Message from the Headmaster
‘The Word became flesh and
John 1:14
made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory
of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of
grace and truth’
Dear Students, Parents and Carers
And so it is Christmas
“Christmas ain’t what it used to be”, as all of our Grandparents might say. I want to suggest that Christmas presents four intersecting narratives, and each of us lives within one or several of these. The first is the story of the Christ Child, Jesus born as Saviour. The second is Santa Claus (or St Nicholas in some European derivations). The third is family coming together and the fourth is rampant consumerism and indulgence, especially in copious quantities of food and alcohol.
If Christmas has changed, it is partly because of the slippage in our culture of the first of these narratives, the Christian story. This fading would appear to have several causes. One is the sheer lack of knowledge as our society increasingly moves away from grand narratives such as that expressed through Christian faith. Another is the dominance of what is sometimes called “scientism”, that is, the notion that in establishing truth, science is the only valid field of enquiry, and that science represents facts whereas faith represents emotion. The preliminary position of many of our students is that science and faith are necessarily in conflict and that science is to be preferred. This becomes visible in Christian Studies classes.
There are indeed many Creation stories, of which the book of Genesis is one. There are Indigenous stories, Babylonian stories from the Ancient world (such as the Epic of Gilgamesh), American Indian stories, as examples of this multiplicity. Is the Genesis story particularly, beyond just another narrative?
This issue is part of our core as an Anglican School. Part of the perceived clash between Science and Religion results from those who read the Bible entirely through the lens of literalism, without taking account of the range of literature in the Bible, including poetry, prophecy and narrative. Another is the default position adopted by many of “God of the gaps”, by which they assume that God is in perpetual retreat as science explains more and more of our universe. A Christian concept is that God cannot be confined to these gaps but is over and through the whole cosmos.
There is an argument to be made that Christian faith is the most comprehensive and rational response to existence. As an historian who is also very interested in the philosophy of science and with a son who is Christian and an academic Astrophysicist, it seems at least to me that the complementarity of science and faith and the evidence from history supporting a Christian position has never been stronger. Christian faith is based on the stupendous claim “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”. John 1:14a.
The assertion that Jesus became flesh is the epitome of God’s dealing with us.
What sits above is essentially a plea to take the Christian dimensions of Christmas seriously as an existential issue that provides an apprehension of place, existence and meaning. This is critical to Shore’s ethos and centredness as a Christian School in the Anglican tradition.
Happy Christmas!
The Last Things
No, not end times as in the climax of the universe (!), but rather, ending the School Term.
Next week, we will welcome back students and staff from Camps Week, as they return very likely covered in mud, weary but regaling everyone with accounts of a good week. On Friday morning, 6 December, Speech Day will commence at 11 am in the RAI Grant Centre, with parents and students requested to be seated by 10.45am. Our Guest of Honour is Rev Tim Costello, who has a national profile in terms of what we would call Service Learning, an important implication of Christian faith in action.
It has been a delight to spend a year with Shore boys. There is a loveliness about them. It has been a delight to share the year with an outstanding staff and wonderful parents. Thank you for who you are; have a very nice holiday season and I look forward to working with you again next year.
Dr John Collier
Headmaster