The Manifold Letters

  Foreword to The Manifold Letters . Resolving Ambiguity; King Solomon and Dr Faust. When I was seven years old I was much impressed by a school teacher's story about King Solomon. Here was a man that chose wisdom over all other gifts from God. Perhaps I was drawn to him because Solomon says “..I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and bad...” God is so pleased by this that he grants him his wish, plus riches and honour and long life. (I Kings 3: 3-15). At the start of Solomon's rule he behaved like a gang leader who ruthlessly eliminates his enemies. His hit man was Benaiah son of Jehoiada who was always “falling upon” people at Solomon's command and it was no good entering the tabernacle, taking hold of “the horns of the altar” to claim sanctuary as Joab had done, Benaiah still “fell upon him and slew him.” Solomon even used a dispute with his elde

  An Introduction to T he Manifold Letters. These letters were produced as part of a brilliant project managed by the Rev. Robert and Sarah Van de Weyer. During the Covid-19 pandemic. Letters were written every day for two and a half years by both ordained and lay members of the congregation of St Clement's Church in Cambridge and distributed to others both in the congregation and people outwith St Clement's as Dearly Beloved letters. (DB letters). They dealt with manifold issues including psychological survival during the pandemic, personal stories and experiences of life, philosophy and theology, music, the beauty of creation, wildlife and secular and church politics, the mysteries of the Christian faith and the exigencies of the pursuit of a Christian life. Each letter was accompanied by a photograph all of which can be enlarged by clicking on them. The Rt Rev. Rowan Williams was a contributor for six months whilst he worshiped and officiated at the St Clement's during h

  Rosa Celeste :  Gustave Doré 's illustration for  Paradiso  Canto 31, where Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest Heaven, The Empyrean Introductory Notes for the Discussion Group for St Clement's at Andrew Day's residence on 23 rd February 2024 on the subject of AJ Ayer's statement that: “ If a mystic admits that the object of his vision is something which cannot be described, then he must also admit that he is bound to talk nonsense when he describes it. “ Contemplative Experience. I will use “contemplative” rather than “mystic” in honour of “Mystic Meg” a News of the World sub editor and later astrologer associated with predicting things about National Lottery winners (which I am told, were rarely accurate!) I am going to start with describing some tiny portions of the experiences of contemplatives and will then go on to deal with AJ Ayer's objections. I shall leave a few seconds before I identify each quotation to allow people to think a