An important aspect of the prophet's ministry is that of warning people to turn from their rebellious ways and to return to God in repentance and obedience.

The word of God teaches us that, "We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way" (Isa 53:6). Here is a characteristic shared by every member of the human family. We may differ as to age, sex, colour, race and nationality, but all have this in common: we have strayed from the right path and have obstinately chosen to go our own way and to do our own thing.

An important aspect of the prophet's ministry, not only in Old and New Testament times but also today, is that of warning people to turn from their rebellious ways and to return to God at a level of repentance that leads to future obedience.

The Sending of Prophets

"Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, 'Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions'..." (Jer 35:15). Their message was, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength" (Isa 30:15 RSV). The NIV translates the Hebrew word shuvah, which means 'to turn back', as 'repentance'. Constantly the prophets call for God's people to return to Yahweh. "Come, let us return to the Lord...Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God...Return to me with all your heart...Take words with you and return to the Lord...Return to me and I will return to you" (Hos 6:1, 14:1-2; Joel 2:12-13; Mal 3:7).

The Blessings Promised to Those Who Return

The first blessing was that of forgiveness. "Let the wicked forsake his way...let him turn to the Lord, and he will have rnercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon" (Isa 55:7). "I have swept away your offences like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you" (Isa 44:22).

As well as pardon for the past the people were promised a new beginning. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you...and move you...to keep my laws" (Ezek 36:26-27). "I will give them a heart to know me...they will be my people...for they will return to me with all their heart" (Jer 24:7).

Those who return to the Lord are promised many blessings, including forgiveness and a new beginning.

They would be brought back to inherit the land. "I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up...for they will return to me with all their heart" (Jer 24:6-7). They would enjoy material blessings, as Moses had promised to God's people: "All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God" (Deut 28:1-12). "'Test me in this', says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the flood-gates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it'" (Mal 3:10).

Disasters Threatening Those Who Turn from God

The prophets of the Bible have no hesitation in believing and proclaiming that God is behind all things that happen, including unpleasant and frightening events: "I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things" (Isa 45:7). Jeremiah announces that disaster is on its way and that it behoves God's people to turn from their evil ways: "This is what the Lord says: 'Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways...'" (Jer 18:11). When Baruch, Jeremiah's assistant, wrote a fresh scroll to replace the one King Jehoiakim had burnt, all the threats of coming disaster were repeated along with "many similar words..." (Jer 36:32).

According to the story of Jonah, a threatened disaster was averted when men repented. "When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened" (Jonah 3:10). The opposite was the case in the time of Isaiah. In his ninth and tenth chapters is a phrase that repeats four times: "For all this his anger is not turned away, his arm is still upraised" (Isa 9:12, 9:17, 9:21, 10:4). In the Good News Bible this passage reads, "Yet even so the Lord's anger is not ended; his hand is still stretched out to punish."

When men do not respond to disaster, the result can be only that greater disaster will come upon them. This is surely a salutary thought for us as we think back over the series of disasters we have witnessed or experienced in Britain during recent times.

Those who refuse to turn bring disaster upon themselves - and when they do not respond to this, the result can only be greater disaster.

Another aspect of the prophets' ministry is to draw their listeners' attention to crises that have occurred. The book of Amos contains a striking example of such action. In chapter 4 (verses 6-11) he reminds them of the disasters that had occurred. These included famine, drought, blight, locusts, plague, war and raging fire. One recurrent phrase in these verses sounds like a death-knell: "'Yet you have not returned to me', declares the Lord." God does not want to have to bring ever more serious disasters - that is not his nature or desire - but it may become inevitable, "You crushed them but they refused correction They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent" (Jer 5:3).

Why Do People Turn from God?

1. Because they do not know God's word.

Jeremiah writes of the people and their leaders, "These are only the poor, they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God. So I will go to the leaders and speak to them; surely they know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God. But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke" (Jer 5:4-5). It is a very sad situation when the ordinary people who do not know God's law receive no direction or correction from their leaders because they have rejected the revealed word of God. Like so many today, they are left with only the unsure ground of situation ethics as the nations plunge further and further into moral chaos.

2. Because they listen to false prophets.

"Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you, they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds..." As a result of this error, "From the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land" (Jer 23:15-16). How sad that when the ministry of the prophet was so needed, as in Jerusalem then and in our situation today, we are confronted by so-called prophets who have not heard from God at all, but speak forth their own dreams and delusions. "...prophets who prophesy the delusions of their own minds...[they] prophesy false dreams...and lead my people astray with their reckless lies..." (Jer 23:26, 23:32).

It is of vital importance today that the stream of prophecy is kept clear by careful observance of the scriptural rules laid down for us in the New Testament. If we tolerate human traditions and unscriptural practices, we may lose the effective working of a very precious and necessary gift.

It is a sad situation when ordinary people who do not know God's law receive no direction or correction from their leaders, because they too have rejected the revealed word of God.

3. Because they fail to learn from the mistakes of others.

In the time of King Josiah, the prophet Jeremiah received a word from the Lord condemning Judah for copying the behaviour of her 'adulterous sister' Israel (Jer 3:6-10). "I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no tear she also went out and committed adultery" (Jer 3:8). We see many examples of wrong behaviour, especially in the area of sexual morality. Sadly, some of these have been within the Christian church; sadder still, a few have been among its leaders.

We need prophets today who are not afraid to remind God's people of the standards laid down in his word. But at all times they should avoid that judgmental and critical spirit which hurts yet more and condemns. "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted" (Gal 6:1).

