IAN POULTON,
Sir, - At the heart of the issues raised by Dean Andrew Furlong is the question of whether or not the Church of Ireland believes in a miraculous God. If it does, then it believes that there are divine mysteries not amenable to human reasoning, however learned, and it determinedly affirms those doctrines that Dean Furlong would reject.
If it does not believe in a miraculous God, then the core doctrines of the faith - the incarnation and the resurrection - become no more than mythological symbols and Dean Furlong's arguments are an honest and logical conclusion.
It might be embarrassing to the sensibilities of many who have assumed a modern, secular outlook, but the question of whether the church believes in miracles must be answered. - Yours, etc.,
IAN POULTON,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.