Living in Harmony: A Case Study of Harmonisation Techniques and Weaknesses

Living in Harmony: A Case Study of Harmonisation Techniques and Weaknesses

The Faith of the Centurion

Matthew 8:5 - 13

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

Luke 7:2 - 10

There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

Harmonisation by Matt Slick

https://carm.org/who - brought - the - centurions - request - to - jesus

Who brought the Centurion’s request to Jesus as is depicted in Matthew 8:5 - 13 and Luke 7:2 - 101? It clearly states that the Centurion came to Jesus in Matt. 8:5, but it also says that the Jewish elders came to Jesus. The order of events seems to be that the Centurion first sent the Jewish elders (Luke 7:3). Jesus then agreed to go. Then the Centurion came to Jesus (Matt. 8:5). Jesus walked everywhere he went. Centurions commanded hundred - men groups in the Roman legion. “Such men were prestigious members of a relatively small class governing the military.”(Achtemeier, Paul J., Harper’s Bible Dictionary, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1985.) Therefore, the centurion most probably had a horse upon which to ride to and from where Jesus was. If this is so, then he probably returned to his home, checked on the servant, and then sent friends (Luke 7:6) to speak to Jesus and say that he, the Centurion, was not worthy for Jesus to even enter his home. Jesus continued on. Then as Jesus neared the home, the Centurion himself approached Jesus (Matt. 8:8) to tell Him that he was not worthy for Him to enter his house.

My comments and discussion

The CARM article is a perfect illustration of what critics mean when they say harmonisation can become strained, convoluted, or even hermeneutically backwards. It’s not that harmonisation is always wrong - it’s that sometimes the effort required to preserve “no contradiction” ends up doing more violence to the text than simply letting each evangelist speak in his own voice.

Let’s look at why this particular example is often used in biblical‑studies classrooms as a case study in the limits of harmonisation.

It requires inventing events that neither Gospel mentions. To reconcile Matthew’s “the centurion came to Jesus” with Luke’s “he sent elders,” the harmoniser must propose:

The centurion sent elders (Luke)
Then he sent friends (Luke)
Then he personally rode to Jesus (not in Luke)
Then he personally spoke to Jesus (Matthew)

None of this sequence is stated in either Gospel. It’s a reconstruction built only to avoid contradiction. If your interpretation requires adding multiple unmentioned events, the text is no longer leading the reading - the harmonising impulse is.

Matthew and Luke are not trying to report the same event with journalistic precision. They shape stories for theological emphasis. Matthew often compresses stories and has characters speak directly to Jesus to highlight faith and authority. Luke emphasises intermediaries, social structures, and the humility of Gentiles approaching a Jewish holy man. Each version makes perfect sense within its own narrative world. Forcing them into one timeline can erase those distinct emphases.

When someone insists that the Gospel accounts must be reconciled as if they were CCTV footage, they’re applying a modern expectation to ancient texts that simply weren’t written with that aim. The CARM - style defence is a classic example of what happens when that expectation is taken to its logical extreme: the interpreter ends up constructing an elaborate, unmentioned sequence of events purely to preserve literal synchronisation.

A few things become clear when you look at it through a historically sensitive lens. Ancient biography wasn’t trying to be “filmed as it happened”. Matthew and Luke are not journalists. They’re ancient biographers and theologians. They shape stories to highlight themes. They compress or expand scenes. They use representative speech freely. They’re not concerned with whether the centurion physically stood in front of Jesus or spoke through intermediaries. Expecting them to behave like modern reporters is anachronistic.

We might say that we don't know which story accurately depicts events. Did Matthew compress the narrative so it was not what happened literally? Or did Luke adjust it to put the gentile Centurion at one remove from Jesus for his readers even if that was not what happened literally? We don't know.

That’s exactly the sober, historically responsible place many scholars land - not out of scepticism, but out of respect for what ancient texts are and what they’re trying to do. We don’t know which version is “what literally happened,” and the Gospels themselves don’t seem to care about that question in the way a modern historian would.

The question “Which one is literally accurate?” may be the wrong question. It’s a modern question, born of post‑Enlightenment expectations about history and reportage. The evangelists are not competing journalists. They’re theologians, storytellers, and community - shapers. Their aim is not to give us a single camera angle but to give us insight.

If Matthew shows bold Gentile faith approaching Jesus directly, and Luke shows humble Gentile faith approaching Jesus through Jewish intermediaries, then the two portraits together give us a richer understanding of the centurion’s character and of Jesus’ ministry. You don’t need to decide which one “really happened” to receive the theological gift.

Some things are contradictory, but trusting that the authors knew what they were doing has not erased the contradictions; it has transformed them into a doorway to deeper understanding.

I have heard these kinds of difficulty described as “so - called contractions”. Calling them “so‑called contradictions” often smuggles in the assumption that the tension is only apparent, only superficial, only waiting for the clever reader to dissolve it. But once you acknowledge that some things genuinely are contradictory at the level of surface detail, you’re finally free to read the texts as the evangelists actually wrote them, rather than as modern harmonisation expects them to be.