The Folly of Not Returning to God

According to one of the Church Fathers, "Outside of God there is nothing but death." Therefore, the only sensible thing for anyone to do is to return to God. Ezekiel is feeling the urgency of the matter when he cries out, "Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezek 33:11). He makes it clear that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked rather "...am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?"

Today's prophets need to stress the unrelieved awfulness of living or dying without God and consequently the stupidity of concentrating all our efforts on amassing this world's goods arid striving for its fame Jesus was speaking very much to the point when he said of the rich man, in his story, "You fool!" (Luke 12:20).

Today's prophets need to stress the unrelieved awfulness and folly of living or dying without God.

The Blessedness of Turning Back to God

God is holy, and he is a God of justice and judgment. But Scripture teaches that judgment is his "strange work...his alien task" (Isa 28:21). There is no doubt that in this injunction he is providing an example to prophets. Justice and judgment must have their rightful place in the ministry of today's prophets. "If I have the gift of prophecy...but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Cor 13:2). In Jesus' greatest story we see an example of the love that should characterise all his followers. Whatever they have done in the past, "Let's celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found" (Luke 15:24).

The Reward for the Prophets Who Turn Men to Righteousness

"Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens and those who lead [RSV 'turn'] many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever" (Rev 12:3). It is true that "we all like sheep have gone astray" (Isa 53:6). We all have an inborn determination to do what we want to do. Sadly, Scripture points out that "there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death" (Prov 14:12).

We did not find the right road by our own cleverness but by the grace and mercy of God. Now we in turn must share what we have experienced. It is just such prophets who will shine, because they have turned others from their sins and have played some part in returning them to the Father and to home.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 6 No 5, September/October 1990.

"If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith" (Romans 12:6)

In this series on Spiritual Gifts listed in the New Testament, Monica Hill turns from her overview of the various gifts to looking at each of the Gifts listed in Romans 12 in turn.
The first of the gifts mentioned in Romans 12 – prophecy - is mentioned in three of the lists given by Paul - Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. Although they all have the same definition of prophecy, there is a distinction between each of them.

In Romans 12, prophecy is one of the natural gifts and is often equated with a good speaker who is able to expound the word of God so that others can understand it and benefit from it. Although this can be an intellectual exercise it is different from the Ministry of the Prophet (Ephesians 4) and the Manifestation (1 Cor 12) and is easily recognised when it 'has an anointing'.

The Romans passage wisely adds the condition that turns good speaking into prophetic proclamation: "in accordance with your faith". This gives the glory to God and follows up the invocation "do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you" (12:3).

There is the lovely story in Acts 24 of this potential gift recognised in Apollos by Aquila and Priscilla:

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures...He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. (Acts 24:24-26)

Apollos became one of the 'anointed preachers' who could draw great crowds to hear the Gospel.

Defining Prophecy

In order to find the biblical definition of prophecy we have to go right back to the time of Moses. In Exodus 3, Moses argues with God after receiving the command to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. In the following chapter he pleads that he is not eloquent and asks God to send someone else.

God then makes a special arrangement whereby God would speak to Moses, Moses would speak to Aaron, and Aaron would speak to the people. "It will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him" (Ex 4:16). This gives us the definition of a prophet as the mouthpiece of God.

In Exodus, we find the definition of a prophet as the mouthpiece of God."

Exercising the Gift

Moses said "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!" (Num 11:29). This appears straightforward, but we need to put this desire of Moses into context. During the 40 years of Israel's travel through the wilderness, life was not easy and on this occasion the people had become very rebellious and were blaming Moses for bringing them out of Egypt.

When Moses complained to the Lord that he could not cope, the Lord rebuked him saying "Is the Lord's arm too short? [The Amplified Version reads "do you think the Lord's ability and power is thwarted and inadequate?"] Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you."

Moses was told to bring together 70 of the elders of Israel into the 'Tent of Meeting' where worship took place. God said:

I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone (Num 11:17).

When the Spirit came upon them they prophesied, or as the Amplified version says "they sounded forth the praises of God and declared His will". Another interesting point is that the two men who had stayed in the camp also prophesied. Although this seemed outrageous to Joshua, Moses replied "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!"

Being able to celebrate the Lord's presence with others who have also caught the vision and are really sounding forth praises of God and declaring his will is a wonderful, exhilarating experience for all concerned. This is the outpouring of the Spirit foretold in Joel 2 which was fulfilled at Pentecost:

In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

The Acts version of the record from Pentecost adds the last four words to Joel's prophecy, "and they shall prophesy" to emphasise their importance. This means that every believer, baptised in the Spirit, is potentially able to prophesy. This is true of men and women, young and old, rich and poor.

Every believer, baptised in the Spirit, is potentially able to prophesy."

Old Testament Prophets

Today we often think of the prophetic gift as being relevant more to the Old Testament when the role of the prophets was greatly revered. They were individuals who were so in tune with God that they understood and knew what God wanted to say to his people. This has provided the basis of the teaching in the New Testament.

The task of the Prophets then (both those whose words have been recorded as well as those who we only know their names) was to bring the word of the Lord which was living in them to the nation. God used them to reveal his nature and purposes so that Israel would understand the God who had established a covenant relationship with them through their forefathers thus preparing them to be "a light unto the Gentiles"; a role which was eventually personified in Messiah Jesus.

