The Crucifixion impels Christians not to violence but to civic service
SIR – Linda Woodhead (Comment, March 28) seems to be arguing that the violence and savagery of the Crucifixion of Christ led in some unspecified way to subsequent cruelty by Christians and harshness towards children.
The torment Christ suffered was actually inflicted by the Romans and was voluntarily endured by him in reparation for the terrible sins we all commit throughout our lives, and to provide for us a means of reconciliation with God, if we will acknowledge our rebellious wills and do our utmost to amend our lives.
Christians can, and very often do, show their love and gratitude through self-forgetful lives of personal and civic goodness and virtue. There is no “deep ambivalence about violence and abuse that lies at the heart of Christian cultures”. Abusive behaviour is sin in action, and all Church teaching roundly and unequivocally condemns it. Annette Thornton
Reading , Berkshire SIR – Linda Woodhead rightly emphasises the victimhood of Christ on the Cross, but confusingly relates this to “Christianity’s legacy of violence”. She particularly seems to have conservative Christians in her sights.
Whatever the wrongs done in the name of Christianity, it is worth remembering that over the past two centuries it was predominantly biblical, conservative Christians who achieved the 19th-century social reforms in this country; who built our education system; and who, as missionaries, led the way in healthcare in many overseas countries. Today, many of them volunteer in food banks and as street pastors.
The Cross reveals both the power and the sacrificial love of God. We do not have to take sides on which it is. Christ went to the Cross deliberately (see Mark 8:31) in order to take on himself the consequences of our sin.
When we repent of that sin and trust in what Christ achieved, we are assured of forgiveness, with no need to fear God’s coming judgment. This should not make us careless in tackling evil now, especially within the Church.
But the work of Christ on the Cross means that we can be freed from guilt and be part of the worldwide family God has been forming over centuries.
This isn’t a recipe for violence – although some pervert it to that end. It’s an encouragement to show love for our neighbour as we trust an allpowerful God who revealed himself at the Cross to be equally concerned about love and justice.
Rt Rev Rod Thomas
Bishop of Maidstone Lingfield, Surrey
SIR – If, as Linda Woodhead suggests, the Crucifixion was a form of sexual abuse, there should be a public inquiry so that those responsible can be identified, lessons learnt, and measures put in place to ensure that nothing like it ever happens again. Derek Wellman
Lincoln