When that attitude about “so‑called contradictions” is coupled with the statement ““The Gospels were intended to be read as history” which is often the case, there is a clear misunderstanding at work between modern and ancient history. It is reading back into ancient texts a modern understanding which simply is not there.

Ancient “history” is not modern “history”. When a modern writer says “history,” they usually mean chronological precision, factual reconstruction, eyewitness verification, consistency of detail, and a single coherent timeline.

Ancient writers — including the Gospel authors — did not share those expectations. Ancient historia meant shaping events into a meaningful narrative, arranging material for rhetorical or theological effect, using speeches, summaries, and compression, prioritising significance over sequence and presenting truth through literary artistry.

The phrase “so‑called contradictions” usually signals a refusal to acknowledge genuine narrative differences, an assumption that ancient authors aimed at literal precision and a defensive posture rather than an interpretive one. But the Gospels do contradict each other at the level of surface detail — order of events, who speaks, what is said, where things happen, how many people are present. These contradictions are not errors. They are the natural result of ancient biographical practice. To deny them is not faithfulness — it’s anachronism.

The evangelists shaped material for theological reasons. Matthew and Luke rearrange the temptations. Matthew may compresses the centurion story; Luke may expand it. John relocates the Temple cleansing. Mark doubles Bartimaeus into two blind men in Matthew. These are not mistakes. They are deliberate narrative choices. To insist they must all be literally harmonised is to miss the artistry.

The Gospels are “history” in the ancient sense — theological biography. They are rooted in real events, shaped by memory and tradition, crafted for communities and arranged for meaning, not chronology.

Calling them “history” is fine — as long as we mean ancient history, not post‑Enlightenment historiography. When someone collapses those categories, contradictions become “problems” rather than “features.”

Eyewitnesses in the ancient world - as described by Luke do not mean eyewitnesses as we would understand it providing material to be presented exactly as it happened. When Luke speaks of “eyewitnesses” (autoptai) in Luke 1:2, he is not describing the kind of eyewitness testimony that a modern historian, journalist, or court of law would expect. To put it bluntly: ancient “eyewitness” does not mean “I saw it with my own eyes and now I will give you a verbatim, chronologically precise account.” It means something far richer, and far less literal.

Ancient historians shaped eyewitness material freely. Writers like Thucydides, Polybius, and Josephus — the gold standard of ancient historiography — routinely rearranged events, composed speeches, summarised long episodes, omitted details, emphasised theological or moral meaning. And they still called their sources “eyewitnesses.” Luke is working in that same world.

Luke 1:1–4 is often read through modern eyes, as if Luke is promising: “I will give you the exact sequence of events as they happened.” But what he actually promises is a carefully ordered account, based on traditions handed down, from eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, so that the reader may have certainty (i.e., confidence, stability). “Ordered” (kathexēs) does not mean chronological.

It means “arranged meaningfully.” Luke is offering interpretive, theological biography, not CCTV footage. It’s not that Luke is unreliable. It’s that he is reliable within his genre, not ours.

Singing Truth to Power: The Songs of Sidney Carter

Singing Truth to Power: The Songs of Sydney Carter

There are hymns we sing because they are familiar, hymns we sing because they are beautiful, and hymns we sing because they tell the truth. Sydney Carter’s songs often do all three, though not always in ways the church finds comfortable. They have a habit of slipping past our defences. They sound simple, even playful, yet they carry a fierce clarity about what it means to follow Christ in the real world. They remind us that faith is not something we think but something we live, something we embody, something we move with.

This may be why they are sung so little in churches. They are a challenge to a more rigid orthodoxy, and especially the more evangelical wing of the church.

Take “When I Needed a Neighbour”. On the surface it feels like a children’s song, gentle and repetitive. But the question at its heart is anything but gentle. “Were you there?” It is the question Christ asks in Matthew 25, the question that cuts through every creed and every liturgy. Were you there when someone was hungry, or lonely, or frightened. Were you there when compassion was needed?

Carter refuses to let us hide behind doctrine or identity. He reminds us that the Christian life is measured not by what we say but by how we show up for one another. And in a community like ours, where neighbourliness is not an abstract idea but a daily practice, the song becomes a mirror. It asks us to look honestly at the ways we respond to need, and at the ways we sometimes turn away.

The repeated question “Were you there?” is a moral interrogation disguised as a lullaby. There’s no doctrinal scaffolding, no Christological explanation, no ecclesial identity. Just the raw demand of compassion. The line “and the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter” is beautiful, and for some, too boundary‑breaking. It implies that belonging is ethical, not confessional. Some churches fear that this flattens Christian distinctiveness. And yet is essentially just the same message found in Matthew 25 sung as a children’s round, which is brilliant, but also quietly confrontational.

For churches that want discipleship framed in doctrine, creed, or sacrament, Carter’s stark humanism feels too bare.