New Testament Prophets

The prophetic role today is still to bring knowledge and understanding and to reveal the nature and purposes of God through the church to the world. Moses' words "I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!" is carried out most effectively when it creates a mature body of believers who can relate their faith to everyday life.

In this way they can present a united front to the world with a powerful spirit-filled anointing upon their works of service, which glorifies Jesus and causes multitudes to want to know him and find that their lives are transformed by God.

What is the law of God and how does it relate to prophecy? Edmund Heddle continues his series by unpacking this key topic...

Prophets are people with standards. They believe that certain standards of belief and behaviour have been laid down by Almighty God; standards which they, like the rest of mankind, are duty bound to live up to.

However, as prophets, they have the added responsibility of upholding these standards against a background of universal human rebellion by urging everyone, irrespective of their power or position, to full obedience.

In other words, a prophet is a person commissioned by God to make plain what his laws are, in order that people may comply with his requirements and so escape the otherwise grave consequences of disobedience.

Against a background of human rebellion, prophets have the responsibility to uphold God's standards of belief and behaviour and urge others to do the same."

Prophets' Warning

There is clear evidence from the Old Testament that both rulers and their people were warned by prophets sent by God to obey the laws they had received from Moses.

The prophet Ahijah warned King Jeroboam against following Solomon's bad example and urged him to obey God's laws and to keep his commandments (1 Kings 11:30-38). Another prophet, Azariah, encouraged King Asa to turn from idolatry and to start observing God's law, after a lapse of many years (2 Chron 15:1-15).

A summary passage following Israel's being sent away into exile says:

Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and by every seer, saying: Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets (2 Kings 17:13)

Another passage relates a similar situation when, years later, Judah was also taken away into captivity (Jer 25:4-6).

God's Concern

Jeremiah points out that God's intention in sending prophetic warnings was for their good, that "it might be well with them" (Jer 7:23). That such obedience would be "for their own good, and the good of their children after them" (Jer 32:39). The measure of God's concern is shown in an oft-repeated phrase which occurs nine times in Jeremiah (7:13; 7:25-26; 11:7-8; 25:3-¬4; 26:4-6; 29:19; 32:33; 35:14-15; 44:4): "Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them."

The King James translation preserves the picturesque quality of the phrase by rendering it 'rising up early and sending' (that is, rising up early and speaking/protesting/teaching). This is an attempt to render a Hebrew verb shakam, which means 'to incline the shoulder to take a burden, to load a burden on the back of a man or a beast': because this would be done in the early morning at the beginning of the day's work, it took to itself the significance of 'starting early in the morning'.

Many times in Jeremiah the verb 'shakam' is used: it is a verb which paints a beautiful picture of God getting up early in the morning and taking great care to dispatch his servants on their mission"

This beautiful picture of God getting up early to ensure that his prophets were dispatched on their mission of mercy to his people is not quite so striking when this word is rendered by 'persistently' (RSV), 'day after day, again and again' (NIV) or by 'eagerly and earnestly' (Moffatt). Prophets today need a similar dedication if they are to save others, whether individuals or communities, from the consequences of breaking God's laws. For if they allow people to go on despising God's laws this will inevitably result in a situation for which there is 'no remedy' (2 Chron 36:15-16).

God's Law Different

The Roman empire was held together not primarily by its Emperor as dictator, but by Roman law, that 'lex' which was so highly regarded by all true Roman citizens. But when we speak of the law of Moses, we are referring to something different. It is true that Roman law originally grew out of Roman religion. It was believed that the founders of the Roman state had entered into a pact with certain gods and that they would guard Rome, provided the lex was observed.

But by New Testament times, the religion of Rome had lost its hold on educated men and the lex was no longer vitally connected with religion. The Law of Moses, in contrast, was unchangeably connected with the worship of the one true God.

The Hebrew 'Torah'

The Hebrew word standing for God's law is 'Torah'. The root of this word is the Hebrew word to 'teach' which is a form of the verb 'to shoot', the idea being that a man might shoot an arrow to show direction. This is the word used for the Law of Moses and in contrast with the Roman lex, it conveys the idea of instruction, rather than legalism (the word 'legalism' is connected with 'lex').

At the heart of God's law is not legalism, but principles, revelation and words to govern a personal relationship"

The 'Torah' contains instruction, revelation and 'words', an element not to be found in any modern law book. The Ten Commandments were originally called 'These words' (Deut 5:22). Together these items give the principles that govern Israel's covenant relationship with Jehovah God and they imply a personal relationship between the teacher and the taught.

God's 'Segullah'

The introduction to God's law is a reminder of what he had done to bring Israel into existence as a nation. It was because of what he had done for Israel first that she in turn must obey his commands as the only fitting response to such undeserved kindness:

You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples... (Ex 19:4-5); literally, you shall be my 'segullah'.

George Knight in his book Law and Grace explains the meaning of segullah: "In olden days a king was the ultimate owner of everything in the land he ruled. He owned every building, every farm...But that kind of 'owning' could give him little personal satisfaction. Consequently in his palace he kept a treasure chest of his 'very own', in which he delighted to store the precious stones and objets d'art which he loved to handle. This treasure box was his 'segullah'. The whole object of God's law is that Israel might be his 'segullah'. All nations belonged to him, but Israel was to be his peculiar treasure (compare 1 Peter 1:9). How strangely does the attitude of the Pharisees of Jesus' day contrast with all this when they tried to deduce from God's law regulations to suit every possible contingency in human life."

