An A to Z, laugh-out-loud guide to taking ourselves, as Christians, less seriously.
Halfway through the service our minister asked the congregation a question. "For you," he asked, "what is the most important thing in the world?" Liz and I answered more or less simultaneously. My reply was very proper and holy for a change.
"Salvation!" I cried piously.
"Bacon sandwiches!" suggested Liz, with all the passion and wisdom you would expect from a retired magistrate and area schools advisor for religious education.
Yes, I thought to myself. Of course, Bacon sandwiches and salvation. That just about sums it up. A God who can create the indescribable tastiness of a bacon sandwich must be planning something pretty incredible in the salvation line.
Calvinists: Christians whose theology suggests that they might not bother to book their hotel rooms in advance when planning a holiday because they are absolutely convinced that someone else will have done it for them, and if they haven't, there's no use trying.
Grip: term used by some Christians in their salutation at the end of a letter, thus "Yours in his grip." Suggests that God is in the habit of carrying his followers around in a small leather travelling case.
Rock of ages: (1) well known hymn which celebrates the security we find in the eternal love of God; (2) music produced by the Rolling Stones.
(excerpted from Bacon Sandwiches and Salvation)
About Adrian Plass:
ADRIAN PLASS is a writer and speaker who has produced over thirty books in the last twenty years. The best known of these is probably The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass, a gentle satire on the modern church, which has sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide. A bemused Anglican, Adrian lives with his wife and daughter in a small market town near the Sussex South Downs, England.