But we must listen in context. When the song says “the creed won’t matter,” evangelicals hear something like: “belief doesn’t matter”, “doctrine is optional”, “all faiths are interchangeable”. That’s not what Carter meant. He was talking about compassion, not relativism, but the phrasing brushes against evangelical instincts. But for me, this goes to the heart of the gospel.

"To love another person is to see the face of God" is a famous quote from the musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, and Carter’s song points us to that – against the painted, all too often white depictions of Jesus, it asks us to see the face of Jesus in the downtrodden, the disabled, the poor, those at the bottom of the heap. Whenever I am asked what God looks like, the image – scarred, fragmentary, broken – is the neighbour of Carter’s song. If we cannot see that but only the curated centuries old images, we have lost sight of God. That is why the crucifix, with Christ impaled on cross is there to show us, and it is not supposed to be pretty and ornamental.

Then there is “The Bells of Norwich”, Carter’s great hymn of resilience. Julian of Norwich’s words, “All shall be well,” is often treated as a whisper, a private reassurance for the contemplative soul. But Carter sets them ringing through the streets like a procession after a long night. His version is not quiet or cautious. It is defiant. It is the sound of a community stepping out of the rubble with banners raised, choosing hope even when hope seems unreasonable.

For a place like Jersey, with its own memories of hardship and renewal, this song feels strangely close to home. It speaks to the kind of hope that is not naïve but hard‑won, the kind that rises after storms, after losses, after seasons when the world feels fragile. It is the hope that says: we have been through darkness before, and God has not abandoned us. All shall be well, not because life is easy, but because God is faithful.

It is winter as I write, but the yellow daffodils of Carter’s song show that renewal is coming, that hope is important. In a world beset by cruelty and suffering, of wars and countless deaths, of so much that seems lost, of so many that seem lost, that hope is important.

And then we come to “Lord of the Dance”, perhaps Carter’s most famous and most controversial hymn. Some churches shy away from it because it feels too earthy, too joyful, too un‑churchlike. But that is precisely the point. Carter gives us a Christ who moves. A Christ who dances creation into being, who dances through suffering, who dances out of the tomb. A Christ who refuses to be pinned down by solemnity or fear.

Resurrection, in this hymn, is not an idea but an energy. It is something that pulls us forward, something that invites us to join the steps. And perhaps that is what unsettles people most: the sense that faith is not a static possession but a rhythm we must learn, a movement we must enter, a life that will not let us stay where we are.

“I danced for the scribe and the pharisee” is not a historical comment on ancient times. Carter consistently portrays Christ as earthy, joyful, subversive, close to ordinary people and uninterested in religious gate keeping. That portrayal implicitly critiques any church that polices boundaries, fears joy except on its own terms, and prefers order to compassion. So when Carter sings about the scribe and Pharisee refusing the dance, he is warning against certainty that cannot move.

Every religious movement is tempted to become what it critiques, something Joy Davidman saw very clearly in “Smoke on the Mountain”. Carter’s Christ is hard to domesticate. He dances away from our categories. He is like Aslan, “not a tame lion”. That challenges any movement that believes it has captured the “right” way to follow Jesus. Carter’s lyric suggests that Jesus may be dancing with people who don’t fit your discipleship model at all. That’s uncomfortable. Carter’s lyric asks: Can you still follow Christ when he dances off the map?

When we place these three songs side by side, a pattern emerges. Carter is reminding us that the gospel is not a theory. It is a way of being in the world. It calls us to compassion, to resilience, to joy. It asks us to be neighbours who show up, people who choose hope after hardship, disciples who are willing to move with Christ into places we did not expect to go. These are not small things. They are the shape of a life transformed.

And perhaps this is why some churches hesitate with Carter. His songs do not let us hide. They do not let us retreat into safe abstractions or hide behind creeds. They ask us to live the faith we sing. They ask us to recognise Christ in the person in front of us. They ask us to trust that all shall be well even when the evidence is thin. They ask us to dance, which is to say, to risk joy, to risk movement, to risk being changed.

But in a parish like ours, where community matters, where resilience has been learned through experience, where hope is not a luxury but a necessity, Carter’s songs feel like gifts. They speak to who we are and who we are becoming. They remind us that the gospel is not only something we proclaim but something we practise. Something we embody. Something we move with.

So perhaps the invitation today is simple. Be a neighbour. Choose hope. Join the dance. For Christ is already moving ahead of us, calling us into a life that is deeper, braver, and more joyful than we imagined. And if we dare to follow, we may find that all shall indeed be well — not because we are strong, but because God is good.

The Sunday Archive: The Pilot, August 1997 - Part 7

The Sunday Archive: The Pilot, August 1997 - Part 7

Parish Letters

St Clement
JOHN OULESS
Ministre Desservant

My dear Friends,

News at last! By the time you read this, it will have been announced that the Rev David Shaw has accepted the offer of this living, and that he has been appointed to this benefice. He spent eight years in business before ordination, and comes to us from the parish of Wotton-under-Edge with Ozleworth and North Nibley in the Diocese of Gloucester. He hopes to move over here with his wife, who is a solicitor, and their two young children in September and to begin work among us in October - but more of that later, when we have a definite date for his induction.