Ceremonial Law

We are learning that the voice of the true prophet is always the voice of the law of God, once for all declared through Moses. What then of those passages in the Old Testament where the prophets appear to reject the ceremonial system of blood sacrifices, preferring obedience to ceremony? "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Sam 15:22). "I desire steadfast love, not sacrifice" (Hos 6:6). "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord... I do not delight in the blood of bulls...incense is an abomination to me...your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates" (Isa 1:11, 13-14).

These and other verses like them may seem to indicate a total rejection of religious ceremony on the part of the prophets. In the Isaiah passage the attack on the offering of sacrifices is very strong, but it is no stronger than the prophet's attack on the Sabbath (v13) and on prayer (v15). It cannot be that the prophet is repudiating the Sabbath or prayer. Rather he is saying that unless sacrifice is the expression of the heart's devotion of the worshipper it is of itself not only useless, but very offensive to the Almighty. The keeping of the Sabbath and the offering of prayer is also an offence if it is a cover up for sinful deeds and selfish ways.

Prophetic Theology

In their understanding of God and his ways, the prophets built on the earlier revelation given to Moses and did not question it. Peter Southwell in his book Prophecy (p63) says:

Prophetic theology is parasitic, it stood upon the shoulders of its predecessors and needed the older traditions for its sustenance.

However, having granted that the theology of the prophets is firmly based on the Law of Moses, they did not stop there but went on to speak of a coming king, a suffering servant, a new covenant, an abundant outpouring of God's Spirit and a glorious new age, when nature, as well as people would be totally renewed. They moved on from a law inscribed on tablets of stone to the law of God written in the hearts of His people.

The prophets' theology was firmly based on the Law of Moses; from here they spoke of a coming king, a new covenant, an abundant outpouring of God's Spirit and a glorious new age."

And when eventually Jesus came in fulfilment of the promises they had unveiled, he declared that the teaching of law and prophets would not be abolished - both were equally important and he would himself fulfil both (Matt 5:17). Prophets today must remember that they are responsible to proclaim the total Lord Jesus, who fulfils all that the law and the prophets have said about him.

Prophetic Continuity

As JA Motyer has pointed out in the New Bible Dictionary (p1045):

Prophets and prophecy form the greatest line of continuity between the Old and New Testaments. The prophetic line did not end with Malachi, so to speak, but with John the Baptist. This is the express teaching of our Lord: 'For all the Prophets and the law prophesied until John' (Matthew 11:13).

John continued the pattern of Old Testament prophecy as he insisted upon repentance for disobedience to God's law, and then combined both proclamation (forthtelling) and prediction (foretelling) as he spoke of the wrath to come but also of the grace to come (Luke 3:7, 16). The message that John had for his generation is that which today's prophets must pass on to their generation too.

Prophets to the Nations

The message brought by the prophets of the Old Testament was not delivered only to Israel and Judah. They also had things to say to the nations, small and great, of their day (see Isa 13:1-23:18). In the Book of the Revelation (Ch 10), the angel said to John: "Take the scroll and eat it; it will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth..." John was told, "You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings." There are things to be said not only to the Church of those who believe, but also to the nations.

Prophets were not only sent to Israel and Judah, but also to the nations, small and great."

God said to the young Jeremiah: "I have appointed you a prophet to the nations...I have set you today over nations and kingdoms" (Jer 1:5, 10). This was by no means an easy task and at times it was a bitter one. But, as the angel told John, there is also a sweetness that increases the more we digest the law and the prophets.

There can never have been a time when the nations have so desperately needed to hear what God's prophets are commissioned to say. God's standards apply to all men everywhere. It is part of the prophet's calling to declare what they are and to tell of the grace that can write them on our hearts.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 2, No 1, 1986.

As we approach the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, Lynda Rose asks: how real are its freedoms for us today?

On 15 June 1215, with England on the brink of civil war, King John met with the barons at Runnymede and put his seal to what was in effect a peace treaty: Magna Carta. Today, that Charter has become one of the most celebrated and influential documents in history, rightly seen as the foundation for Democracy worldwide. Lord Denning described it as "...the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot."¹

But just how real are those freedoms in 21st century Britain? Does the spirit of Magna Carta live on...or has it been destroyed by secular totalitarianism?

Rights for all?

According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United Nations calls 'a Magna Carta for all humanity', human rights are:

rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status.²

Those rights include: freedom of belief and religion, the right to life, the right to be treated equally before the law, the right to freedom without imprisonment for just cause, the right to marry and have a family, and the right to education.

Globally, we talk a lot about 'rights' these days. In fact, "It's my right!" has become almost a mantra, justifying any and every imaginable behavior in the worldwide quest for self-fulfillment. But the reality in present-day secular and multicultural Britain is that 'rights' are extremely selectively applied, and increasingly Christians are finding themselves not just marginalized, but no longer allowed to speak in public about their faith.

Ideological war

What many do not realize is that the situation today is the direct result of an ideological war; between Christians on the one hand, and Secularism on the other. It is a war that will allow no quarter, and that has as its goal the complete annihilation of Christianity.

The ideological war being waged by Secularism will allow no quarter: its goal is the complete annihilation of Christianity."

Moral rebranding in the name of tolerance and diversity is part of a much larger strategy that started at around the beginning of the last century, when the Soviet Institute for Social Research – later rebranded the Frankfurt School - identified the Judeo-Christian legacy (seen as both the foundation and buttress of Western society) as the reason why the revolution had not spread, as expected, across Europe. Based on this analysis, they devised a complex strategy aimed at completely destroying the beliefs and institutions on which Western society rested. As well as religion, in particular they targeted the Family, which they identified as one of the main building blocks.

