The UK’s relentless slide into self-destruction

Britain is now beginning to unlock – but does this mean that the pandemic is over?

From Magna Carta to the abolition of slavery: the development of Britain's biblical laws.

Last week we looked at how the Gospel spread around Anglo-Saxon England and, independently, the Celtic fringes of Wales, Cornwall, Scotland and Ireland. We saw that Christianity was readily adopted by successive Anglo-Saxon kings, influencing their law codes and building into our developing nation early on a close relationship between Church and state. By the time of the Norman conquest, England could be viewed as one nation under God.

Over the next centuries, enormous battles proceeded as our political structures developed and matured. Major upheavals condensed around the introduction of checks and balances to the power of the monarchy, the development of Parliament and the judiciary; also the English Reformation and our departure from Roman Catholicism; also the fragmentation of British Protestantism thereafter.

This week, we look at how, through all this turbulence and complexity, our ‘unwritten’ constitution nevertheless came to reflect biblical principles and beliefs.

Six Centuries in Brief

Foundational to the British constitution and rule of law is Magna Carta (1215, confirmed as statute law 1297) - particularly its clauses guaranteeing freedom for the Church and the right to due legal process for all citizens. However, even though Magna Carta established in principle that the king was not above the law, it took several centuries to move Britain from the absolute rule of one sovereign (reliant on advisors and the support of regional landowners) to a Parliamentary democracy with checks and balances in place to hold both monarch and government accountable.

Although no political system is perfect, the fundamental idea of limiting the king’s power introduced a notable principle of humility into Britain’s governmental system, framed by the Christian belief that all men are answerable to God. During Henry III’s reign our first elected Parliament was convened (1265), starting the nation on a journey towards a representative democracy. Meanwhile, a parallel move away from autocracy also began within the Church, first with protest against Catholicism and then with dissent against the Church of England, and always with criticism of corrupt and unaccountable clergy.

Through six centuries of upheaval, our ‘unwritten’ constitution nevertheless came to reflect biblical beliefs and principles.

Several turbulent centuries of both international and internal conflict eventually culminated in the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688, when the ascent of William and Mary to the throne led to a new Bill of Rights being introduced guaranteeing, not least, freedom of speech and free elections,¹ as well as a Toleration Act granting freedom of worship to Dissenters. Importantly, the Coronation Oath was also revised to include a promise before God to “maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel” – a promise still made by our current Queen, to which we believe the Lord holds her.

These were truly landmark moments in the history of Britain’s politics and her position before God. Though they did not rid the nation of violence, poverty and persecution, they undoubtedly laid the foundation for later outpourings of Christian belief and repentance, not least by ensuring key Gospel freedoms. Over the next two or three centuries, Britain saw mass revivals of religious fervour, from the grassroots right up to the uppermost echelons of society, led by evangelists both within and without the established Church.

It was these revivals which changed British culture sufficiently that a host of righteous laws could then be passed including the abolition of slavery, laws preventing child labour and cruelty to animals, and laws promoting family values and protecting the vulnerable, all of which were added to the statute books in the 19^th Century.

Reflections

There are many ways of analysing the developments outlined above, which were in reality far more complex than my brief summary permits. Here, I want to highlight two ways in which the Bible was brought to bear on Britain’s political system and thence its people - by force and by free will – and to ask where God was in all of this.

Faith by Force

The explosion of the Reformation in Europe under Luther galvanised pressure for Church reform across the British Isles. However, Protestantism’s top-down, politicised introduction to England through Henry VIII’s notorious split from Rome in 1534 over the matter of his marriages, did not reflect popular critiques of Catholicism but rather political wrangling, and led to several decades of violent conflict, persecution, execution, revolt and exile. Ambition and power play combined with varying levels of piety and zeal in the persons of several different rulers, passing England back and forth between the two branches of Christianity.

The 16^th-17^th Centuries were marked by attempts to enforce either Catholic or Protestant belief and practice on the general public. Under Elizabeth I’s God-given lengthy reign, Protestantism finally triumphed and was firmly embedded into our national consciousness, but in the process, dissent and genuine calls for reform of the Church of England were outlawed and punished.

Charles I’s attempts to force English Anglicanism on Presbyterian Scotland prompted numerous military conflicts and fuelled the English Civil Wars. Cromwell’s ascent to power led to Puritanical standards being imposed - albeit probably in good conscience, but without long-lasting success.

Landmark constitutional freedoms combined with popular revivals to transform the fabric of British culture, such that a host of righteous laws could then be passed.

Then, following the restoration of the monarchy in the 1660s and the return of traditional Anglicanism, dissent was once again stifled through a series of laws known as the Clarendon Code, together with the infamous Test Act. Dissenters (later known as non-conformists) may have been allowed freedom to worship, but they were barred from holding public office or attending Oxbridge. Unofficial small group meetings were also banned.² Thousands of non-conformist clergy resigned and nearly two centuries of discrimination against Dissenters ensued.

Faith by Free Will

These centuries teach us, amongst other things, that the top-down enforcement of any kind of religious practice by the state cannot change men’s hearts. God has given mankind a measure of free will and the Gospel was ordained to spread by the preaching and hearing of the word, not by violence and coercion. Nevertheless, true faith was alive and well during those centuries and the Lord did not reject entirely the zeal of our rulers, nor did he abandon our island to tyranny. Instead, in ways we cannot fully comprehend, he worked in the midst of the upheaval and conflict.