Several members of our church joined the merry band of early risers from our Island to catch an early chartered flight to Southampton on 21st June for the Deanery Day at Winchester Cathedral, where a long, exhausting but very enjoyable day was experienced, and where they were also joined by Malcolm and Mary Beal, our former Rector and his wife, who had come up from Devon for the occasion, to share the fellowship and the Cathedral worship.

As I shall be away for the first two Sundays of August, the 8 and 9 am services will be taken by the Rev Michael St John Nicolle; on 3rd August the 10 and 11 am services will be taken by the Rev Michael Halliwell and the 6.30 pm service by Mrs Sue Halliwell, while the following week (10th) Canon Lawrence Hibbs will officiate at 11 am and Mr Brian Clarke at 6.30 pm.

Two urgent pleas for your assistance: please contact our Churchwarden Mrs Jean Chapman if you can help with the voluntary work of keeping our Parish Church bright, sweet and clean; and contact Mrs Pat Br& if you can offer to do the altar flowers on various dates.

HOLY BAPTISM. 15th June, Luke Anthony Vetier, Alisha Louise Vetier; 29th June, Liam Andree Gicquel; 6th July, Leah Marie Barrot.

HOLY MATRIMONY. 28th June (at St Lawrence), Martin Peter Emmanuel and Brenda Doreen Rondel.

FUNERALS AND BURIAL OF ASHES. 18th June, Percy John Gosling; 19th June, Eline Gertrude Burman; 23rd June, Jeane Brown Willicombe; 1st July, Leslie Nickels; 3rd July, Edgar Le Vesconte; 10th July, Gwendoline Helena Frampton; 11th July, John Bertram.

All Saints and St Simons

From
GEOFF HOUGHTON Priest-in-Charge

THE month of August traditionally sees many visitors at All Saints, who we look forward to welcoming. In reality, the influx is often matched by the exodus of our own families getting "off the rock" during school holidays, so on the surface it would seem to be a quieter period. But behind the scenes (and in front of church) there will be much activity.

The Late Miss Bessie Pilkington, remembered by many with great affection at All Saints, very generously left a bequest to the church, for which we are very grateful. The amount goes a long way toward meeting the cost of providing a wheelchair and pushchair ramp at the front of the church, which many will recall was part of the redevelopment begun with the 'Link' building. The ramped access will provide a fitting and lasting memorial to Bessie who would surely rejoice at the number of young children currently being wheeled into church! If anyone would like to make a contribution towards this specific project please contact the Vicar in confidence. It is very much hoped that this work will be completed by the end of August.

The Vestry is also long overdue for a fresh coat of paint and general re-organising of a very busy space. Your Church Officers are also keen to take this opportunity to set it up as a proper church office and equip it appropriately with a computer. This will hopefully allow those who are working at home on a variety of machines to work centrally, more efficiently and in the same format. Volunteers with paint brushes would be welcome!

In a growing and increasingly active church, where many of the "new faces" over recent years are very busy people, there is an increasingly evident need for some part-time secretarial and administrative work at the church. Already many people do an enormous amount of much appreciated work for the church in this area, but we need to be sensitive in discerning what is offered with goodwill and what becomes taking advantage of people. On the one hand there would be a cost, but the benefit of taking on such help would lie primarily in the freeing up of your priest to do what he has been trained to do — be priest, rather than administrator. Your Church Officers are currently exploring the costing and practicalities, and would very much welcome your opinions and ideas, please.

Church Photograph. In September 1937, the then Vicar of All Saints and his Church Officers gathered in front of the newly-built church hall for a photograph. Sixty years on, it seems very appropriate to have a fresh photo-graph taken in front of the refurbished church hall, this time to include all the fellowship, young and old. So please make a date in your diary to be with us for a shortened service and fun photograph on the morning on Sunday 7th September.

Gouray Church
From
BILL MATTHEWS
Honorary Curate

PLEASE look out for the visit to Jersey of the Apollo Male Voice Choir in the week beginning 5th October. They are one of the finest choirs in the UK and will be singing in Gouray Church at the 10.15 Morning Service on 5th October. There is also a Concert together with the wonderful Harmony Men at 8 pm that same evening in the Great Hall at Victoria College. Other concerts and events have been organised during the following week.

Keep an eye open for the events of One World Week (19th-25th October). Please join in the spirit and fun of this special week. There is more about the 'Week' in the first part of this edition.

RECENT ENTRIES FROM GOURAY

REGISTERS

HOLY BAPTISM. We welcome into the family of God Lucy Hope Lacey Banks (29th March); Jenessa Star Vickers (24th May); Lucy Maria Jouault (1st June); Thomas Edward Wagstaffe (27th July).