It was a strategy designed to produce mass hopelessness and alienation, destroying faith in God and any idea of transcendent purpose that might provide some sort of unifying force for the common man. In the words of Muzenburg, one of the founders of the movement, "We will make the West so corrupt that it stinks."

In 1969, following the Stonewall riots, this same strategy was taken over and developed by the Gay rights movement, brought to a peak in 1989 by Kirk and Madsen. In their book 'After the Ball: How America will Conquer Its Hatred and Fear of Gays in the '90s', the pair devised a strategy designed to rebrand morality. Their express aim was to recast gays as victims – where necessary rewriting history – to achieve not just acceptance, but to make homosexuality the norm. So began the demolition of the establishment from within.

Moral rebranding in the name of tolerance and diversity is part of a much larger strategy that has been going on for over a century."

A carefully orchestrated strategy

This is not to say that everyone who embraces secularist, humanist or LGBT ideas today is signed up to the Frankfurt School or is deliberately attacking Christianity, but this actually is the agenda that, consciously or unconsciously, such people have been seduced into following. It is an organised and carefully orchestrated strategy for totalitarianism, which wants at base the complete overthrow of Christianity and Western society. Hardly surprising then that freedom of speech is being re-cast to demonise anything that implies criticism of the new dogma, with anything outside of that – whether personal opinion or a quotation from the Bible - being re-cast as hate speech.

It is important that we understand this, because we too, in the name of 'tolerance' and love, have been subjected to psychological conditioning. And, sad to say, many in the Church have succumbed. This is why the Church is weak – because we have lost our way. But endorsement of behaviours prohibited in the Bible, far from demonstrating Christian love, makes us complicit in sin.

Freedom of speech is being re-cast to demonise anything which criticizes the new dogma, re-positioning it as hate speech."

So, what can we do?

First, and most obviously, we have to start by recovering the truths of our faith. Which means that we need to go back and read the Bible. Carefully. And we need to repent where we've gone astray. Because only then will we have the clarity to understand our spiritual heritage, and what God has done for us uniquely in Christ. Only then will we be able to stand against the lies!

Second, we need to fear God rather than man, and to stand up for our faith. Because if we don't, then not only do we betray the One who died for us, but we condemn our fellow human beings to unimaginable torment that will last forever. This is the truth for which we stand guardian.

We need to recover the truths of our faith, reclaiming what has been stolen from us, and standing up for it!

Third, we need to reclaim the language that has been stolen, and refuse to be cowed into accepting the lies and misinformation put about by those who want to drive Christianity from the public arena. Whatever we tell ourselves, we will not remain 'relevant' or retain influence by adapting our message. No, God did not get it wrong, and times have not 'moved on'! The Bible is expression of eternal and transcendent truth, and only by following its precepts will men and women be free and find true fulfillment.

In the words of Jeremiah (6:16):

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.

In the current ideological struggle, there is no such thing as a safe middle ground where we can remain neutral. Let us make no mistake, this is a spiritual war, and we are either on one side or the other. It's as stark as that. We either defend our rights and our faith – which, as seen in Magna Carta, has made Western society what it is – or we lose those rights altogether, and see a different, intolerant and harsh value system come into force: a system that will only allow the expression of views that validate itself, with everything else suppressed!

In this struggle, there is no such thing as a safe, neutral middle ground. Make no mistake, this is a spiritual war- we are either on one side or the other."

On 15 June, to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the actual signing of Magna Carta, VfJUK is organizing a Rally outside Parliament. We are asking a question: How free are YOU today? And, based on Magna Carta, we are saying enough is enough. Please join us in defending the Christian foundation of this country and our Christian freedoms, as we call for 'real' freedom of speech and of belief. Come yourself, and bring along ten friends – and ask them to invite ten more!

It's time to make a stand for our faith. Together we can make a difference.

For details of the rally, visit the Voice for Justice website, or register to come on Facebook.

References

1 Magna Carta and the Law Society and Bar Council

2 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Our second installment on 'Changing Britain' looks at how the Gospel message is being passed on to future generations. Following the statistical analysis is a biblical comment from Monica Hill.

Transmission of Faith

Re-printed from Brierley Consultancy's FutureFirst, June 2014 issue, with kind permission.

The transmission of faith from one generation to another is critically important. One person who has studied this in some depth is Prof David Voas, now of Essex University but previously Professor of Population Studies at Manchester University. In one piece of research published in 2012 he and a colleague evaluated the impact of family life on church attendance through three generations using data from the 2001 International Congregational Life Survey, a significant study with over 9,000 respondents.

In general they found the older a person the more likely they were to have or have had churchgoing parents. The graph shows the percentage of churchgoers in England in 2001 who did NOT have regularly attending churchgoing parents.

Percentage of current churchgoers whose parents rarely or never went to church, England, 2001.

• Older people now attending church are more likely to have continued the family tradition of churchgoing. The research compared results with the Australian data which was based on similar questions, and the overall results found:
• Men were about 5% more likely than women to have or had parents who were not churchgoers, except for those aged 85 or over (2% difference).
• Australian churchgoers were less likely than those in England to have or had parents who were not churchgoers, also by about 5%, 18% to 23%.
• The impact of two churchgoing parents is considerably greater than one.
• Grandparental religious activity also has a significant effect.

