On adding to the faith

It seems to me that the reason why so many people have trouble accepting that Roman Catholicism is not a true Christian denomination is because Catholicism does not deny the fundamentals of the Christian faith so much as add to them. An example of this is the Alpha Course. Roman Catholics have their own version of this which is the same as the Protestant version but with the addition of two extra chapters dealing with Roman Catholic sacraments and other practices of the Roman church.

Why is adding to the Christian faith a problem? Surely as long as we all agree on the fundamentals that is enough? For an answer to this, first read the book of Galatians. Then listen to the video on this link here.

Is the UK a Christian country?

According to a poll carried out by Ipsos-Mori for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, half of those in Britain who say they are Christian rarely go to church while nearly 60% do not read the Bible. Such statistics allow Dawkins to claim that Britain is not the Christian nation which some claim it to be, based on the fact that more than 50% of the population still identify themselves as 'Christian' when asked about their religion.

Frankly, I am really uneasy when anyone claims that this is still a Christian nation, because my experience says that it manifestly is not, and so I am not surprised at the result of this latest poll. Reading the Bible and going to church are not essential for salvation, which is through faith in Christ and not through good works, however they are a pretty good indicator as to whether someone is a genuine Christian or not. Dawkins therefore has a point when he claims that Christianity is not as prevalent as some would make out. However, the fact that a significant number of people in this country still tick 'Christian' as opposed to 'atheist' or 'none' when asked about their religion does mean something. They may not be born again, they may not be practising Christians, but they are still comfortable with being labelled as a Christian and the backlash currently under way against militant secularism is a reflection of this.

I do not believe that we should be imposing Christianity on the nation, as I said in my last post, however I do believe that Christians should be involved in public life and should encourage people to live by God's laws. It is an absolute fallacy to suggest that anyone, whatever their faith, can so compartmentalise their life as to leave their faith out of it when they go into their job, be it as a politician, councillor, doctor, teacher or whatever. Your religion or belief system is integral to your life, it influences all your opinions and decisions and secularists are not exempt from this rule. Christians should not be ashamed of their faith and should not be bullied into keeping it 'just for Sundays'. It applies to all the other days of the week too.

If there is one thing above all which the great British public hates, it is intolerance. Hopefully, the increasing aggressiveness of the secularists will be self-defeating in just the same way as attempts to impose Christian morals on the public have been.

Prayers banned in council meetings

As an Arminian, I believe that God has graciously given man free will and man can use that free will to deny the existence of God and exclude Him from their lives. As Christians, I believe that we should try to persuade men, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:11, but always accepting that they may choose to reject the gospel which we bring. Christianity cannot be imposed on people - to do so goes against everything the Bible teaches us. In that context, I was interested to read today about the decision on prayers in council meetings in England and Wales handed down by the courts. It seems that the matter hinges on whether the time of prayer is part of the agenda of the meeting, in which case councillors are summoned to attend that part of the meeting, as opposed to prayers being apart from the official business of the council, in which case atheist councillors need not attend. Today's ruling states that having prayers as part of the agenda is unlawful, however the judge said 'prayers could be said as long as councillors were not formally summoned to attend'.

I have to say that I am in agreement with the judgement as reported. I would not like to be forced to attend prayers to non-Christian gods. I therefore think that we as Christians should extend the same courtesy to those of other religions, including atheists and humanists. We are currently seeing a rise in militant atheism, militant humanism and militant Islam. All seek to force their viewpoint on others. Christians should not be like that - we should seek to share the Truth in love, without force, and so try and win people to Christ. Militant Christianity is also on the rise these days and it is as much to be deplored as the other militant religions I have listed above. We do not fight force with force. We should stand fast in what we believe, always being prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15) but also being prepared for the fact that they may not accept what we say. In that case, we pray for them and leave them with God. Only the Holy Spirit working within someone can ultimately bring them to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.