Christianity s concern
Sir: Edward Norman's review of Dr Leonard's book God Alive: Priorities in Pastoral Theology (8 August) rightly celebrates the book's advocacy of orthodoxy and spirituality. The purpose of Christianity, as is the esoteric purpose of all world religions, is indeedk union with God. However, the ontological essence of a religion does not necessarily preclude an active and practical concern with the material problems of mankind; it is not an either/or choice as Mr Norman seems to suggest. Of course a believer should strive for union with God through prayer, contemplation and discipline. But these virtues are of little value unless they are imbued with an all-pervading sense of Love which implies caring for and a deep feeling of communion with that which is loved. Hence racism, poverty and oppression are not simply mundane issues echoing with the rhetoric of moral indignation. I can see no contradiction in Dr Leonard's commitment to spirituality and his support of the Brandt Report, flawed as that document may be. Certainly Christianity is not solely concerned with the eradication of poverty and its concomitant evils, but concerned it must be. Such concern involves hard thinking and solutions unpalatable to the affluent countries since much of the poverty is a direct function of their wealth. As Mr John Fowles has put it, 'Behind each shilling, each franc, each mark, rouble, dollar, is the stick-limbed child, the future, the envious and the famished world to come.' No amount of pious quietism masquerading as spirituality can absolve that harsh judgment.
Raficq Shaik Abdulla 11 Colherne Mansions, 228/230 Old Brompton Road, London SW5
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