John Wesley, preaching outside the church walls. See Photo Credits.He did this, vitally, through successive generations of individuals and groups who were raised up, often from the grassroots, to campaign for repentance, reform and a return to the plain truths of Scripture. Through all the ups and downs of Britain’s history, as soon as any one form of the faith became codified and ‘established’, particularly in the sense of outward displays of religiosity not reflective of genuine inner transformation, the Lord raised up prophetic servants to hold the establishment to account.

From Wycliffe’s outspoken criticism of Catholicism (mentioned last week) through Puritanism in Tudor England to non-conformist movements of the 18^th and 19^th Centuries, it has been the faithful living and witness of ordinary Christians, often in the face of significant persecution, that has born lasting spiritual fruit in our nation and gradually steered our parliamentary and judicial systems in a godly direction.³

For example, I have already mentioned that the 19^th Century saw a host of righteous laws added to our statute books, such as those campaigned for by the Clapham Sect (including, most famously, the abolition of slavery). These laws were the culmination of decades of faithful campaigning but they also owed significant debts to a general evangelical revival throughout Britain that, in the space of a generation, completely transformed its socio-cultural fabric (more on this next week). The Lord had raised up John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield outside of the institutional Church, and inside vocal evangelicals such as Charles Simeon, Henry Ryder and JC Ryle, to thunder Gospel truths from their pulpits and in the highways and byways, saving and inspiring millions. Their faithful service laid the cultural foundation for laws which in turn blessed a countless number.

It has been the faithful witness of ordinary Christians, often in the face of significant persecution, that has born lasting spiritual fruit in our nation and gradually steered our parliamentary and judicial systems in a godly direction.

Blessing Through Struggle

Arguably, Britain has been the more blessed for having a professing Christian monarchy and government over the years, even though this has also brought bloodshed and sorrow and has been shaped by the vagaries of political necessity as much as genuine belief. However, although the development of Godly laws in our nation and the general acceptance of biblical principles into our culture are due in part to this overarching system, they are just as much if not more due to successive generations of faithful ordinary believers, raised up by the Lord as prophets to the nation, calling people to account and crying for justice in the streets and in the pulpits.

It is God’s faithfulness to Britain that the failings of our professing Christian establishment have always galvanised passionate believers to pray, speak and work for change, for his glory. We cannot forget, especially today, that our godly heritage developed as the Lord blessed the struggle and sacrifice of many believers over long centuries of difficulty, which forced people to think seriously about what they believed and what they were willing to live and die for.

In biblical terms, Britain has taken after Jacob/Israel, wrestling long and hard to receive the blessing of a God-given identity. And by God’s grace, the result of this struggle by the 19^th Century was a degree of individual freedom and popular religious fervour which, combined with Britain’s imperial might, led to the Gospel being taken to virtually the whole world.

Next week: How God blessed Britain through successive revivals.

Notes

1 The 1689 Bill of Rights is credited with inspiring and influencing the US Constitution and Bill of Rights in the 18^th Century.

2 Similar penal laws were introduced to Ireland in 1695, mainly affecting Catholics, who were not emancipated until 1829.

3 These dissenting groups have always been split between those seeking to reform the establishment from within and those seeking to work outside of it. History seems to confirm that both strands are needed.

Britain is lost unless Bible-believing Christians speak up.

It is not easy being a Bible-believing Christian in Britain or any of the Western nations today. 30 years ago there were prophecies that Christians would soon be facing persecution. These seemed like wild predictions – such things could never happen in nations with centuries of Christian tradition!

Today, every day there is news of Christians losing their jobs because of taking a stand upon biblical principles, or Christians being taken to law charged with so-called ‘hate’ offences because they’ve quoted the Bible or refused to bake a cake with an LGBTQ+ slogan on it.

For British Christians an increasing problem is discerning between ‘fake news’ and the truth. Our national broadcaster, the BBC, once world-famous for trustworthy reporting founded upon biblical principles of truth and integrity, has been taken over by a consortium of secular humanists, including LGBTQ+ activists and Israel-haters. Their influence can be seen in everything from soaps and entertainment programmes to news broadcasting.

The search for truth is becoming increasingly difficult in an age when we are battered on every side with different media reports that are usually more ideological than factual. Where can we find truth and integrity today?

Today, every day there is news of Christians losing their jobs because of taking a stand upon biblical principles.

Battle Between Good and Evil

Of course, there are plenty of warnings in the Bible such as:

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. (2 Tim 3:1-5)

We all know people like this and we read about them every day in our newspapers and on the internet. But we also know of people from around the world who responded to the call for help to go and rescue boys trapped underground in a Thailand mountain. They willingly risked their own lives - and one of them actually died - in an effort to save the boys. It is an inspiring story of human bravery and self-sacrifice. Clearly there is something of great worth in our human nature that responds to such needs (as our Managing Editor describes in her article this week).

It is these two sides of our human nature, the good and the bad, that are reflected in the national life of both Britain and the USA at the moment. We are witnessing a conflict between the opposing forces of light and darkness.

Nations Torn Asunder

Both nations are being torn asunder by battles over God’s instituted truths - including gender. In the USA there are numerous legal cases being fought over the rights of transgender people to use public toilets or attempts to ban therapy for unwanted same-sex attraction.

In Britain our Government is considering a similar ban and Prime Minister Theresa May last week pledged support for making transgender processes easier. She either doesn’t understand the nature of the battle or she is deliberately forsaking her professed Christian principles for the sake of alleged political gain.

Both Britain and the USA are being torn asunder by battles over God’s instituted truths.

It is small wonder that the British Government is in disarray, the Cabinet torn apart by resignations and disagreement over the proposed Brexit terms to be offered to the EU. Once biblical standards of truth are abandoned, chaos and confusion inevitably follow: everyone makes up their own rules. This is what is happening, not only in Britain, but in all the Western nations, where their biblical heritages are being deliberately challenged.

