Apocalypse Now?: Reflections on Faith in a Time of Terror PDF
Preview Apocalypse Now?: Reflections on Faith in a Time of Terror
APOCALYPSE NOW? How may people of faith respond wisely, constructively, and courageously to the challenges of a time of terror? How might religious reasons in public debate be a force for reconciliation rather than violence and hatred? In a world in which religious arguments and religious motivations play such a huge public role, there is an urgent responsibility for interpreting what is happening, and engaging with religious views which are commonly regarded as alien, threatening or dangerous. In Apocalypse Now?, Duncan Forrester argues that disorders and atrocities which include the Gulag, the Holocaust, 9/11, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and the Tsunami disaster have shown us that we stand not at the end of history but in the midst of an apocalyptic age of terror which has striking similarities to the time in which Christianity was born. Moving between two times of terror – the early Centuries of Christianity, and today – Forrester asks how religious motivations can play a positive role in the midst of conflicts and disasters. Reading the ‘signs of the times’ to try to understand what is happening in today’s age of terror, Forrester argues that there are huge resources in the Christian tradition that can be productively deployed for a more constructive and faithful response. We are at a turning point – this is a book which should be read. For my little Granddaughters Hannah, Ailsa, Katie and Mairi That they may live and flourish In times of Peace rather than of Terror Apocalypse Now? Reflections on Faith in a Time of Terror DUNCAN B. FORRESTER New College, University of Edinburgh © Duncan B. Forrester 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Duncan B. Forrester has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company Gower House Suite 420 Croft Road 101 Cherry Street Aldershot Burlington, VT 05401-4405 Hants GU11 3HR USA England Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Forrester, Duncan B., 1933– Apocalypse Now? : reflections on faith in a time of terror 1. war – Religious aspects – Christianity 2. Disasters – Religious aspects – Christianity 3. Terrorism – Religious aspects – Christianity 4. Christianity and politics 5. Christian ethics 6. Just war doctrine I. Title 261.8'73 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Forrester, Duncan B., 1933– Apocalypse Now? : reflections on faith in a time of terror / Duncan B. Forrester. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-7546-5260-2 (hardcover:alk. paper) – ISBN 0-7546-5273-4 (pbk.:alk. paper) 1. Terrorism–Religious aspects–Christianity. 2. Violence–Religious aspects– Christianity. 3. Church and social problems. I. Title. BT736.15.F67 2005 261.8'73–dc22 2005007231 ISBN 0 7546 5260 2 (Hbk) ISBN 0 7546 5273 4 (Pbk) Contents Foreword vii Acknowledgments ix Prologue: Two ‘Terrible Manifestos’? 1 1 Vexed by a Rocking Cradle 11 2 Things Fall Apart: The Long, Bloody Twentieth Century 21 3 After the Cold War: The End of Ideology? 25 4 The Public Voice of Resurgent Religion 35 5 The Rebirth of Apocalyptic 49 6 Conflicting Virtues: Saints or Heroes? 65 7 Virtues in Conflict 77 8 Just War and Just Peacemaking 89 Epilogue: Forgiveness and Reconciliation 109 Postscript: Tsunami Now? 117 Bibliography 127 Index 137 v This page intentionally left blank Foreword This book represents one person’s reflections on the awesome and confusing events which have followed the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, and then on the natural but apocalyptic catastrophe that hit the countries around the Indian Ocean on the day after Christmas Day, in 2004, the day when Christians commemorate Stephen, the first Christian martyr. This book makes no claim to being a systematic theological response to a series of events of incredible savagery and violence, but it has been suggested to me that my reflections, however fragmentary, might be of use and interest to others who are trying to relate faith to these awful events, who are seeking to ‘discern the signs of the times’, and respond appropriately. My debts in writing this book are many. Some parts of it in an early form were the substance of the Ferguson Lectures which I delivered in the University of Manchester in 2003. I am deeply grateful to Professor Elaine Graham and her colleagues, and those who attended the lectures, for their hospitality and for many helpful discussions. Other parts in an early form were given as the Boutwood Lectures at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in the spring of 2004. The College welcomed me as a Visiting Fellow for a term, and I had many stimulating discussions with members of the College, particularly with the post-graduate students who lived with me on the Leckhampton campus. This term gave me a precious opportunity for reading and writing, and I am grateful to the Master, Professor Haroun Ahmed, and his colleagues for their hospitality. I also enjoyed discussing the contents of this book with staff and students at Liverpool Hope University, where I was a Visiting Professor in Session 2003–4. I am grateful to the many colleagues, students and friends who have challenged, confirmed, or enriched my thinking, particularly research students from contemporary apocalyptic situations such as the Rwanda genocide, post-tsunami Sri Lanka, apartheid South Africa, the oppression of Dalits in India, or inter-religious conflict in northern Nigeria. Colleagues and friends such as Dr Michael Northcott, Dr Paul Middleton, Professor Will Storrar, Professor Chris Rowland and Dr Cecilia Clegg have been generous with their time. But above all, the wisdom and discernment of my wife, Margaret, underlies all I do, and in this case her hand can be particularly clearly seen in the postscript on the tsunami. I am grateful to all these, and vii viii Apocalypse Now? many others, who are attempting to discern the signs of the times in this age of terror, and how to respond with faith. Duncan B. Forrester Acknowledgments I am grateful to the following for permission to use copyright material: Faber and Faber Ltd for the extract from T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral in chapter seven; A.P. Watt Ltd for the extracts from W.B. Yeats’ poem ‘The Second Coming’ in chapters one and two; Revd Dr John Bell for his meditation on the tsunami which was originally broadcast on BBC TV; Sage Publications for material in chapters seven and eight derived from my article, ‘Violence and Non-violence in Conflict Resolution: Some Theological Reflections’, originally published in Studies in Christian Ethics, vol. 16 no. 2, pp. 64–79 1963, and Godfrey Rust for his poem which appears at the end of chapter five. ix
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