蜜芽传媒

I鈥檝e already heard it a lot during December. Carol services, held before Christmas Day itself, have a sequence of traditional readings from the gospels, which, put together, tell the story of the birth of Jesus.

But the particular reading I鈥檓 talking about has been this year, ringing in my ears every time I鈥檝e heard it. It鈥檚 one of the traditional readings from Luke鈥檚 gospel. It tells the story of the census, the bureaucratic backdrop to the mystical story, and the census is given as the reason Joseph and Mary have to travel to Bethlehem to register. But just to make sure that we understand the time frame of these events, Luke says 鈥渢his took place when Quirinius was Governor of Syria鈥�. Often the person doing this reading gets nervous about the pronunciation and I鈥檝e heard people many times practising outside the church before a carol service 鈥渨hen Quirinius was Governor of Syria鈥�. This Roman civil servant is high profile in the Christmas story, and as a life long Anglican, the rhythm of this is so familiar to me it often passes me by. But this year, I can鈥檛 help replaying in my mind the horrendous pictures from Aleppo, the desperate tweets from trapped residents, knowing that Syria itself is part of the hinterland of my faith, and that its people are being slaughtered in the protracted and brutal civil war.

The point is, that we do a disservice to Christmas, or to the Christian faith, if we allow it to become divorced from real events in the real world. The detail 鈥渨hen Quirinius was Governor of Syria鈥� is the same kind of detail as is recited by Christians in the Creed: that Jesus 鈥渟uffered under Pontius Pilate鈥�. It speaks to a strand of Christian theology that emphasises what is called the 鈥渟candal of particularity鈥�; Christianity is a historical religion; the events celebrated at Christmas take place at a particular time in a particular place. The way the story is told, even including the shimmering angels and stars; the way it鈥檚 told, forces us to deal with the political realities alongside the theological revelations.

It鈥檚 absolutely not up to religions to propose foreign policy, but it is a feature of good religion that the political and economic realities of day to day life are given room in any attempt we make to reach into the depths of our spirituality.

And so as I listen to these beautiful readings over the coming few days, as I sing the Victorian carol that begs the 鈥渕en of strife鈥� to 鈥渉ear the angels sing鈥�, I know I鈥檒l feel deeply challenged to play my own part in addressing the question currently posed to the International Community: What did take place - not only when Quirinius - but when Assad - was Governor of Syria?

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