We in Rose Castle have long been involved in forming reconcilers who work across divisions and conflicts among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and one of our tested, core practices has been Scriptural Reasoning. That has been the practice that, in my experience, is best at initiating and sustaining long term, in-depth engagement across religion differences, and in addition has had the capacity to generate cooperation, friendship, and even collaborative organisations and institutions. Scriptural Reasoning has been in the Rose DNA since we began.
But there are also deep divisions and bitter conflicts among the world’s two billion or so Christians, and they seem to be getting worse. As this report highlights, our Rose team is increasingly having to engage with them. Yet it seems astonishing that so far there has been no widely accessible, flexible, tested practice available to Christians who want to read the Bible together across their divisions. We have been neglecting an activity that is foundational for virtually all Christians: reading the Bible. Christian Biblical Reasoning is our attempt to develop such a practice, drawing on our experience of its companion practice of Scriptural Reasoning.
I myself emerged from twenty years writing a commentary on the Gospel of John with a renewed passion for Christian unity. I was inspired above all by the final prayer of Jesus, in John Chapter 17, that his followers might be utterly united in love with himself and his Father, and with each other, for the sake of the world God loves. It became clearer than ever: if we Christians are to serve with others as reconcilers in the world’s conflicts, then it is absolutely essential that we urgently pursue reconciliation among ourselves. Do we desire what Jesus desires?
Written by Prof David Ford, Co-Chair of Rose Castle Foundation