The fundamental issue is a clash between human beings and God: do we follow our own human rules or do we accept the word of the Lord?

Rejecting the Nature of God

Paul neatly sums up the issue: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godliness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom 1:18). Paul says that the nature of God has been revealed in Creation and that once we reject the God of Creation we are driven by the destructive powers of darkness. This is why we are beginning a short series of study articles on Creation today, which we hope all our readers find helpful in their search for truth.

The Apostle Paul says that once we stop believing in God we don’t believe nothing, we believe anything! We worship all kinds of images in our idolatry. In Romans 1: 24-31, Paul outlines three stages in the degradation of humanity:

1. Human beings exchange the truth of God for a lie and worship created things rather than the Creator, which leads to engaging in all kinds of sexual impurity.
   
2. The second stage is “exchanging natural relations for unnatural ones” which includes all kinds of homosexual acts.
   
3. The third stage is when God gives human beings over “to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice”
   

I leave our readers to decide which stage we are in but we cannot ignore the fact that Britain and all the Western nations are immersed in an intense spiritual battle for their very souls, which will determine the history of humanity for the next 100 years or more.

Britain and all the Western nations are immersed in an intense spiritual battle for their very souls.

Answer to Prayer

I believe that it was in answer to prayer that God enabled the British people to vote to leave the secular humanist European Union. But the rich and powerful are combining with big businesses in a campaign to try any way they can to force Britain to reverse the decision – thus keeping us under the yoke of Brussels.

There are powerful forces in the media sponsored by big business feeding fake news and lies to the British public in a desperate attempt to keep us shackled to the EU. They say that our economy will collapse, whereas the reverse is more likely to be true! It is the profits and investments of the global conglomerates that may be hit by Brexit, but small businesses will be released from EU rules and regulations that inhibit their growth.
I believe that a time of great prosperity under the blessing of God awaits Britain if we can only shake ourselves free from the European Union.

A Prophetic Voice?

But why do we never hear a prophetic voice from the churches in Britain? Is it because the preachers don’t take the trouble to study what’s going on in the nation, or do they care so little about the word of God that they never apply the Gospel to current events? Why do we not hear the words of Amos thundering from every pulpit in the land, “Let justice roll down like a river and righteousness like a never-ending stream!” (Amos 5:24).

Surely it is time for Christians to wake up and recognise the severity of the great spiritual battle that is raging in the heavenlies and on earth as the forces of darkness seek to destroy our Judeo-Christian heritage.

Wake up, Bible-believing Christians! Speak up in the ‘silent’ churches! Come together in small groups to spread these things before the Lord and join the battle for truth before it is too late!

An extraordinary testimony of God’s kindness.

We live in a strange and worrying era, when the value of life is in deep recession.

On the one hand there is the so-called morning-after pill, an insurance against unwanted conception, and - worse - the escalating use of abortion to destroy unwanted, unborn children. On the other hand, at the other extreme we hear of new scientific ‘advances’ in the way eggs can be cultivated outside the womb for women who find difficulty in conception.

Add to this ever-increasing rates of family breakdown, the general acceptance that one’s gender (even that of a child) can be manipulated and re-configured, and the mounting pressure to legalise assisted suicide, and we begin to realise how far our society’s value of life is being eroded.

Sometimes I have wondered how the wastage of life might be made clearer to those blind to what they are doing. Perhaps someone could write a story that imagined the potential of lives lost in the womb, following the imagined life story of those who might have been born, grown up and contributed to our society, but who never made it past the start-line.

Could one illustrate this in a powerful enough way to touch a generation like, say, Uncle Tom’s Cabin challenged a whole nation to reconsider slavery and eventually reverse that tide of evil?

I don’t have the skill to write such a book, but recently I discovered something in the testimony of my own life that, at least for me, illustrated these things in a deep way.

A Blessed Childhood

My life has been wonderfully blessed. I grew up in the era immediately following the Second World War, conceived in 1945 and born in 1946. My earliest memories are of the hard winter of 1947, with its deep snow up to my waist, at a time when we had been temporarily housed with other families in a village in South Wales.

Sometimes I have wondered how the wastage of life might be made clearer to those blind to what they are doing.

My father returned from Belgium in 1946, was demobbed and resumed work as a plumber, enjoying plenty to do in those days of rebuilding a nation and building houses. My mother kept house and was always the anchor of our security as children (my older sister and I).

What followed was a blessed and stable childhood through the 1950s - the era of rationing and austerity but hope, strong families and supportive community, when Sundays were kept special, when there were few phones and few cars. That era lives with me to this day.

A Fruitful Life

I did well at school and was optimistic about my future career. When my father asked me if I would join him in his plumbing business, that he might write SF Denton and Son on the van, I rather bluntly turned him down, having plans to join the RAF.

I did indeed become an RAF pilot, followed by studying for a maths degree at Kings College Cambridge, followed by teaching Maths and Computer Science at Banbury School, and then Educational Research at the University of Oxford where I also picked up my DPhil in the study of the educational of able children. Since the mid-1980s I left all that to go into full-time Christian work, which has, since then, taken me all over the world. It has been a wonderful and fruitful life.

One thing that typified my life from as early as I can recall, was my commitment to serve God, which I brought to prayer every single night in my years of growing up. Much later, I recall a day when the Lord spoke to me on my way back home from a ministry meeting. I was recalling how blessed and encouraged my early life had been, when the question came into my mind: ‘You thought that was your parents encouraging you, didn’t you?’ “Yes,” said I. ‘Well, that was Me’, said God.

