Open to debate

Dr EUAN Dodds (Letters, 17 March) professes to have studied Christianity academically, and yet ascertains that Jesus claimed himself divine, desired a church to be set up in his name, and was resurrected.

I can only imagine his academic studies took place at a faith-based institution, as secular theology holds that these three points are, at the very least, a matter of lengthy debate.

Christians themselves took centuries to decide whether Christ was divine – and even then, it was mortal men who decided he was (sort of). Jesus, being no more than an apocalyptic prophet, would hardly have required the establishment of a church. His whole point was that the Kingdom of God was coming in the lifetime of his audience. Which, it may be noted, it didn’t. As for the resurrection of Jesus, well, that’s a story for Christians to believe and the rest of us to see as a part of Paganism (regrowth in springtime) adapted to suit a new audience who may have doubts about a new religion. Perhaps Dr Dodds should take a fresh, unbiased look at Christianity in a historical sense.

Dr Angus Mair

High Street

New Deer, Aberdeenshire