IN INTERVIEWS.... 193 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................. 197 INDEX ........................................................................................................................................... 209 v FOREWORD Ever since I was a small boy I have had an annoying habit of reading the last few pages of a novel first. To my mind, the fun was then to be had in working out how the ensuing story could possibly get to the conclusion that I already knew was coming. In this paper I have echoed that childhood habit, albeit in a theological model. Central to the Christian faith is the hope in a specific eschatological outcome, namely the new heavens and new earth promised by God. This final part of God’s salvation story is heralded in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ seen in the midst of history itself. The core of my project was to take this future eschatological conclusion to the narrative as my starting point and then look back, reflecting eschatologically upon the long history of my congregation at Brechin Cathedral. How did that history reflect, in a partial, fragmentary way the present yet coming Kingdom of God? This history begins in the misty world of the Celts c. 650 and I am but one in a long line of clergy serving the people of God in this place. The weight of this history has borne down on me as I prepared this paper, yet I was also conscious of the great hope for the future given by God in Jesus. I hope, in some small measure, to have reflected those twin themes of history and faith that are so much part of my life; but more than that, to have combined them in recounting an exciting, interesting, hopeful and eschatological story for the Church. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people who in many different ways have made this possible. Firstly, my thanks to the fifteen individuals who so readily and willingly gave up their time to be interviewed, particularly for honesty and frankness in their responses; sadly, three of my interviewees have passed to greater glory since I recorded their thoughts. To my congregation at Brechin Cathedral for their patience and forbearance when congregational matters sometimes had to take second place to studies. Also to the Cathedral’s Education Committee who acted as my sounding board. Remembering too Elizabeth Ferguson, the Cathedral Archivist, and the staff at Brechin Library for their unstinting courtesy and willingness to meet my every request to delve deep into the archives. Secondly, to my Faculty Committee of Rev. Dr. Edwin Christiaan van Driel of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Professor Tom Greggs of Aberdeen University who so faithfully and cheerfully journeyed the long road with me and often kept me from straying. Particular mention must be made too of Rt. Rev. Professor Tom Wright of St. Andrew’s University for his time, kindness and inspirational thinking. Also thanks to Alison Robertson for acting as a second pair of eyes in reading the manuscript. Thanks to the Ferguson Bequest Fund and the Hope Trust for their generous financial support in making the whole thing feasible. And for Marjorie’s initial challenge at Largs that motivated me to begin. vii Last, but by no means least, to my mother, Margaret and my several friends, who have lived with this project nearly as long as I have and kept me grounded, sane and human throughout. To you all: my heartfelt gratitude. viii CHAPTER ONE Preparing the Stage “Coming events cast their shadow before”1 Can the future impact upon the present and the past? Conventionally we think of time’s arrow flying in only one direction, forwards; we expect the future to follow from and be shaped by past events. But what might happen if that flow is reversed? What happens if the future, rather than the past, becomes the determining factor within time? In J.B. Priestley’s play Time and the Conways2 the main character Kay is celebrating her twenty-first birthday in the autumn of 1919. What the play’s characters are only vaguely aware of however is that their actions and conversations in 1919 are being influenced, even determined, by events in a similar scene some twenty years later. Their future is impinging directly upon their present and past. So noticeable was this temporal confusion for theatre critics when the play was first staged that Priestley was told he had written the three acts in the wrong order: Act 1 being in 1919, Act 2 in 1939 and Act 3 again in 1919. Priestley was using a dramatic device called a prolepsis, a flash-forward, and in this paper I shall argue theologically for a similar methodology; that the future under God is impacting directly upon the past and present of my congregation. In the case of the Conways, the future’s influence is much more baleful and malevolent, determined