It was like a Bar Mitzvah experience at a time when perhaps the Lord wanted me to turn more fully to him as Father and recognise the quiet but significant role he had played in my life all through those blessed years of growing up. Amazing.

Searching for My True Father

Yet the story has become even more amazing recently, ever since a friend put together a genealogical tree for both sides of my family. I was quite pleased to discover a fairly normal set of ancestors from the working class – labourers, agricultural workers, domestic servants and so on - going back through the 19^th Century.

I recall a day when the Lord spoke to me, urging me to recognise the quiet but significant role he had played in my life through those blessed years of growing up.

At this time a thought came back to my mind that had, despite having wonderful loving parents, often posed a question during my early years: was my father really my father? It is remarkable what a DNA test can show, so I took up the offer of one towards the end of last year. The results confirmed my hunches and so began an incredible period of investigation to see if I could find my true father.

Amazingly, my DNA results strongly linked me paternally not to the Midlands where my supposed father came from, but to the USA.

Piecing together clues I picked up from other known relatives, I went looking on US genealogy trees for the person most likely to be my real father. I was looking for someone who would have been serving in the US forces, stationed in the UK near where my mother lived in 1945 with my baby sister, at a time when my presumed father was away serving in the RAF.

Surely that should have been like a needle in a haystack to find; but miraculously, with the help of an historical society, I was able to locate a man who ticked all those boxes. More than that - I have obtained a photograph of him and have discovered that he is still alive in the USA - a frail 96-year-old, but alive. I may yet have personal contact with him, though he will probably be quite surprised at my existence!

What Really Happened

The true story is that I descend from a Native American tribe in Mexico (perhaps the Pima tribe). In the days of immigration and of pioneering (including the California Gold Rush no doubt), beginning around 1800, an Italian went to Mexico and married a young Indian squaw (I imagine her living in a tepee) - and so the line from which my true father came was launched.

In 1942, when America entered the war, a young Italian with Native American roots enlisted and became one of those GIs who came to the UK with bars of chocolate for the children and nylons for the women. Amazingly, it was on the exact day that my deceased mother would have been 100 years old that I discovered this man’s name.

Despite finding him after all these years, I find myself not so much drawn to know my real father as being drawn closer to my heavenly Father.

History of the closing days of the war describe the way GIs linked up with local young women. During those uncertain days, my mother formed a temporary relationship and I was the unplanned result. Soon the GIs went home and eventually my (adopted) father came back from Belgium. It was all covered up and we got on with that life that turned out to be blessed.

I think about this, having complete forgiveness for my mother, and being aware that but for the events which took place, neither I, nor my own children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nor the consequences of my life (good or bad), would have happened.

In fact, despite finding him after all these years, I find myself not so much drawn to know my real father as being drawn closer to my heavenly Father.

A Father to the Fatherless

The point of describing all this is that, in raw terms, my origins were from the unwanted of the developing USA, descending from a ‘half-breed’ (as they would be called in the cowboy films), a nobody, then later born in sin, the unplanned and unwanted result of a temporary fling. An accident with a questionable background.

Yet, God did not leave me in my vulnerability. He put his mark on me even as I was a young child. As Psalm 68 says, he is a father to the fatherless and puts the isolated in families.

If I had been conceived today, I would very likely have been eradicated by the morning-after pill or through abortion.

I only boast about this to highlight what God has done with my life, for there has been some fruit, for example in the education of gifted children, the establishing of Bible colleges, participating in the eradication of polio from Morocco, to name a few highlights. For his glory it is important to see the potential in my life that God planned to use, and which he is still bringing to fulfilment.

My origins, in raw terms, are an accident with a questionable background. Yet, God did not leave me in my vulnerability.

God Values Life

This is a story with two-fold application. One is to highlight the utter waste of potential in our generation, when life is allocated such little value as to wipe it out before birth. My life is unique and colourful in its origins, but there are many such from our generation. There are many lives from the current generation who never had the chance to find God’s love or to fulfil their potential. They simply weren’t born.

The other is the way Almighty God cares for us when we ask him to help us. In an unseen, sometimes hardly perceptible way, God has been alongside me wonderfully all these years. He will do and is doing the same for others who reach out to him in hope and in growing faith.

God values life so much that he gave his life so that we might live and, as he said, that we might have life in all its fullness. How many of those children destroyed before birth might have grown to have their own testimony, we can only imagine. But here is one who could have been at the bottom of the pile, who might have been lost, but was spared for this life, shared in the work of God, and saved for eternal life.

That is my testimony – still developing and hopefully worth sharing. How about yours? It is the sum of our personal testimonies about what God has made of our lives that could be that ‘book’ I was imagining.

Yet our nation-builders chose a solid foundation!

In searching out a memorial plaque to a Jewish relative while spending time with family in the heart of London, I marvelled at the magnificent statues paying tribute to nation-builders who followed Christ.

Among them were Robert Raikes, William Tyndale and General Gordon of Khartoum – men who truly denied themselves as they took up their cross to follow Jesus; and in so doing left a legacy which no amount of this world’s wealth could ever match.

They had certainly taken to heart the Saviour’s warning, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?” along with his call to build on the rock of his words rather than on the sand without foundation (Mark 8:36; Matt 7:24-27).

True Heroes of the Faith

Robert Raikes was the founder of the Sunday School movement, through which generations of children were taught about the love of God through his one and only Son. Tragically, few attend these days and fewer still have any knowledge of God’s laws and commands; is it any wonder that we live in an increasingly lawless society?

