HOW closely do Christian churches scrutinise the beliefs of people who act in their name? Over the course of history, there have been some sharp extremes. At one end of the spectrum, the medieval inquisition used brutal interrogation methods to coax its victims into admitting that they were out of step on some fine doctrinal point. And at the other, some modern denominations are wondering how to respond to clergy who openly renounce any belief in God.
A Church of England bishop, John Robinson, caused a furore in 1963 by penning a short, best-selling book, "Honest to God" which asserted that God was neither "up there" nor "out there". For traditional Christians, this seemed atheistic. But the bishop insisted otherwise; he urged believers to focus instead on a notion favoured by some German theologians: God as the "ground of our being". The scandal died down as people accepted that he was calling for a change of metaphor rather than a complete break with theism.
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