I HAVE always been fascinated by the contradictions in the Bible in terms of supporting both sides of any argument.

I suppose the best known example is “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” on the one hand and “turn the other cheek” over the idea of seeking revenge on the other.

It is also true of faith and seeking.

Take for example, Christ in answering Thomas says: “I am the way, I am the truth and I am life; no one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14 v.6).

This is a very definitive statement and which has formed the basis of Christian theology shaping the convictions of millions of believers for two millenia.

But what about other approaches?

“True faith is not assurance but the readiness to go forward experimentally without assurance. It is a sensitivity to things not yet known” said Charles Carter, writing in 1971.

He goes on: “For what we apprehend of truth is limited and partial and experience may set it all in a new light; if we too easily satisfy our urge for security by claiming that we have found certainty, we shall no longer be sensitive to new experiences of truth.”

This is not a denial of Christian faith.

It is a plea for retaining a degree of uncertainty which also gives us a special affinity with science and recognition that there are few absolutes and a lot of relatives in life.

For who seeks that which he believes he has found?

Who explores a territory which he claims already to know?

The spiritual journey for Friends (Quakers) is never an easy one but a haphazard path for all.

As Elizabeth Fry wrote in 1798: “I do not know the course I am to run, all is hid in mystery but I try to do right in everything....”

JEFFERSON HORSLEY.