William Tyndale was burnt at the stake for daring to translate the Bible into English nearly 500 years ago – and his dying prayer was that God would open the King’s eyes to its enduring truths! His prayer was answered; the Bible became the world’s best-seller and Britain became a great nation built upon God’s laws. Thankfully, our present Queen is already a follower of Jesus, as she makes quite clear in her annual Christmas messages. But it’s the eyes of many of her subjects that need to be opened.

Nation-builders like Raikes, Tyndale and Gordon truly denied themselves and took up their cross to follow Jesus, leaving behind an unmatched legacy.

General Gordon won many battles for Britain before losing his life in the defence of Khartoum. He declined both a title and financial reward from the British government, but after some persuasion accepted a gold medal inscribed with a record of his 33 military engagements. It became his most prized possession.

After his death in 1885, however, it could not be found. It was only later, when his diaries were unearthed, that it was discovered how, on hearing news of a severe famine, he had sent the medal to be melted down and used to buy bread for the poor. He had written in his diary, “The last earthly thing I had in this world that I valued I have given to the Lord Jesus Christ today.”¹

Gen. Gordon was a Christian who knew where his treasure lay. Are we as willing to heed Jesus’ teaching not to invest in this world’s treasures, but in the eternal kingdom where moths and vermin cannot destroy, nor thieves break in and steal (see Matt 6:19-21)?

God’s Allowance of Disaster

As I turned to peer through the trees of the Thames Embankment, I was impressed by our ultra-modern skyline with its strange but interesting shapes piercing the heady atmosphere of this bustling city. The pointed, pyramid-like structure of the Shard is uncomfortably close to what I imagine the Tower of Babel to have looked like. It certainly seems to echo the arrogant boast of the ancients about making a name for themselves with a tower that reaches the heavens (see Gen 11:1-9).

But how fragile this all is, for just a few miles west stands the blackened skeleton of the 24-storey Grenfell Tower, an ugly memorial to the 80 people who perished in the inferno there on 14 June – victims, it seems, of poor design and construction.

When New York’s 110-storey Twin Towers came crashing down at the hands of terrorists in 2001, we were understandably shocked at the depth of depravity shown by fanatical Islamists. But did we ask if God was perhaps using a ruthless people to bring us to our senses, as the Prophet Habakkuk discovered to his shock in ancient times?

Are we as willing to heed Jesus’ teaching not to invest in this world’s treasures, but in the eternal kingdom where moths cannot destroy, nor thieves steal?

Of course, I am in no way trying to justify the motivation of those who committed this atrocity, but the Twin Towers clearly represented the Western world’s focus on material wealth, and of its greed and avarice often at the expense of the poor and needy. Having said that, the perpetrators of that terrible disaster, in which some 3,000 perished, saw it more as an attack on the West in general, and Israel in particular. After all, New York is home to more Jews than any city in the world, including Tel Aviv!

Like the ruthless Babylonians of old, the terrorists hated the Jews above all. And the shocking thing was that God allowed the attack to happen, as he had done in Habakkuk’s day when the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were carried off into exile.

The Will to Fight

As we have turned our backs on the God who made Britain great, the prospect of being invaded by enemies forcing us to worship foreign gods is not far-fetched. To a certain extent, it has already happened. As Dr Clifford Hill made clear last week, Britain was only spared from Nazi invasion by a nationwide response to repeated calls for prayer from King George VI, the Queen’s father.

Have we the spine, or the will, to resist the invading forces of evil in the gathering gloom of politically-correct immorality now threatening our land? Or have we resisted God so long that we are no longer able to distinguish good from evil?

But if you still have (spiritual) ears to hear, God is concerned for your soul. It is the most precious thing you own. If you store up treasure on this earth, who will have it when you’re gone?

I am not only addressing those on the fringe of church life, or even outside of it altogether. There are many Christians who spend far too much time concerned for the things of this world rather than pointing men and women to Christ, who alone can satisfy our souls. The cross is the way to life. Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no-one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). There is no other way to eternal life. Preach the cross; preach Jesus. Win souls for Him!

References

1 Gordon, S. Cuckoos in the Nest. Christian Year Publications, p123.

Far from it – it is time to reclaim our Christian heritage.

One unexpected fallout of the General Election has been the question about how Christians can, without compromise, serve in Parliament.

With the conservative, Protestant DUP party potentially entering Government with an influence far beyond their small number of ten MPs and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Tim Farron, resigning so as not to compromise his faith, much is being said. But can we not also discern the voice of God in all this?

Actually, there is a clear answer to this question that is easily lost in our peer-pressured, politically correct, compromising society. In a nutshell, true Christianity should be at the heart of the government of the UK, with no divide between politics and Christianity.

Sworn Duty

We do not have a written constitution, such as in the USA. If we did, the clear role of Government would be to interpret and defend the constitution. What we have, however, is potentially better.

Over many centuries, since the days of Alfred the Great, our four-nation Union has developed a balance of laws and customs that define our constitutional framework of Monarchy, Church and Government. This framework is intended to be reflected in our laws, education, finance and business structures.

When MPs enter Parliament they are required to take an oath or affirmation of allegiance, known as ‘swearing in’. The exact wording can be found here.

The oath or affirmation is either in the name of Almighty God (the oath) or a statement of honour (the affirmation) to “be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law.”

True Christianity should be at the heart of the government of the UK.

When we consider the constitutional position that is defined by the Monarch’s own Coronation Oath, surely the allegiance declared by MPs is to uphold what the Monarch stands for. If she had not taken the Oath she would not, by law, have been crowned Queen – that is how important this is. As we have said in other articles in Prophecy Today, central to the Coronation Oath is the commitment “to the utmost of power to maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel” (for the wording of the entire Oath click here).

