Theophilus Lindsey was born in Middlewich, Cheshire on 20 June 1723. He was named after his godfather, Theophilus, Earl of Huntingdon. The Earl was the husband of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon. Before her marriage, Lindsey’s mother Jane had been a member of the Huntingdon household. His father Robert Lindsey was a mercer and part-owner of a salt-works.
A fascinating history of Theophilus Lindsey, an early Unitarian, given by the Rev Geoffrey Usher can be read here.
While no reliable details are available about the life of the historical Jesus there is no doubt about the positive impact which his life has had upon us and upon the ancient world. This has given rise to the invention of multiple unsubstantiated Christianities and mythologies which include birth stories about him. These birth stories were only composed AFTER the wonderful characteristics of his adult life had impacted his followers. One of those attributes was his undoubted humility. He would have freaked out at the suggestion that he was divine. Unfortunately, the insistence that he was the Son of God has been mindlessly endorsed by the modern world. Rather than having been conceived of the Holy Ghost, a credible image of this infant is that, as a new born baby, he arrived in a country occupied by a merciless foreign power, under threat of persecution, having been conceived out of wedlock, of doubtful parentage, with no satisfactory shelter, unsuitably clad, and being guarded by an honourable partner in an unhygienic makeshift crib. But the New Testament writers were so impressed by his transforming life as an adult that first Mark, then Matthew, and then Luke tried to say something significant and sacred about how he came into the world.
Matthew’s birth story about the immaculate conception of Jesus is recorded in chapter 1 verses 22-25. Matthew must have been searching in his Jewish scriptures for endorsement of his theory that his hero was divine. He thought he had succeeded by quoting from the prophet Isaiah as recorded in the revised interpretation of the Greek Septuagint, chapter 7: 14. “Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son.” But he made two mistakes – one was his misunderstanding of the Greek word, PARTHENOS used for virgin and, the second was his failure to use the correct context in which Isaiah made his prophetic statement.
Isaiah’s original use of a word for the mother of the child is in his own language, the Hebrew, ALMAH which is found in his Jewish scriptures called the Torah from which the original Greek Septuagint was translated. ALMAH does not mean virgin. It is a Hebrew description of a young woman of child bearing age. There is no Greek equivalent for this word; the nearest Greek word is PARTHENOS which the original translators of the Septuagint had to use. It was only later in Matthew’s lifetime, when the memory of unequivalence was lost, that it came back to be understood as meaning virgin. So with apologies to Matthew and to the King James version of the Bible, my birth story in my first paragraph above makes a lot of sense to me.
Secondly, Isaiah’s prophetic utterances in chapter 7 were addressed to the decadent King Ahaz of Israel. At that time, the powerful Syrian army was advancing upon Israel and Jehovah’s people were in fear of being defeated and taken captive. Isaiah challenged Ahaz to repent of his godless ways and trust Jehovah for deliverance from the invading Syrian forces. In effect, he said to Ahaz, “Before the time taken for one of Israel’s young women to conceive and bring up her son to the age of accountability, Jehovah will have destroyed the Syrian threat and the Lord will be with you. As a sign, she will call her boy Immanuel, which means God is with us. “ So once again, with apologies to Matthew, Isaiah was not talking about a golden age to come; he was giving a sign of his present day assurance of peace and deliverance for God’s faithful people in his day and in accordance with their current culture and belief.
Therefore my birth story resonates strongly with my (unsubstantiated) image of an historical Jesus of Nazareth. He is an exemplary model for the millions of people in identical circumstances of poverty throughout the world and an icon of hope that out of their abject condition, inspired by Jesus they can rise above their circumstances and live a fulfilling life.
Eric Stevenson
by the Rev. Daniel Jantos
The story of Joan of Arc led Daniel Jantos to note:
How very wrong the powers that be can get it sometimes. How incredibly chaotic things become in certain periods and how much on the wrong side of history the establishment can be. And how very interesting it is to note from where the prophetic and courageous voices emerge in such times of disintegration
The full text of this interesting talk can be found here.
As a member of the Unitarian Fellowship I can understand and accept why some of my non-Unitarian friends would not want to bother reading our blogs.
The blogs may not interest you if you are completely satisfied intellectually and emotionally with your take on the meaning of life. And/or if your social needs are being fully met by the interactions you are having with like-minded individuals and groups. And/or if you have found a philosophical, or scientific body of influential sources which supplies you with a platform from which to deal with life’s difficult issues. And/or if you have a satisfactory moral underpinning for doing good. And /or if your belief system provides you with the courage and encouragement to initiate change for peace, liberty and justice for all.
I am fairly confident that you will definitely not be interested in reading our blogs if you honestly agree that some or all of the following assertions describe your attitude and behaviour.
In conclusion, as stated above I take full responsibility for the above statements which I have checked out with my fellow members. On behalf of the Sydney Spirit of Life Unitarian Fellowship I therefore invite you to join our readership if you feel comfortable about being included.
Eric Stevenson
Thomas Carlyle wrote:
“Today is not yesterday. We ourselves change. How then,
can our works and thoughts, if they are always to be the
fittest , continue always the same? Change, indeed, is
painful, yet ever needful; and if memory have its force
and worth, so also has hope.
We ourselves change. It has been said that life is perpetual
growth; and that when you’ve finished changing – you’ve
finished!”
This thought provoking talk on change by the Rev. Geoff Usher can be found here.