Approximately a quarter, 23%, of English churchgoers therefore have started going to church when their parents did not, and this might be taken as an estimate of the percentage of "conversion" growth of current congregations. Church congregations grow, of course, because new people join the congregation (having started going to church elsewhere) or newly start coming to that particular church. Other studies have found that new people in a church are relatively few (a 2012 English study found just 24% of those in evangelical churches had been attending less than 20 years), meaning "church growth" is mostly "church transfer". David Voas's research thus underlines the huge importance of transmission in family life.

Some factors in present-day family life make that transmission more difficult. Almost half, 46%, of children today will see their parents divorce before they are 16, and a family split inhibits transmission of faith very severely. Churchgoing parents seem to be as likely to divorce as non-churchgoing ones.

Many church families are middle-class, and many have both parents working. Those aged 30 to 44 are especially likely not to attend as regularly as others simply because of the pressure in their home with a young family, but it is in this age-group where those practices are often most needed to establish the tradition of churchgoing, and encourage transmission.

The very large majority of churchgoers in both England and Australia are married, much more than the percentage of married people in the population. For the large majority of these, both partners attend church together, so they are making joint decisions on this activity and thus encouraging their children in churchgoing.

The finding about grandparental influence confirms other research of young people undertaken in England – one study found some 60% were likely to attend church if their grandparents did.

The importance of family life and the traditions embodied within that, especially of religious activity, is crucial, and this research confirms this. Encouraging family religious life should therefore be a priority in church teaching.

Sources: Article by David Voas and Ingrid Storm in Review of Religious Research, Vol 53, No 4, Jan 2012, Page 377; Living the Christian Life, Brierley Consultancy, April 2013; Newsletter, Marriage Foundation, Spring 2014; Reaching and Keeping Tweenagers, Christian Research, 2002.

Biblical Comment

Monica Hill

Handing on the baton is the responsibility of every believer. Failure to pass it on, to the very best of the ability of all believers, places the continuance of the faith in ANY nation at risk.

We can learn a great deal on the survival of the Jewish faith over the centuries by reading how they passed on their faith to their children. This mainly took place in the family home. Both boys and girls were taught the rudimentary elements of the faith by their mothers in the home up until the age of 11 or 12. It was only then that the boys (after their Bar Mitzvah) went into schools to go more deeply into the faith.

In the home the children learned to recite the Shema, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one" as an assertion of God's Kingship (Deut 6:4-9), which is followed by "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children."

Hearts and Minds

Deuteronomy 11:18 adds "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds." There are practical ways in which this can be achieved: "talk about them [God's teachings] when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates" (Deut 11:18-20). The reason is one which we should all embrace: "so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth" (v21).

More than Head Knowledge

A 'Christian' country' or specific group claiming to be Christian is only one generation away from extinction unless a full understanding and a personal belief is embraced and passed on to others. In order for it to survive, faith needs to move beyond 'learning by rote' to having personal meaning so that those who try to communicate to others are helping them catch more than just 'head knowledge'.

A 'Christian' country' is only one generation away from extinction unless a full understanding and a personal belief is embraced and passed on to others."

Unfortunately, parents first passed this responsibility on to the Church (who developed all kinds of groups such as Sunday Schools, youth clubs and uniformed organisations) and then to state schools, where all pupils received Christian instruction and each day started with a worship assembly. Parents relaxed and left it to others who they thought were more proficient than themselves.

The churches did a good job in teaching the young of both believers and those on the fringe, until social and family issues saw the demise of afternoon Sunday Schools and uniformed organisations went out of fashion, demanding new methods of outreach and attracting youngsters. In schools, the emphasis changed from knowledge, to education, to theoretical study of comparative religions; teachers no longer needed to be believers and legal changes then led to stagnation. A religious and spiritual understanding is no longer a priority.

Danger of Complacency

Many churches are now trying new methods of reaching out, like 'messy church' and holiday clubs, but the crucial home influence is still waning.

Any nation that settles back into thinking that it will always be a 'Christian nation' and that the next generation will automatically become Christians without any input, witness or prayer from them, is in for a shock. God can, and should, speak directly to each individual, but we are all called to be witnesses - even if we do not have the gift of an evangelist.

Any nation that settles back into thinking that the next generation will automatically become Christians without any input from them, is in for a shock."

Christianity is built upon relationships and although we can highlight moral codes and values, once the close personal link with the Creator is lost, it can become no more than a list of rules and regulations to keep. God has no grandchildren – only children who have a direct relationship with him.

Seize Every Opportunity

However, today there is an amazing challenge to those believers who have grandchildren (or even know other people's grandchildren). It is almost as though they are being given a second chance to reach another generation, even when they have not made a good job of passing their faith onto their own children. Grandparents can be 'cool' when parents can just be an 'embarrassment'. The opportunities are there in an age when older people are living longer and there are an increasing number of grandparents and great-grandparents who have 'known' the Father (1 John 3).

How can we encourage older people to take their responsibilities for our nation seriously? This should be a major objective in every congregation, family and community.

Series background

Over the next few weeks we will be using some recent surveys from the Brierley Consultancy to delve further into what God is saying to Britain. Each instalment will feature statistics on a different set of trends, followed by biblical analysis from Monica Hill.

Hard factual evidence drawn from different kinds of surveys can help Christians to ascertain exactly what, where and how our society is changing, and can equip them both to pray and to take action where necessary.