In short, the duty of every member of the Lords and Commons is to test every aspect of UK governance against the Queen’s commitment before God “to the utmost of power to maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel”! Every successive Government must interpret our constitutional position and every MP must measure what he or she is promising when standing for and taking office, against this one benchmark: that by law Britain is a Christian nation and the MPs’ vow is to uphold this position!

Far from Christian MPs struggling over conscience issues to serve in Parliament, the entire conscience of the nation should be measured by the biblical interpretation of all that is done in both Houses. This is especially so since the Monarch’s power has been restricted to a largely advisory capacity and, at the strongest (apart from the power she has over her own hand to sign in new laws!), to warning the Prime Minister during their regular meetings.

Tim Farron: A Case in Point

Tim Farron. See Photo Credits.

Obviously, however, for the past 50 years the UK has been subjected to a powerful process of secularisation which has undermined our biblical heritage.

Look at the issue of Tim Farron. When he was asked whether or not homosexual sex acts were sinful he should have said “yes they are sinful” – and so should all MPs, not based on their own views or party lines, but based on clear interpretation of biblical principles into all matters of governance. This is the responsibility MPs have taken under oath - not a matter of personal opinion.

The allegiance sworn by MPs is to uphold what the Monarch stands for – that which she promised in her Coronation Oath.

It is up to the individual who performs such acts of sexuality to face up to Almighty God, who has declared his principles clearly through his word, but is also full of grace for any repentant sinner. It is for politicians to ensure that laws are in place which protect the vulnerable in society and to bring in educational strategies that help our children to have a conscience framed on biblical principles.

Anything less is a breaking of our constitutional position made before Almighty God. Is it any wonder, with successive governments failing in their oaths and commitments to God, that we are facing the situation in our nation where God’s hand of protection is being withdrawn, with horrendous and escalating consequences?

Defining Our National Character

In the House of Lords there are 26 bishops, including the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. They are termed the ‘Lords Spiritual’. It is their right to serve and their role to bring biblical insight to bear on every issue before them. This is where we must hear a clear declaration and reminder of the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel, to help all other Members of Parliament be clear on direction.

Many non-conformists in the UK may have long since ceased to think that the Christian faith can be central to the political workings of the nation, but until the Coronation Oath itself is liberalised, this is not so.

Until that time, by law and custom, politics and the Christian faith (albeit expressed chiefly through the Established Church) should be seamlessly connected in the governance of our nation. Christianity should define the character of the United Kingdom. God knows this and that is what he expects – no less. Every Government bill, every debate in the parliamentary chambers, every discussion between Prime Minister and Monarch, every prayer meeting in Parliament, should be centred on interpreting biblical principles accurately into the life of the nation.

Our Responsibility

This is why we have 26 bishops in the House of Lords. They are there to declare the word of the Lord and to give biblical advice to MPs as they make the laws of the land. But do we ever hear the word of the Lord declared by any of the bishops? It is so rare that it would no doubt be headline news in the media!

Until the Coronation Oath itself is liberalised, the Christian faith should be central to the political workings of the nation.

If the Church is silent on the great issues of the day, how can we expect MPs to know the standards of righteousness required to conform to biblical teaching? In ancient Israel the Lord held the religious leaders responsible for the state of the nation. “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock” (Ezek 34:10).

We all have a responsibility to pray for those in authority and in a democracy we have the right and the ability to make our views known to our representatives in Parliament. The whole Church, therefore, not just the bishops, shares the responsibility for the state of the nation. This is a sobering thought! Are we, individually, doing all we can to make the word of the Lord heard in the United Kingdom?

This is not a call for some dry religiosity to descend on our nation, but for us to return to God so that he will protect us in all our ways, restoring a tangible peace and security to the UK. Herein is our prosperity and our commission to serve one another. Herein is the protection of our borders, our care for the elderly and vulnerable, the future and hope for our children - and principles whereby we can avert the tragedies that are currently besetting us.

Pippa Smith reviews ‘The Evil That Men Do’ by Marcus Paul (Sacristy Press, 2016).

This is a timely and scholarly book which reminds us of the significance and importance of our Christian heritage. In his comments, the Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, said, “It is always vital to check our assumptions about historical judgements – not least in the twenty-first-century west. Marcus Paul invites us to correct our memory and to look afresh at assumptions about religion in general and Christianity in particular. Read it and be challenged.”

As the author says, “every healthy society has needed its prophetic figures who will stand out against the prevailing corruption of the time and be prepared to pay the consequences.”

We seem to be living in such times; Christians are facing great injustices, not only around the world but here and now in our own country. This is compounded by modern life, as he so rightly says: “our opinions are formed en masse by an astonishingly small number of TV, press and internet journalists and editors.”

What Christianity Has Done for Us

It is more important than ever that we should not forget what Christianity has given us, through the education and culture bequeathed to us by monasticism, missionary work, the preaching of John Wesley (which prevented us following bloody revolution) and the more recent social campaigns of Wilberforce and others.

It is more important than ever that we should not forget what Christianity has given us.

Paul takes his narrative not only from serious historians but from poets, philosophers, novelists and others – those who were contemporary with the events which today are placed so often under a negative spotlight. He draws out where and why the Church really did fail in following the teaching of Christ and his apostles, and reminds us that there are many areas today in which there is still considerable room for improvement. These sincere calls for reflection mark the author’s commitment to an improved debate which is both honest and self-critical.

Defending the Church

How often have we heard the mantra, ‘I might consider Christianity if the Church had not done so many bad things.’ In this eloquent, historically informative and most readable of books lies the answer for Christians, to such a concern. I hope and pray it will be read widely by those of faith and none, because it lights the path to understanding. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

‘The Evil That Men Do: Faith, Injustice and the Church’ (266 pages, paperback) is available from the publisher for £10.99 + P&P.

