PH on BBC Radio Scotland
The recording of BBC Radio Scotland's 'Sunday Morning with...', in which I am interviewed by Sally Magnusson, can now be found here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07y71fj
The conversation begins at just after nine minutes into the recording.
Dermot, I also wish to see the many myths of evolution debunked but as for Christ's purpose you need to go back to the fall of man and the Word of God regarding the consequences of sin to understand the necessity of Christ's sacrifice and why God allowed it.
God condemned sinners to eternal death. That is His one and only Law. Creation stands and falls on that eternal law.
This means that you, me and everyone else (with the exception of a handful of people throughout time) are condemned to eternal death.
God's word is truth.
Any reversal becomes an untruth.
.
Christ 'fulfilled' His Father's law and promise - and God was fulfilling His promise to provide “His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” - and Christ blazed the way through death for us all to be forgiven our sins. It is the perfect solution to save us from the justice and truth of God's Law.
Heaven is life in its perfection and any other God who would accept sinners into His Kingdom having rightly decreed death as their punishment for sin would be open to being called a liar unless there is a way provided to reverse the law without affecting the perfection of truth.
There is no other way, truth or life!
Posted by: Michael Wood | 12 October 2016 at 03:00 PM
@Michael Wood
Two great myths I want to see exploded before I die: The theory of evolution and God needed to see His son die before He could be reconciled with his own creation.
The subsequent discussion(s) would be most fascinating
Posted by: Dermot Doyle | 12 October 2016 at 12:05 PM
"Paul is more controversial: he opened Christ's theology - and yes, it was from Christ - to the riches of Greek philosophy."
Posted by: Peter Starr
The question is: 1) Did Jesus want this? 2) If so, why didn't he do it himself
My answers: 1) No! 2) It was unnecessary, not needed.
That's not to belittle your point about Greek philosophy.
Posted by: Dermot Doyle | 12 October 2016 at 11:45 AM
To Dermot Doyle,
You note that "Sally Magnusson couldn't draw you on the details of your faith". True, Mr. Hitchens does not do theology, and expresses a dislike of the controversies it often entails. Perhaps Mr. Hitchens will change his mind. T. S. Eliot, in later life, expressed a growing interest in theology, and wished he had more knowledge on the subject (letter to Elmer More, 20 June 1934).
You are too hard on the apostle Paul. According to Christian theology, Paul helped to fulfill an important dimension within OT Judaism: the drawing of the nations into the divine work. My second, but related, point about Paul is more controversial: he opened Christ's theology - and yes, it was from Christ - to the riches of Greek philosophy. Al-Ghazali would have been dead against it.
Posted by: Peter Starr | 12 October 2016 at 07:25 AM
..”but if one rejects Paul; then how can one be a Christian, for there is precious little Christianity in the very Jewish words of Jesus himself.”
Easily, Dermot, since Christ there have been numerous ‘evangelist types’ that stand between Him, His message and us, beckoning us to follow them and founding ‘their’ own Churches or Churches being founded in ‘their’ names. They lure many but many reject them all.
To name but a few - Paul (Saul of Tarsus), Martin Luther, King Henry V111, John Calvin, Jakob Ammann, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, Charles Russell, Sun Myung Moon – most of whom have brought the name of Christ into worldwide disrepute by adulterating Christ’s simple message and fragmenting His Church, setting Christian against Christian. This is what I meant when I said that Christ’s message, above all else, is *safe* and requires neither interpretation nor convoluted explanation.
“The Lord's Prayer for example, is a classic Jewish prayer without a hint of the Christian ethos, on the contrary, it places the onus of salvation firmly on the shoulders of the individual (with God's help of course).”
Of course it is. Yahusua (commonly known as Jesus) was born a Jew. His message was for the Jews, to encourage them back into grace and favour. Whereas Christianity (the followers of Christ) is the result of that two-way adoption of Gentiles into Christ’s Kingdom which was the old Jewish fold and faith and results from their rejection of Christ and His ministry.
Christianity is just a title that identifies the difference.
“The Christian ethos of intercession and atonement by the sacrifice of a third party” emerges entirely from Christ’s life, ministry, sacrifice and resurrection – not from Paul – and the writings of Paul are, to my understanding, the cause of most of the fragmentation of The Church.
However, I am not convinced that Paul’s ministry was delivered with malicious intent, but was more likely the result of the re-emerging vanity that also overrode the better judgement of his former days. His letters bear the hallmarks of a vain and arrogant person.
Christ’s summary of (mainly) Paul’s ‘Seven Churches’ interestingly shows how *misguided* they were - and so soon after His presence here on earth.
Posted by: Michael Wood | 11 October 2016 at 10:03 PM
I really enjoyed the interview in a relaxed (to some degree) and honest tone – it was definitely done in a grown-up manner by the grown-ups quite different from, for instance, the case of the LBC programme a while ago.
A reasonable answer to a reasonable question is a good rule. It reminds me of Dr Francis Schaeffer saying “giving an honest answer to an honest question”.
