Do you remember learning about the Gunpowder Plot at primary school? It was one of the earliest terrorist threats in British history, and still figures in the national consciousness, through the annual celebration of Guy Fawkes night, with bonfires and fireworks, every November 5. Together with the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Spanish Armada of 1588, it's probably one of the events and dates that we all learned about at school. Some years ago, when (yet another) new history syllabus was being introduced into schools, The Times reported that it was meant to ensure that 'at seven children should be able to retell the story of the Gunpowder Plot [and] recognise the difference between a fairy tale character and an historical personality.'
The suggestion was that there are some parts of history, or of knowledge in general, that are 'true', and others that are 'just a story' that is invented or imagined; and that it is possible and necessary to distinguish between the two. Yet many scholars who have made a close study of the Gunpowder Plot argue that it is virtually impossible even for them to disentangle the aspects of those events of 400 years ago. Was it really a dastardly Roman Catholic plot to assassinate the King, destroy the British Government and make Britain a Catholic country again? Or was it, in fact, all a ruse by the King's chief minister, Robert Cecil, to destroy the last of his enemies, to seriously damage the Roman Catholic cause in Britain, and secure his own complete power and influence?
In fact it is the same with all historical events. There is no such thing as a completely neutral, factual account of 'what really happened', because the place where you are standing automatically colours or even distorts your view of it. The French story of the Battle of Trafalgar - another of this year's notable centenaries - will be different from the English story. In the same way there are different stories to tell about what is happening in the Middle East, depending on whether you watch those events through Iraqi or American eyes.
This is equally true of other areas of knowledge, even the allegedly 'hard' areas like science. The theory of evolution is a story of origins; the Big Bang itself is a story. They may be the best stories we've got, and they can certainly not be dismissed as 'just' stories; but this is an important reminder that most of what we know is not capable of absolute, incontrovertible proof or certainty.
If this is so, can we ever claim to really know anything? Why not just believe any pretty and attractive story we feel like? Like, that babies arrive under gooseberry bushes? Or that the movements of stars affect our destinies and daily lives?
In order to be people of integrity, we have to work hard to make sure that the stories we live by - whether these are the stories of history, science, or religion - are stories that are true. That doesn't mean, that we must be able to prove their truth beyond any shadow of doubt, because we have seen that is not possible. But they must be true in that they make sense of our experience, that they are worthy of the best efforts of our intellect and understanding, and that they are stories it is humanly possible to live by.
The Christian Story is this kind of story. We cannot prove it in such a way that no one but a mad person would have any choice but to believe it. But we can and do prove it, day by day, as we enter into the Story, and live it, and live by it. Christian worship, week by week, is concerned with remembering the Story in the special way that happens in worship, of making it real and present to the worshippers, who open themselves to the Story and enter into it by making it their own. This happens in the reading of the Scriptures, the preaching of the word (which is exposition of the Scriptures) and the special kind of re-membering or making present in Holy Communion, when we receive the bread and wine and in doing so partake of the nature of Jesus himself, in his body and his blood.
Among all the many stories of our private and public lives, that we remember during November each year, the most important one is the Story of a God who loves us, and came to share our lives so that we might come to share his.
Published in the Marston Times, November 2005