As the Church’s authority has crumbled, and its guidance proved less and less wise, so secular wisdom has taken over, probably for the best. So one is tempted to ask if the Church has any role left, other than providing consolation to the losers? I think the answer probably is, “Not until the next step in man’s evolution is taken”. We are very much in the position of Judaism in the generation before John the Baptist. The Pharisees had performed their task; they had preserved the faith, brilliantly during the rebellion of the Maccabees, and afterwards during the generations when there was no prophet. But they were quite incapable of taking Judaism further towards the promised land; in other words, incapable of turning Judaism into the world religion for which the Roman Empire was waiting. It needed Jesus to begin that process; and in doing so, he was remarkably ungracious towards the Pharisees. And it needed St.Paul to finish it; and he was every inch a Pharisee. Ironically the opposition of the Pharisees to Jesus was strikingly similar to the opposition of Fabius to Scipio. Yet Fabius had saved Rome from Hannibal, though he was incapable of defeating him; and Scipio understood how to defeat him, but in a way Fabius thought was madness! Now in its turn, Jesus’ Church has come to the end of a cul-de-sac, inasmuch as it has lost credibility with the bulk of the population; and we must seek the next step forward.
Who must seek it? Anyone and everyone; or only someone with a sense of vocation, even though he might be deceiving himself about his having one? How does one make sure of avoiding self-deception? There is no way of making sure. We all let our imaginations run away with us from time to time. The Quakers believe there is something of God in everyman, though the spirit may shine more brightly in some than in others; most Christians believe that all men are made in the image of God, although most men desecrate that image until it is unrecognisable. Does this mean we are all supposed to aim at being replicas of Jesus? Of course not! The gifts we have been given by Providence, and the spirit vouchsafed to us, are infinitely varied. And we have to make the best of what we are given, and bring the spirit within us to such a nobility of stature and maturity as it is capable of reaching. Can God predict the outcome, when man cannot? Are all our lives predestined, as Calvin thought? I doubt it. Why cannot God, who can do all things, avoid knowing the outcome: so as to be the companion of man? For myself I would prefer a companion, to a tyrant; which is how many people regard him, as a companion.