Falling asleep in church

Sir, – Garry Bury rightly laments that the major churches are failing "to ensure that the content of sermons is theologically correct" and I was amused by his suggestion that bishops "sit anonymously in a back pew" (November 30th).

It might interest Mr Bury to know that, in the primitive church, checking sermons for theological soundness was actually the remit of congregations. First-century believers would admit an apostle’s teaching only insofar as it aligned with divinely revealed truth – they “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). Believers in the 21st-century believers should follow their example. – Yours, etc,

RONAN SCANLAN

Leopardstown,

Time to label items for the green bin

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Assisted suicide and the law

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Slánaiste: Irish Times letter writers have their say on the political crisis

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Basic income and a land tax

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Dublin 18.