Markup View

Author: AgProv

May 23rd 2015 at 4:11:22 AM

[[AC:Real Life]] (alleged or commonly interpreted)
* The then Bishop of Durham, an academic theologian with little practical experience of pastoral religion, made a speech not intended for public dissemination, aimed at other academic theologians, in which he questioned the literal reality of the Virgin Birth and hinted that even the divinity of Jesus was up for questioning. This inevitably escaped into the public domain and the suitability of this person to be an Anglican Bishop was questioned. Two days after this got into the press, the cathedral of York, a hundred miles away from Durham, was hit by lightning during a thunderstorm, causing millions of pounds worth of damage in the consequent roof collapse and fire. Britain's more excitable [[BritishNewspapers tabloids]] put out the story that this was divine anger at a bishop "preaching atheism from the pulpit". But York was a long way away from Durham and happened to be the seat of a far more orthodox prelate who literally believed in the Bible story and had no problems accepting both the Virgin Birth and the divinity of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. The fact Durham got off unscathed was held, if anything, to be evidence God has both a bad temper and lousy aim.