I appreciate that Mr Hitchens draws clear lines for what kind of questions he would answer, or he would not answer. Being open-minded does not mean that one has to be open oneself for anything at anytime.
Both pieces of music were beautiful and personal. I listened to them several times. Thank you so much.
Posted by: Ky | 11 October 2016 at 05:13 PM
"Too many Christians put too much trust in what Paul wrote and said...Christ's message, on the other hand, is simple and incontrovertible and safe."
Posted by: Michael Wood
Couldn't agree more, but if one rejects Paul; then how can one be a Christian, for there is precious little Christianity in the very Jewish words of Jesus himself. The Lord's Prayer for example, is a classic Jewish prayer without a hint of the Christian ethos, on the contrary, it places the onus of salvation firmly on the shoulders of the individual (with God's help of course).
The Christian ethos of intercession and atonement by the sacrifice of a third party emerges entirely from the writings of Paul who appears to me to be something of a Cuckoo in the nest of Jewish history, hence his absence from any subsequent inspired scripture which gives due place to all the previous Prophets.
Posted by: Dermot Doyle | 11 October 2016 at 02:46 PM
Nice choice of music. Started to get nostalgic for smoky folk clubs, not so much the smoke perhaps.
Posted by: Nicholas | 11 October 2016 at 01:57 PM
Very enjoyable interview, I liked the point about people relying on the power of politics to alter their lives rather than their own inherent power to alter themselves. What good advice it is to encourage people to obtain as much power over themselves as possible, it surely is the path to true contentment (shame I myself am not so good at it all the same)
It's so true that people (atheists I mean) push spiritual fear and contemplation of mortality to "the margins of life". As a sixty four year old I have witnessed this many times in people who have been fortunate enough (if that's the right phrase) to be given the time to indeed contemplate approaching death as opposed to it creeping up on you unawares. My own cancer stricken father who was given two years at most wasted no time in searching for the purpose and meaning of life something he never found the time for in his healthy years.
One wonders what a man who is so obviously intrinsically good (something you are born with) could have done to condemn himself to certain such damnation at judgement. Perhaps you are being a little too pessimistic about your destiny Mr H. It is said that however bad a man becomes; there is great rejoicing among the Angels at his very first step back from the direction of evil toward good!
Sally Magnusson couldn't draw you on the details of your faith, but it seems orthodox Christian to me. One common denominator of all the major Prophets was that they rejected the practises of the organised church of their times. I wonder what conclusions you would come up with if you applied the same scrutiny to the Christian doctrine as you do to the secular world of politics and law.
The beautiful "Jesus And The Apple Tree" really shows the level of civility the Christian faith has reached, something our so-called Muslim leadership of today could take lessons from.
Posted by: Dermot Doyle | 11 October 2016 at 12:00 PM
David, anarchy and societal collapse that's happening throughout the western world is surely due to the misappropriation of power.
21st century democracy is unique in the history of the world. We, the people have achieved the power to elect representatives to 'manage' our nations affairs which makes *us* responsible for their actions - particularly when we continually elect warmongering, self-serving politicians.
Would you take Paul's advice and pay your respects by voting for more of the same?
Posted by: Michael Wood | 11 October 2016 at 11:05 AM
An excellent interview in which the interviewer shows great respect for the interviewee and where the latter answers simply and truthfully. So different from the aggressive style initiated by Robin Day and perpetuated by the likes of John Humphreys and Jeremy Paxman who think they are superior to the person being interviewed. Although I disagree with Peter Hitchens on some issues, I do admire his consistency and courage in taking counter-cultural positions when the possibility of doing this is increasingly closed down by the elites in charge of our systems of communication.
Posted by: Sean Loughlin | 11 October 2016 at 10:26 AM
Michael Wood, So does that mean Paul's advice in Romans 13 is bad for 21st Century Christians? Failure to respect government usually leads to anarchy and societal collapse, and that's what's happening throughout the western world.
Posted by: David S | 10 October 2016 at 05:57 PM
David S, such was the vanity of Paul, the Apostle, who hunted down followers of Christ at the behest of the state.
Paul was no different to most other 'appointed' authorities, they inexorably become corrupt in thought, word and deed .
Too many Christians put too much trust in what Paul wrote and said.
Christ's message, on the other hand, is simple and incontrovertible and safe.
Posted by: Michael Wood | 10 October 2016 at 01:45 PM
A delightful interview. Sally Magnusson showed utter respect and fairness. If I was her I would like to have asked you about your attitude to government. In the Bible Romans 13 begins "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." and it continues to explain further. So I find myself wondering how you manage to be so critical of whoever is in power in the light of this.
Posted by: David S | 10 October 2016 at 11:04 AM
Very interesting interview. Will you ever write an autobiography / memoir?
***PH writes: No. I have already written or spoken about those experiences which I regard as interesting. The rest is either too private, or too boring.***
Posted by: AJ Wentworth | 10 October 2016 at 10:08 AM