HOLY MATRIMONY. Congratulations to Christopher and Karen Clark (14th June) and Paul de la Haye and Natasha Gilmour (21st June).

FUNERALS. We offer our love and condolences to the family of Thora Phyllis Uniacke and especially to Joe, her husband, to whom she was happily married for 65 years.

The Cailleach at Imbolc

Rather like the legend of St Swithun's Day, there is an old Pagan story about the 1st of February, traditionally called "Imbolc", and here it is presented in a poem.

The Cailleach at Imbolc

I saw her, an old woman in a black shawl:
And there was swift silence, no bird call,
But all was still, a moment within time,
In which I watched her slowly climb,
The hill, shrouded in leafless trees;
After a mighty storm, the branches fell,
And even whole trees, so they do tell;
And she wonders, gathering firewood,
This old women, dark dress and hood;
And I remember the tales long told
Of Imbolc, kept in winter’s iron hold;
Of the Cailleach, and her gathering:
For it is now, at the very dawn of spring,
If she makes weather bright and good,
She will gather plenty of the firewood;
And the winter will last cold and long:
So I was told by druids in bardic song;
But if Imbolc weather is very foul,
She will be asleep, and never prowl:
That means winter is nearly done,
And we can welcome lambs and sun

The Victorian December 1983: Activities Section

The Victorian December 1983: Activities Section

ACTIVITIES SECTION

THIRD YEAR INTRODUCTORY COURSE

DESPITE intense pressure from the Follies, attempts at sabotage by the Skins and the Woodpeckers, and even a late dash by the Mobeymen who carried off the honours on our last field day, Fortun's Multiracial Morons managed to hang on to their position at the top of the table and finally proved to be decisive winners of the cup.

The year began with an interesting lecture by Mr. Derek Hart of the Le Geyt Centre explaining the aims of the Centre and describing the work done by the trainees. Subsequently each group visited the Centre on five separate occasions during the year, accompanied by Mr. du Feu, and took a very active part in their Friday afternoon activities. Our weekly football matches have become a sporting highlight at the Centre and since our visits began almost seven years ago the Centre has started taking touring sides to Guernsey for annual championship matches. The team are eagerly awaiting fresh opposition from our new groups in the coming year.

This year saw the end of Mr. O'Donovan's reign as the master in charge of visits. Over the years he established and maintained a wide and varied programme of trips to local firms and places of interest. Mr. Hamel takes over from him in September and will no doubt seek to maintain our contents and expand their scope still further.

After the success of her course last year, Miss Sheila Squibb, the Health Education Officer, returned to College with an extended series of talks. This time each group followed a two-week course in basic first aid which included a tape-slide presentation on safety in the home. This was later supplemented by a joint session in the Science Lecture Theatre with the States Ambulance Service. After a very informative lecture on resuscitation, all 50 boys were given the opportunity to put into practice what they had learnt with the life-size mannequins which had arrived in the States ambulance.

The following term Sheila presented two well documented films graphically illustrating the dangers of smoking. After some disturbing scenes the boys were treated to a lengthy discussion on the harmful effects of tobacco. This was complimented in the summer term by a visit from the Police Duty Squad whose film and illustrated lecture gave an even more disturbing picture of drug abuse. We are again grateful that the Chief Inspector of the C.I.D. was able to send his man to us for an afternoon.

This year saw the introduction of a new activity. Miss Jan Wheeler, Yoga instructress at Highlands College and the Jersey Arts Centre, gave a number of talks and practical lessons in the art of Yoga. Anyone passing the de Carteret Building on a Friday afternoon would have been delighted to see some of the 'louder' elements in Year 3 grimly endeavouring to untangle their knotted limbs as they silently writhed across the floor.

Mr. Shaw again welcomed us into Eden and each group benefited from a three-week course in computing. Field days were enjoyed by one and all and the overnight camp as always provided staff and boys with an excellent excuse for a weekend in bed. My thanks to all who helped, especially Messrs. du Feu, Simpson and Gilson. Thanks also to Edward Devenport for conducting the groups in their lunatic antics across the fives courts and for running 'observation and memory', a truly audio¬visual delight. And finally to Messrs. Fortun, Fauvel, Skinner, Woolley and Postlethwaite, the group leaders, who grinned and groaned their way through some horribly dangerous activities! It warms the wrinkles of my heart to see a new batch of smiling, eager sixth formers each year ready and willing to take up the challenge.

G.D.B.

Computing

THE computing activity is now run by Mr. Simpson; I have transferred to the Naval section of the C.C.F. I am sure new blood is a good thing!

Boys new to the activity have spent time recently getting to grips with the Video Genie and its graphics capabilities whilst old hands have continued advancing to better things.

It is hoped we will follow up recent Science Fair successes and that we will get some enthusiastic entries to this year's Fair.

The Hubbard report has now been approved and we can look forward in hope to more central support and finance.

