Christian Faith for Handing On

Human beings have to ask how faith is possible, in this mixed world of trouble and joy. A safe universe with no scope for adversity would be a mechanical toy, not a creation. A glorious universe will be a place where troubles have eventually been overcome. Christians believe in one God, who is three Persons. God the heavenly Father took the risk of making a real world, full of living people capable of happiness. Jesus Christ, God the Son, came as a human being to take responsibility for creation. He suffered and died; and he rose from death to vindicate the whole enterprise and show that creation can and will be made good. People are not left to work out their own faith but are invited to belong to the church, in order to keep in touch with God the Spirit. They are to behave as God’s children, not by rule-bound conformity but by grateful response to the glory of God the Holy Trinity.

Helen Oppenheimer graduated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, in philosophy. She is married with three married daughters, ten grandchildren, and a great-grandson. She has served on several Anglican commissions and taught ethics at Cuddesdon Theological College. She writes on Christian ethics and philosophical theology and holds a Lambeth DD. Her books include The Hope of Heaven (1988) and On Being Someone (2010). She and her husband live in Jersey in the Channel Islands.