How do we re-think 'church' in the light of our Hebraic roots?

Last week we considered how Christianity is a communal faith as well as an individual walk with God, and looked at how the Christian Church over the centuries has detached itself from Hebraic ideas of communal living.

This week, we offer some suggestions for re-discovering these ideas, all within a framework of respecting God’s design for local church authority.

Transforming from Within

A mistake made by many of us who are zealous to restore the Hebraic heritage of the Christian Church is to consider nothing of value in existing fellowships. Yet, many fellowships are strong in the Holy Spirit, strong in Bible study and prayer, build up the faith of individuals and families, practise baptism, centre on the Lord’s Supper and understand God’s purposes for Israel.

It takes a prophetic word to open people’s eyes of understanding to any (perhaps minor) changes that would strengthen links to the First Century Church – maybe linking with Messianic communities or allowing the Lord to prune away any dry traditions. It is up to the elders of these local church communities to begin to pray for change from within.

Respecting Authority in the Local Community

In his dealings with the religious leaders of his day, Yeshua taught that it is right to acknowledge authority given by God to teach and interpret Torah (Matt 23:3). In our day it is the same. Those of us who have insights into matters of restoration cannot impose our wills and over-ride the authority of local Christian communities.

We must also be careful about starting new ventures that draw believers away to new congregations, however well-meant our intentions. All must be of the Lord’s leading.

A mistake made by many of us who are zealous to restore the Church’s Hebraic heritage is to consider nothing of value in existing fellowships.

If the Lord himself chooses to take authority away from some Church leaders (Rom 11:21) he alone can do it. Thus any restoration of Hebraic foundations of the Church must be through existing authority structures. In considering this, the responsibility of Bible teachers must be considered seriously (James 3:1).

If some of us are called to start again and form new communities, we must be careful of our witness to others. How will we be perceived? Going overboard into Jewishness does not usually help, but we will surely be helpful to others if we are in good balance regarding Israel and seen as a caring community, building families and clearly fulfilling a biblical lifestyle.

We should also be discovering what it means to provoke Israel to jealousy, not anger (Rom 11:14, 18).

Lessons from the Synagogue?

The development of the Synagogue as a place of meeting in the local community is not prescribed biblically. It was in response to a need in local communities, especially after the loss of the Temple. There is a risk, therefore, of over-stating how far Christian communities should draw community models from the Synagogue.

Nevertheless, there may be lessons to learn especially since, through the Synagogue, Jewish communities have found collective strength.

Any restoration of Hebraic foundations of the Church must respect existing authority structures.

Synagogues perform several functions. They are a social centre as well as a worship centre. They illustrate the importance of the local community, especially in strengthening families. The Synagogue is a Beit Tefillah (House of Prayer). They also have an excellent educational model based on the Beit Midrash (House of Study), illustrating how study can be brought into the centre of the local Christian community.

Study is central to building up the local community based on the idea of searching the Scriptures and the Yeshiva, rather than the more academic approach of many Christian Bible schools.

Some Bible teachers might consider studying and teaching Hebrew, the foundational language of Scripture. Are we students of the entire Bible in balance? Do we know how to study the New Covenant in relationship with the Old Covenant, valuing all of biblical history and revelation fulfilled and properly interpreted through the sacrificial death of Yeshua HaMashiach?

The Feasts of the Lord

Christian communities adopted a form of the three main Feasts of the Lord (Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot became Easter, Pentecost and Harvest festivals) but dates changed and some syncretism to pagan and Roman traditions entered in, which is becoming more and more a concern as the years go by. These Feasts, and the Sabbath, are all to be focussed on Yeshua.

Nevertheless, Yeshua brought fulfilment, not replacement. Within the authority structure of local Churches, are we entering the season when Christian festivals should be re-aligned with their biblical roots? One word of warning: it is no use forcing the pace on this because this can result in no spiritual life, despite our best efforts. The principal of Romans 14:5 is paramount in all things – “everyone must be convinced in their own mind.”

Are we entering the season when Christian festivals should be re-aligned with their biblical roots?

Torah and Halakhah

We have considered these things in relation to a personal walk with God. When it comes to family and community there are some issues that must be decided for the group as a whole.

Decisions as to which day to meet for corporate worship, for example, require an authoritative decision for the entire community. How to balance personal freedom to walk with God with corporate structure is a matter for much sensitivity. Authority in the local community is a necessary thing, and centralised control from outside the local community should be treated with caution.

We have discussed the way Torah is a matter of the heart and we are not to bring ourselves into bondage to ritual or put ourselves under the yoke of the law (i.e. ritual halakhah) (Gal 2:4, 3:10-14). Nevertheless, we are wise to recognise the protection that laws founded on the Bible have brought, even to nations. Outside of faith in Yeshua and the life of the Spirit, we must be able to interpret the Bible into community and national life.

The Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) and the letter sent to the new congregations of the day can be a new starting point for us to re-consider how the worldwide community of faith was intended to spread and grow, and for finding the balance of halakhah and Torah for the New Covenant community.

It is no use forcing the pace on the communal rediscovery of our Hebraic roots, because this will not result in spiritual life, despite our best efforts.

Prayer for Israel

A key result of our return to a balanced Hebraic lifestyle is an understanding of God’s continuing covenant promises to Israel as a whole.

We must be careful to understand that our New Covenant relationship is with Messianic Jews who live by faith in Yeshua. But nevertheless, in balance, our prayers and concern are also to understand what God is still doing in Israel. This will also help us to understand the times in which we live as the entire world moves towards its prophetic conclusion.