P. B.

COMPUTING CLUB

THE club started well this year with many Year 2 lads coming to join in spite of (or because of) their introductory computing course last year.

The BBC machine continues to be a great success and we all look forward to a proper monitor and disk unit for it.

Despite providing three sessions a week after school and lunch-time use, overcrowding remains a problem: we try to ensure all pupils have a fair time on a computer during a club session so numbers do have to be restricted.

Mr. Le Quesne has also started a "Computing for Electronics" club, especially to get programs written for peripheral devices — this is both important and exciting.

P.B.

Cine/Video Group

THE group wishes to record its thanks to Mr. R. A. N. Biggar who has always supported its activities with the loan of equipment and has now made a donation to help with the cost of nine film processing. The group is also indebted to Mr. A. L. Le Masurier for the loan of his portable video recorder on Field Day. This enabled all members of the team to try their hand at 'cameraman', under careful supervision with such valuable apparatus. The results, viewed later, showed some of the C.C.F.'s activities, including 'abseiling' at St. Catherine.

Modelling

SADLY the group has contracted considerably this year and we are almost devoid of experienced modellers. Nevertheless, we are hoping to resurrect the model railway board from its state of confusion arising from numerous changes of plan; two radio-controlled boats are nearing completion and we are indebted to Mr. Rothwell for the first completed model this year — a beautifully finished sailing yacht. Control-line flying is still in the picture with a scale model Fokke-Wulf 190 under construction.

Sadly the technology revolution has brought sophisticated radio-controlled 'toys' within the scope of most young people and the satisfaction of a long-term modelling project is becoming less attractive.

AB.L.

Electronics

THE summer term is traditionally a quiter one, with the outdoors providing a greater attraction. The majority of projects in progress were completed and a number of devices for attachment to the BBC microcomputer were constructed and tested. We shall be sorry to lose Andrew Binnington, Ian Wilson and David Speight, all members of the activity since it started, but look forward to the new generation of enthusiasts in the autumn.

E.G.LeQ.

Sailing

AS the sailing season comes to a close we now have time to reflect on a reasonably successful year.

The navigation activity have undertaken a number of cruises throughout the summer term. The longest was a week's cruise around the Brittany coast on board the Nantucket Trader. On the theoretical side a 100 per cent pass was achieved by those who took the R.Y.A. Dayboat Skipper theory examination.

Now that dinghy sailing has moved to St. Helier we are able to go out in most weather. Unfortunately the problem of damaged boats has also come to a head, so a new system of two people being responsible for a boat for the year has been introduced.

Once again we achieved a fine victory over Elizabeth College to win the Brennan Transom for the eighth year running. The race was held in Wayfarers in St. Aubin's Bay in light winds, with Elizabeth College determined to win. This led to some very close racing which showed that next year we will have to be on our guard.

G.M.J.H.

Bookshop

SUPPORT for the bookshop continues to grow, perhaps in response to the widening range of stock. The junior school, as always, is most enthusiastic, but there is a pleasing increase in the number of browses from the upper school. Best sellers at the moment are undoubtedly the 'Fighting Fantasy' books, latest editions of which sell out within a day of appearing on the shelves. Over 100 boys have accounts, and anyone else who would like one should see Mr. Thorp. The bookshop is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes near the sixth year changing rooms.

Chess

JONATHAN DAVIS prefers playing himself, Martin Grimshaw distracts attention with his chess computer and young Buesnel never wins. Ten chess players, of varying abilities, snarl at each other over chequered boards every Friday afternoon and some lunchtimes. Despite the wide range of standards some good games are had by all.

Physical Education and Recreation

A WIDE range of activities were covered by the group of about 25, culminating in a new experience for many in the performance of an interpretation of "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats in the form of educational movement.

This course is run for fourth year boys and above and includes many different aspects of physical education including fitness and health, competitions and serious lectures, all of which combine to make a very entertaining Friday afternoon activity.

Good performances throughout the year were maintained by D. Omissi and M. Gallichan (Year 7), G. Manger and K. Henley (Year 5). However, it is unfortunate that many of the older better boys are taken out of the activity before the end of the course in order to help with other activities.

Photography

THIS will be my last report for 'Photography' in The Victorian, but no doubt Chesham Grammar School's equivalent will soon be ringing with pleas for colour printing facilities! The last six years have put the College well and truly in a forefront position in this activity. Standards have fluctuated with pupils' abilities, but always excellence has had its place.

Recently we have seen the charming unflux of a dozen ladies from our sister college to our activity group. We have, therefore, had to expand our facilities. With five black-and-white enlargers, and our colour processing, we are stretching our darkrooms to the limits. It would be of tremendous help if another darkroom could be established. This would be my hope for the future. A couple of interested staff will be taking over from me —and believe me it certainly is a two man job! I wish them, the club, and activity group every success and look forward to reading of your winning entries in the national Press.

A.J.V.

