New Year Honours: Theologian once got hate mail

By PHILIP ENGLISH

Lloyd Geering expects some New Zealanders will splutter into their morning teacups when they find his name topping the nation's New Year Honours list.

The principal companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit gained notoriety in 1967 when he questioned the Resurrection and the fundamental Christian belief of the immortal soul.

Comments such as: "Anyone who thinks of God as a Santa Claus in the sky to whom one prays in order to fulfil one's own personal wants must be prepared to let that image die, for it is a travesty of the truth" led to his trial for heresy by the Presbyterian Church.

At the time, Professor Geering was principal of Knox Theological Hall in Dunedin, the centre of Presbyterian teaching in New Zealand. He was tried. The charges were unproven.

Today, the Rangiora-born 82-year-old is emeritus professor of religious studies at Victoria University and, as his NZ Order of Merit citation reads, is considered one of New Zealand's foremost academics in the field of religious studies.

Professor Geering said that around the time of his trial the Church in New Zealand had an opportunity to liberalise but it failed to do so, opting instead to become more conservative.

"That is why the mainline churches have been declining in numbers and influence and are likely to decline more," he said.

"Many of the ideas I was simply putting forward then are widely accepted these days and don't cause problems, although they still do within the conservative rumps of the churches."

Professor Geering once received hate mail for his views, but yesterday, while on holiday in Cromwell with his wife, Elaine, he had some words for those who might be surprised by his honour.

He said he had never wanted to hurt people.

"I never tried to upset people. I was only following the pursuit of truth and trying to be as honest as I possibly could.

"What has given me a lot of satisfaction over the years is the tremendous number of people who have written to thank me and said what a great burden had been lifted off their shoulders; that someone had come out and said the sort of things they believed themselves but were afraid to say."

He paid tribute to Elaine and his family, without whom, he said, he would "never have done all these things."

"It was often more difficult for them than it was for me, because I can stand up for myself, but they were in the background and were not able to say anything much."

Professor Geering said the honour recognised the importance of religious thought and practice and the fact that religion needed to undergo change, in the same way that all cultural traditions changed.

"There's been a tendency in the secular world to think that religion is of no significance. Actually it is still of as great significance as ever it was, but it is taking new forms," he said.

"So I would think that perhaps [the honour] is recognition of that to some degree. Otherwise, I am a little puzzled by it."

The honour has come as Professor Geering is winning international recognition for his writing.

His last three major works of the past two decades are being published as a trilogy in the United States.