Hilary Brand discusses her fifth Lent course with film
tie-in written for DLT …
The Mystery of Everything is based around the film The
Theory of Everything, this
Lent course deals with issues of reason versus faith, idealism and pragmatism,
success and failure, the complications of relationships under pressure, and the
willingness to admit what we don't understand. Rather than starting with
biblical teaching, it begins with dilemmas portrayed in the film, provoking
searching questions about belief and behaviour. Each group session ends with a
short meditation, with Bible readings and useful quotes.
Alongside the group sessions,
other material is provided for personal reading. Ten short chapters develop the
themes introduced in the sessions; some deal with the more personal level with
subjects such as suffering, failure and persistent love, while others explore
wider issues such as the interface between science and religion, and faith and
reason, the mysteries of time, and the limits of knowledge. Alongside this
another section offers daily Bible readings with brief accompanying comments.
Taken from Genesis, Job, Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, and Paul's letters,
these present the Bible as a collection of writings struggling to make sense of
life, rather than a book of definitive absolutes. Their conclusions, however,
show how meaning can be found in the face of mystery, via a humble attitude and
a trusting relationship with God. A final set of readings for Holy Week
explores Jesus' teaching about the meaning of his death, and the paradox of
taking up the cross.
I make no pretence at scientific knowledge. Having now read A
Brief History of Time twice,
I still don't understand most of it! However, relying on wiser minds than my
own, I have attempted to explore the related philosophical issues in an
accessible way for readers, who I assume in the main are not scientists
either. Further resources on issues of science and faith are listed for
anyone who wishes to take these issues further.
To my mind the course is unique since most Christian courses are more about offering answers than
provoking questions. In the main, this book does the opposite! In focussing on
mystery and the many things we don't understand, it seeks to promote awe when
faced with the wonders of creation, and humility when faced with the limits of
our understanding.
In beginning with human
dilemmas (taken to extremes in the story of Stephen and Jane Hawking), it
allows participants to explore their own gritty experience, both their
struggles and their triumphs, their questions and their answers.
In the meditations, related
chapters and biblical readings, it returns obliquely to the themes, offering
some Christian solutions, pointing to a wisdom that is deeper than mere
knowledge, and a guide through the complexities of the human journey.
The idea to use the film came pretty much out of nowhere! I thought I would just see if it did have potential (since this
was after the cinema release and before the DVD was issued, I was greatly
helped by finding the screenplay online) and discovered it did. I also quickly
found some Bible passages and other material that fed into it, and despite a
ridiculous schedule - a flow of visitors, a sick elderly mother and a
dissertation to finish - decided to go for it.
I suppose at a deeper level
it was fuelled by frustration with some of my more dogmatic friends, plus
pondering a quote from Paul Ricoeur, discovered in my theological reading: 'We
know only a small number of things; on the other hand we hurry on to affirm
many more things than we know.'
Although some of the material in The
Mystery of Everything explores quite big philosophical
concepts, I have discovered in testing the course on a very wide range of
participants that all of them related to the material and found it relevant to
them at different levels.
Hilary Brand’s The Mystery of Everything: A Lent course
based around the film The Theory of Everything is available now in paperback, priced
£5.99.
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