The sixth Thinking Scripture week took place at Boarbank from 20th to 27th February 2010. The theme was the Gospel of John. The lecturers were, once again, Fr Richard Taylor, Sr Margaret Atkins and Dr Geoffrey Turner. We followed our usual pattern of reading passages first as literature, then as history and then as theology. After an introductory session led by Dr Turner and Fr Taylor, we began with the Prologue. Sr Margaret explored its literary style, relating it to literary features of the Gospel as a whole, Dr Turner used it to explore the kind of history that John is trying to write, and Fr Taylor placed its theology in the context of the concerns of the writer’s own community. Next we focused on the story of the woman at the well in Chapter 4, with Fr Taylor bringing the dialogue to life as a piece of literary drama and Dr Turner explaining the historical context, in particular relations between Samaria and Israel. We explored the theology of the passage in small group discussions. Chapter 6, focusing on the feeding of the five thousand and the bread of life, provided a rich way of exploring the types of historical tradition embedded in John’s narrative and discourses (Sr Margaret), and his theology of the person of Christ and of the eucharist (Dr Turner). Again we discussed the text further in small groups. Finally we tackled the passion narrative in John 18-19, as a piece of drama, built around Pilate’s moving between Jesus and the crowd (Sr Margaret), as a piece of history, overlapping with the Synoptic narratives, sometimes contradicting and sometimes complementing them (Fr Dixie), and as a piece of theology, emphasising both the humanity and the divinity of Christ (Fr Turner). A final session put the approach of the week in the context of Catholic interpretation of Scripture, using the Vatican document The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church.

The group met together each day for Morning Prayer and Mass, and joined the Boarbank community for Sunday Mass and daily Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer around the fire in Boarbank Hall. There was chance during the afternoons to be quiet and relax or to socialise. The evenings provided a mix of social and cultural activities or an opportunity to be quiet (including Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Thursday evening). We watched the film ‘The Scarlet and the Black’, starring Gregory Peck as Mgr Hugh O’Flaherty, who worked in the Vatican and led an organisation that rescued hundreds of people from the Nazi occupiers during the war. Two of our members, Junia and Haydn, treated us to a concert of piano, recorder and soprano, and Dr Turner provided a meditative hour of Bach on Johannine themes. On the free afternoons, the more energetic climbed Hampsfell (the very unsettled weather allowed us a few beautiful interludes), and walked via Humfrey Head to lunch in Cark. Others enjoyed visits to Grange, Cartmel and Bowness (including boating on the lake). Participants came from all over the country, and also from Ireland and Africa, bringing with them a wide and rich variety of experience, which contributed greatly to the discussions.