Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

Why it’s obvious that morality precedes religion

Our instinctive morality whispers that kindness to others is good in itself

At a beautiful church service recently I encountered again a Gospel parable that left me, again, torn between sympathy and doubt. You will recognise Matthew 25: 35-40, for its phrasing has entered the idiom: ‘I was hungry and you gave me food … sick and you visited me … in prison and you came to me … a stranger and you took me in … naked and you clothed me … ’

The story is of a king praising his subjects for these kindnesses to him.

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