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Writing this month, Bishop Martin of Chichester reflects on how the apparent weirdness of Christianity in fact reveals the truth on its deepest level, a truth which liberates you and all people, a truth which brings hope even in the midst of the world's darkness.

I definitely heard Tom Holland (the historian, not Spider-Man) say that Christianity is weird.

I was there, in the room (admittedly a large room) when he said it. He was serious. He wasn’t rubbishing Christianity. He was saying that its weirdness was what made it serious.

Lots of things during Christmas have a vague connection to Christianity. Giving presents is one of them. That comes from a story about astronomers who read the night sky, pick up gossip on their first century network (news has always travelled) and go to explore, taking presents.

The Magi presenting their gifts to Christ and his Mother

We often take a present when we visit someone special. They are carefully chosen for a tiny baby – cuddly, safe – and a bit more obvious for adults: flowers, chocolates, wine, etc.

The presents for the baby Jesus were certainly a weird choice: gold was good, but frankincense and myrrh were neither cuddly nor safe. They represented God, death and resurrection.

But how weird? A Christian, Muslim or Jewish baby born in the Middle East today enters a theatre of war where the issues of God, death and resurrection (a right to life after the killing stops) is precisely what that child’s parents will be struggling with.

The bloodshed there, and the deepening war in Ukraine, drive many people to pray to God. God seems to be silent, invisible and absent.

But the weird claim of Christianity is that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, suffered arrest, brutalisation and slow painful death. That experience is known to God better than it is known to you or me.

And judgement, the final reckoning, is yet to come, after death. Every act of savagery, deceit or unnecessary unkindness will then confront its perpetrator.

That level of truth-telling is scary.

Christians are also certain that God the judge is forensic, just, and compassionate. A scale and power of love beyond imagining is how God rights the wrongs we do. How weird is that?

Dates for your diary:

• Find out what services are offered by your local church.

The website ‘A Church Near You’ – www.achurchnearyou.com – enables you to easily see what services are being held by churches in your vicinity throughout the year.

• Celebration of Music, Chichester Cathedral, Saturday, February 3, 3pm.

Join us for a celebration of the wonderful music of the Cathedral. Following the performance, there will be a special announcement about our plans to sustain Chichester Cathedral’s music heritage. RSVP to [email protected].

• Services for Racial Justice Week

Sunday, February 4, 6.30pm, at St Peter’s Brighton – Service led by Bishop Will, Bishop of Lewes, and the Revd Dan Millest.

Sunday, February 11, 10am, at St Mary’s Broadwater – Service led by Bishop Ruth, Bishop of Horsham, and the Revd Gaz Daly.

Sunday February 11, 6pm, at Worth Parish, Crawley – Service led by the Revd Sarah Upchurch. Preacher: The Revd Dr Godfrey Kesari.

The strangeness of Christianity | Faith Matters