Christians should be alert to current trends and be prepared to act to bring things into alignment with the ordained will of God. While nothing can take place outside the sovereign will and knowledge of God, not all activities are God-ordained.

Previous weeks: The Rise of Secularism: YES, I have NO religion!

Clifford Denton argues that the Christian Church is intended to be the authentic expression of Biblical Judaism.

Biblical Roots

So far in this series, we have looked at how the Christian Church emerged from a Jewish background. It seems strange to us today, but first century Christians would have considered themselves the authentic manifestation of Judaism. Whilst the Church's departure from many aspects of Rabbinic Judaism is understandable, it need not have completely severed itself from its roots. Indeed, every authentic aspect of the Christian Church has its roots in what we might call biblical Judaism.

Our use of this term 'biblical Judaism' is expressly different from the biases associated with Rabbinic Judaism (the most important of these being the denial of Jesus as Messiah, and of the New Covenant manifestation of the Torah written on the heart by the indwelling Holy Spirit). The Apostle Paul taught clearly about this in his letters to the Romans and the Galatians. Nevertheless, the metaphor of the Olive Tree in Romans 11 is an inclusion of the Gentile branches into a pre-existing body, not the growth of an entirely new body. It was the task of all the teachers of Israel to interpret the entire Bible for the people. This principle became the background to the teaching of the Christian Church as much as it was the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism.

The metaphor of the Olive Tree in Romans 11 shows the inclusion of Gentile branches into a pre-existing body, not a growth of an entirely new body!"

Now, however, many branches of the Christian Church have re-defined what was inherited through the first Apostles, so as to divorce itself from its roots. It was as if 'the Church' was a totally new entity, instead of being the result of a continuous covenant plan which began in Genesis and continues to the truths of the Book of Revelation, with all held in perfect balance.

We must, therefore, assess afresh the relationship of the Church to its biblically Jewish heritage. With this perspective, we will be in a position to understand the present situation in the Church and be conscious of our corporate responsibility to reconnect ourselves into our heritage.

Looking back to go forward

It is part of our biblical heritage to look back in order to go forward. Concerning the Passover meal and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for example, the Bible records that the Children of Israel were to remember what God did in bringing them out of Egypt (Ex 13:5-15).

And when in time to come your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 'By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage.' (Ex 13:14)

This gave rise to the question that the youngest child asks at each Passover Meal as part of the Seder in a Jewish home: "Why is this night different from every other night?" This question gives the head of the home the opportunity to relate what God did for Israel at the Exodus.

All of the biblical feasts are reminders of what God has done for his people. These things have generated the Hebraic mindset: always conscious of the past, as one walks into the future. The present and the future emerge from the past. Mankind is prone to forget the past so God himself demanded that his people remember their origins. A Hebrew has been likened to a person rowing a boat into the future, looking backwards as he rows forwards.

All the biblical feasts are reminders of what God has done for his people. But they are also prophetic pointers to the future. For God's people, the present and future emerge from the shadows of the past"

The future for God's people comes out of the shadows of the past. The Feasts are both reminders of history and prophetic pointers to the future. The Passover was the coming out of Egypt, but also points forward to the Messiah's sacrifice and our release from the bondage of sin into the Kingdom of Heaven. The Christian Church, therefore, recalls the exodus from Egypt and celebrates this historical deliverance of the Children of Israel, as well as celebrating the greater fulfillment, through Jesus, bringing freedom from the bondage of sin.

Shavuot, the Feast of Pentecost, is a remembrance of the giving of the Torah on tablets of stone, but it also points forward to the giving of the Holy Spirit and the writing of the Torah on the hearts of God's people. Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, reminds us of Israel's wilderness years and our dependence on God. It also continues to remind us that we are pilgrims and strangers on this earth (Heb 11:13), pointing to the Messianic Kingdom when Jesus the Messiah returns.

The Christian Church has tended to accept its biblical inheritance in Christ without paying enough heed to the continuity of biblical history. The Sabbath was moved to Sunday and lost some of its original purpose. The Passover became Easter. The bread and the wine became Eucharist and the central part of Mass, disengaging itself from the fulfillment of the Passover meal. These are examples, and there are others, reminding us that the Christian Church divorced itself from its own history whilst keeping some of the symbols and practices, but in a different framework.

Parting of the Ways

There followed a fragmentation into different sects and denominations of Christianity with their own authority structures, creeds and points of divergence. When many Christians look back to their origins they look back to the Church Councils and so-called 'Church Fathers' rather than to the deeper origins of the believing community. This has contributed to the separation of the Christian Church from the emerging Judaism of the First Century.

An example of the ongoing fruit of this can be found in a statement, in recent years, from Vatican 2, a major council of the Roman Catholic Church. In the 'Declaration on the Relation of the Church to non-Christian Religions', of 28 October 1965, there were moves towards reconciliation of the Roman Catholic Church to the Jews. The following statement is contained in the document:

Indeed, the Church reproves every form of persecution against whomsoever it may be directed. Remembering, then, her common heritage with the Jews, and moved not by any political consideration, but solely by the religious motivation of Christian charity, she deplores all hatreds, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism leveled at any time or from any source against the Jews. [emphasis added]

Yet, in the paragraph preceding this statement, there is also this statement:

It is true that the Church is the new people of God...

Even in recognizing the roots of the Roman Catholic Church as coming from biblical Judaism, so strong is the pull to the later Catholic foundations that there is an ongoing proclamation of separation rather than the continuity of covenant history. The same is true of other branches of the Christian Church and this can be discovered if one reads popular accounts of church history.