Personal Testimony from Zimbabwe

The above may be a limited list of points for consideration in strengthening our communities for the times ahead. There is considerable room for taking counsel together over the coming days.

I would like to end with a word of testimony. Some years ago a group of us brought together a conference in Israel to look afresh at Acts 15. This had a limited success in raising key issues, though now I believe this discussion needs to take place more in local communities than I had previously thought, lest we create yet another central organisation.

Some months prior to the meeting in a Moshav on the outskirts of Jerusalem we held a preliminary consultation in Zimbabwe, drawing together representatives from a number of African countries.

At the end of the last day of this meeting we set ourselves the task, using a white-board, to draw up a list of relevant topics for consideration in our communities. The list went on - the details are not clear in my memory so much as what happened during this time of consultation.

A key result of our return to a balanced Hebraic lifestyle is an understanding of God’s continuing covenant promises to Israel as a whole.

It was perhaps simply the activity of beginning to consider the many issues together that pleased the Lord. Intercessory prayer had supported us throughout our meeting and perhaps this too pleased the Lord. Quite unexpectedly, as our long list was being compiled, the Holy Spirit chose to fill the room and bring a holy stillness. Some said they had never before experienced the presence of the Lord in that way through many years of ministry. We came out with no formula to pass on to others concerning how to restore the Hebraic foundations of our faith in local communities, but certainly we had the assurance that what we were doing was pleasing to the Lord.

It is surely time for Christians fellowships to take seriously the fact that this is the Lord’s time for restoration. Some may force the pace, and come out with something looking more traditionally Jewish than biblically Hebraic, but that should not stop us from seeking the Lord for ourselves on this matter. I think there will be quite a change in the next few years but nevertheless, this should happen in a gradual, prayerful, Spirit-guided way.

Next time: Guard against deception

This week, Paul Luckraft reviews three more short booklets from Christian Friends of Israel.

Patterns and Principles of Jewish Prayer (Dr Dwight Pryor, 16 pages, available from CFI for £2)

This brief booklet is adapted from a lecture given by Dr Pryor in 1993. Its aim is spiritual, namely to encourage us to pray more frequently and with greater focus, rather than academic, to provide us with interesting information.

Some time is spent discussing our Hebrew heritage and what constitutes a Hebraic perspective before Pryor settles to his main theme, asserting that "perhaps no greater treasure has been bestowed on us than the prayer life of Israel" (p4). He encourages us to see how our Christian worship can draw deeply from the ancient patterns and principles of Jewish prayer and worship in the synagogue.

Pryor goes on to examine the Siddur, the Jewish Prayer Book and common guide to prayer in the time of Jesus, which contained many beautiful prayers and blessings covering all elements of life, individual and communal. We are reminded that Jesus would have known and used these ancient prayers. Pryor suggests that the charm of the Siddur is that it "allows us to 'feel' Judaism, including the Jewish spirituality that so much a part of Jesus' world" (p8).

Finally, the principles of Jewish prayer are outlined, including that prayer is essentially an outpouring of the soul and that its main focus is the Kingdom of God. Jewish prayer was a daily duty but it had to go beyond mere ritual; it had to have a sense of devotion or direction (kavannah) which would create an intensity and undivided attention upon the One being prayed to. The use of the prayer shawl and the physical activity of repeated bowing or swaying are explained within this context.

Overall, this short account achieves its aim and may encourage those who want to know more to seek out other books on this theme.

Jesus the Rabbi, Was He Orthodox? (David Bivin, 13 pages, available from CFI for £2)

This booklet is also based on a talk, one given in Jerusalem in 1987. The title is deliberately framed as a question but it seems to be used as a vehicle to discuss more whether Jesus was observant or orthodox as a Jew, rather than just as a rabbi. In fact, information about being a rabbi is rather sparse. It is soon shown that Jesus was recognised as a rabbi by many different people but that this was often purely a courtesy title based upon the Hebrew 'rav' meaning 'great'.

As for Jesus' teaching methods, Bivin correctly asserts that "the most convincing proof that Jesus was a practising rabbi was his style of teaching" and that "he used the same method of instruction that was characteristic of the other rabbis of his day" (p4), However, further discussion is restricted to his use of parables, and only a few lines at that.

Anyone wanting more on the theme of rabbi will have to look elsewhere, but this booklet does provide interesting information on the Jewishness of Jesus, and could be a useful introduction for those yet to begin to explore the Jewish background of Christianity.

The Synagogue in the Time of Jesus (Derek White, 34 pages, available from CFI for £3)

This is an excellent study booklet full of fascinating details that every Christian would benefit from knowing. Once again, it was originally given as a talk (in 2004), but this time it was either a very long session or it was extended later when put into written form, being twice as long as similar booklets in this series, including four pages of black-and-white pictures and eight pages of endnotes and sources.

After a brief account of the development of the synagogue and its function in the time of Jesus, seven topics are covered starting with the origin of the synagogue and a discussion of where a synagogue would be built. We then learn about its nature and function, and the role of women in the 1st Century synagogue, as well as the roles of its various officers.

Then follows a lengthy section on its liturgy, which includes more on Jewish prayers (see above), and finally an intriguing brief account of 'the Christian synagogue'. For those not aware of how the early Church followed the synagogue pattern, here are important insights into how Christian worship meetings had some strong parallels with the existing Jewish liturgy.

This very thorough and well-written booklet makes an important contribution to showing how much the roots of Christianity are firmly embedded in its Hebraic heritage. Highly commended.

CFI has a large range of booklets on a variety of subjects – click here to browse their selection.