Christianity in Action: Lesson 15: Control of the Tongue

Lesson 15: Control of the Tongue
By G.R. Balleine

[Warning: Balleine was writing in the 1920s and 1930s, and his views and language reflect many at that time. However, as a time capsule of the prevailing beliefs, this can be very useful for the historians of that period.]

LESSON FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT.

PASSAGE TO BE READ : 1 Peter ii. 19-25.
TEXT TO BE LEARNT : " If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue . .. this man's religion is vain ' (St. Jas. i. 26).
HYMNS : " Oh, for a thousand," and " Angel voices ever singing." COLLECTS for Third Sunday after Easter and St. John Baptist.

Aim : To show the power of the tongue and the danger of its misuse.

I. AN UNBRIDLED TONGUE.

(a) The Japanese have a little carving. It represents three apes. One has its hand on its eyes ; one on its ear ; one on its mouth. The first means, " I control my eyes and am careful what I look at." The second means, " I control my ears and am careful what I listen to." The third means, " I control my lips and am careful what I say." It is the third ape's message that we are to think of to-day.

(b) What is the most dangerous thing in the world ? Rattlesnakes ? Lyddite ? Cholera ? No, they only come second, third or fourth. The most dangerous thing is a tongue. Slandering tongues, mischief-making tongues, tempting tongues destroy more lives than any high explosive. Snakes and infectious diseases only destroy the body. Tongues have power to destroy souls as well.

(c) Imagine a crowded theatre. Some idiot shouts Fire. What follows ? Panic. Stampede. Men's clothes torn from their backs. Women trampled underfoot. Hundreds of well-dressed folk fighting desperately at the doors. What caused this ? A single click of a fool's tongue. There is no limit to the mischief that a tongue can do.

(d) A scolding tongue makes everyone in its neighbour-hood miserable. In old England every parish kept a scold's bridle, two iron hoops padlocked round the neck and head, holding in position a flat plate, which pressed down the tongue. Villagers who perpetually scolded their neighbours were condemned to wear this for so many days. If they could not bridle their own tongues, their tongues were bridled by the parish.

(e) A blasphemous tongue brings sacred things into contempt. Nearly every Roman Catholic Church has a branch of the Confraternity of the Holy Name, a Society founded in 1274 to secure greater reverence for the Name of God. Its millions of members are pledged not only to speak reverently, but to do all in their power to restrain others from taking God's Name in vain. It would be well if every Church had something of the same kind.

(f) A tattling tongue can do endless mischief. " Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people " (Lev. xix. 16). An Indian Prince had a daughter. " I must find for her," he said, " an intelligent husband." So he had two statues set at the door of his palace. They were exactly alike in size and face and dress ; and he proclaimed that no one should marry his daughter unless he could discover the difference between the statues. Scores of young nobles examined them, measured them, weighed them, but they seemed as alike as two peas. At last came a youth who inspected them for a long time ; suddenly he looked closely at their ears and lips ; he pushed a straw into the ear of one, and it fell out of its mouth ; he pushed the straw into the ear of the other, and it remained inside the head. " Tell the Prince," he said, " that I have discovered his secret. One is the statue of a wise man and one is the statue of a fool. A fool pours out of his mouth everything that comes in at his ears. A wise man keeps what he hears inside his own head." A little girl announced one day, " I am a child of God." When asked how she knew that, she replied, "'Cos I'm a peacemaker. I heard something about a girl at school, and never told anyone." We can often show that we are children of God by keeping our mouths shut. " My duty is to keep my tongue from evil-speaking."

(g) A merely chattering tongue can make itself a terrible nuisance. Sir Walter Raleigh got so annoyed by a man who would not stop talking that he flung him on the floor, and sealed his moustache to his beard with sealing-wax. Does no one ever say to you, " Oh, do be quiet." " Do hold your tongue for five minutes " ? There is only one proverb that has found its way into every European language, and that is, " Speech is silver, silence is golden." Our Lord gave a solemn warning, " I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement." A Persian proverb says, " Great trees burn silently ; it is only thorns that crackle." Miss Soulsby, the famous writer for girls, says in one of her books. " I have known a Lenten resolution against chatter do wonders in deepening the character."

II. GOLDEN SILENCE.

(a) Think now of some fine types of silence. There is heroic silence. We know the picture entitled, " When did you last see your father ? " The Roundheads have raided the manor house in which a Cavalier is hiding, and are questioning his little son; but he is closing his lips firmly and refusing to answer for fear of endangering his father's safety. At the entrance of the Acropolis in Athens was the statue of a lioness without a tongue. It was erected in honour of Lemna, a woman who bit out her tongue for fear that torture might make her reveal a secret that had been entrusted to her.

(b) There is a dignified silence. When Saul was made King, " the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us ? But he held his ,peace " (1 Sam. x. 26). When Sennacherib's captain made insulting speeches before the walls of Jerusalem, “the people held their peace and answered him not a word, for the King's command was, Answer him not " (2 Kings xviii. 36). But the best example of this is our Lord Himself. At His trial before Caiaphas " He held His peace and answered nothing " (St. Mark xiv. 61). Herod " questioned Him with many words, but He answered nothing " (St. Luke xxiii. 9). To Pilate at first He spoke freely, but when He saw that Pilate meant to act against his conscience, " Jesus gave him no answer " (St. John xix. 9). On the cross He made no reply to those who taunted Him. " As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth " (Isa. liii. 7). Read Passage.

(c) There is a discreet silence. There are some subjects it is best not to talk about. There are many subjects it is best not to talk about before strangers. In every railway carriage in Germany there used to be a notice : A soldier must not only be able to fight, but also to keep silence for his Fatherland."

(d) Madame Montessori, who has revolutionized the teaching of younger children, puts the Game of Silence in a prominent place in her scheme of education, teaching tiny children to love silence, to move silently, to breathe silently, to rejoice in the silence that they themselves have created.

III. THE USE OF THE TONGUE.

(a) Some religious people have felt the danger of the tongue so keenly that they have taken vows never to speak at all There are Indian Fakirs who have sat in silence for fifty years. Some put earth between their lips and sow mustard seeds in it to show that they never open them. In the Roman Church there are Orders of Silent Monks and Nuns (Carthusians, Carmelites, Trappists). But this is clearly a mistake. If God had meant us to be silent, He would not have given us tongues. It reminds us of the man in the parable who was afraid to use the talent entrusted to him.

(b) There is a cowardly silence. On Good Friday there were plenty of witnesses for the prosecution, but not a single witness for the defence : all the disciples were afraid to speak up for their Master. Are we never like that ? In cases like this control of the tongue means forcing it to speak.

(c) There is an unkind silence. " Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God." It means a lot to a boy in trouble, if you let him know that you are awfully sorry for him. " God hath given me a tongue," said St. Paul, " that I should speak a word in season to him that is weary."

(d) There is a selfish silence, if we know good news and do not pass it on. The lepers of Samaria found that the enemy had retreated, and left their camp empty. While helping themselves to plunder, their consciences pricked them. " They said one to another, We do not well. This day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace '.' (2 Kings vii. 9). Good news should be shared with others, specially the best of good news which we call the Gospel.

(e) A well-controlled tongue speaks when it ought, and also says what it has to say in the pleasantest way. A king consulted a fortune-teller. " Sir," he said, " every relation you have will die before you." The thought of this long succession of deaths seemed so dismal that the king condemned the seer to death. He summoned another who said, " Sire, you will outlive all your relations." This prospect was so pleasing that the king gave him a large reward. Both had said the same thing, but they had put it in a different way. One had made the king angry ; the other had made him grateful. Tactless words are " as vinegar upon nitre " (Prov. xxv. 20). But " a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in baskets of silver " (xxv. 11, R.V.).

A summary of Bernard Place's argument.

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/voices/2026/01/15/jersey-needs-a-political-culture-that-can-differentiate-between-frustration-and-corrosive-fatalism/

Bernard Place’s essay in the JEP argued that Jersey’s political culture must learn to distinguish between legitimate frustration and corrosive fatalism.

He frames what some dismiss as “pitchforks and torches” politics instead as a “politics of impatience,” rooted not in malice but in care for the Island and its institutions. This perspective is a strength of his argument: it acknowledges the emotional intensity of local debate without trivialising it, and it recognises that impatience signals civic attachment rather than disengagement. 

Place highlights how Jersey’s small scale amplifies emotion—failures feel personal, decisions seem opaque, and accountability appears diffuse. By treating these sharp-edged voices as an early warning system rather than a threat, he positions impatience as a democratic resource.

Another strength lies in his call for listening carefully and responding with clarity. He insists that politicians should hear the underlying concerns behind blunt statements, translating “nothing ever changes” into worries about slow implementation or poor communication. This approach encourages empathy and constructive engagement, rather than defensiveness. His emphasis on transparency, accountability, and visible progress provides a practical antidote to drift, offering Islanders the reassurance of direction rather than slogans.

However, Place’s argument also has weaknesses. While he rightly cautions against dismissing impatience, he underplays the risks of oversimplification. He admits that impatience can flatten complex systems into single villains, but his essay does not fully explore how this dynamic can corrode trust or fuel populist scapegoating. 

His optimism that impatience can be harnessed as renewal may overlook how quickly frustration can harden into cynicism, especially if expectations for “visible, measurable progress” are not met. Moreover, his call for clarity and deliverables, though appealing, risks sounding abstract without concrete examples of how Jersey’s institutions might achieve this balance in practice.

In sum, Place’s essay is strongest when it reframes impatience as care and insists on listening as the first step toward renewal. It is weaker when it assumes that frustration can easily be channelled into constructive energy without acknowledging the structural and cultural obstacles that make such translation difficult. His vision of a political culture that turns sharp voices into catalysts for confidence is compelling, but it depends on whether institutions can move beyond rhetoric to deliver the progress Islanders expect.