Today there is an ongoing proclamation of separation, rather than a recognition of the continuity of covenant history. But every intended characteristic of the authentic Christian Church has its origins in biblical Judaism!"

In discussing the separation between Christians and Jews, Marvin Wilson draws attention to some of the issues he sought to address in his book, in a useful summary for our study here:

The revelation or teaching of the living God, who gave guidance and instruction for the benefit of his people, will be our main emphasis on Jewish heritage. (Since he revealed the truth of his Word primarily through Hebraic concepts, significant Hebrew terms will be emphasized throughout this work.) Many chapters will focus on the Jewish background and understanding of various institutions and theological or ethical themes of Scripture, the Lord's Supper, and the Church as community. We will study the nature of salvation, faith, and spirituality.

We will also give attention to the Jewish concept of history, work and worship, and the importance of wisdom, knowledge and learning. In addition, we will emphasize the importance of understanding the Jewishness of Jesus. Furthermore, the reader will find extensive teaching on marriage and the family, because these topics are so foundational to the Church's Jewish heritage and of contemporary relevance to most Christians.¹

If we stop and take stock of every intended characteristic of the authentic Christian Church, we can look back and find the origins in the history of biblical Judaism. We must not look at those origins and perceive the Church as a new institution taking those traditions and redefining them in a new framework for the Gentile world. We should look back and reconnect with the history of our people.

Pausing to Consider

In an essay entitled Neither Fish nor Fowl,² Kai Kjer-Hansen writes:

It is a historical fact that what was later to be named Christianity and the Christian church first emerged as a Jewish phenomenon. Jesus was a Jew, the first to receive him were Jews, the kingdom of God which he proclaimed came out of a Jewish context, and the church was, by its very nature, a Jewish phenomenon intended for all, Jews as well as gentiles. The new belief was Jewish belief, not a new religion: "It was Judaism of a different kind," as Jakob Jocz has put it. This "Judaism of a different kind" had its focal point in the person of Jesus, his words and deeds – to such an extent that it was said that there is salvation in no other name than Jesus (Acts 4:12). [emphasis added]

In his book Jewish Sources in Early Christianity, David Flusser looks at the foundations of Christianity through the eyes of a Jewish scholar. He confirms the view that Jesus entered the world of Judaism, and that the Christian Church emerged as a totally Jewish response to Messianic expectation. In the beginning to Chapter 1, The Early Christian Writings and their relationship to Judaism, he writes:

The early Christian writings reflect ideas, beliefs, views and trends in Second Temple Judaism. They reflect the world of the sages' Biblical exegesis, their parables, and even their own uncertainties. One also finds expressions of the hope for redemption and of the Messianic beliefs current in Judaism during that period. One can also discern echoes of most streams in Judaism of the time, including those of groups which the Sages regarded as heretical, such as Hellenistic Judaism and the Essenes, or the Dead Sea Sect.³

Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians:

...at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Eph 2:12-22)

This was a letter to believers from among the Gentiles declaring their inclusion in the covenant family. Those who were far off were brought into the fellowship that began with those who were from a Jewish background and followed the teaching of Jesus. That teaching was the total fulfillment of what was promised through the covenant history of Israel.

The Christian Church has established a Gentile religion, exchanging its Jewish heritage for influences from the Greek and Roman world"

In this way we perceive that out of the context of Israel's Messianic hope and all the preparations that went before, came the emergence of a movement that encompassed both Jews and Gentiles. Some branches of Christianity have separated from this flow of history and become established as a Gentile religion. In so doing, the Church has taken into itself emphasis from the Greek and Roman world. When we look back we see a parting of the ways between the Christian Church and its true roots while retaining practices re-defined in Christian terms (such as baptism, communion, prayer, worship of the God of Abraham, biblically based ethics, and much more) that it first inherited from its Jewish and Hebraic background.

Looking Forward

With this looking back, we can with confidence also look forward. We can position ourselves conceptually in biblical history where the background to the Church was formed and look forward, as it were, to what the Church was always intended to be.

From one continuous flow of history, God has worked to redeem one covenant family from all mankind. Here are some of the principles that we can see developing as we look forward into the future, when we reconnect with our past:

• Through Adam all mankind was separated from God through sin (Gen 3:24).
• God prepared a Covenant plan before any single nation was chosen (Gen 8:21-9:17, Gen 17).
• Abraham was singled out to be the father-figure of this Covenant nation (Rom 4).
• The condition for membership of the Covenant community is faith, faith that is fulfilled in Jesus and is evidenced by fruitful lives of good works (Rom 4, Heb 11).
• The Covenant principles were further revealed through Moses, David and the Prophets (Ex 20, Deut 29, Jer 31).
• God showed his people how to live as individuals, families and a community. He gave them righteous and ethical rules for ordering society. He gave them their Feast days. He even gave them their language – the language of Scripture, namely Hebrew. He gave them models to follow in interpreting his Torah.
• Through the centuries the Torah principles were interpreted into an ordered lifestyle, with every aspect of life from birth, through marriage to death, from farming and finance to mealtimes and raising families, all included.
• The principal of ordered, Godly life was first through family and second through the community in which elders interpreted the ways of God as given through Moses (Ex 18:13-27).
• Though there was falling away by Israel from the teaching of God, and even exile from their Land, we learn from their struggles and their history about the background into which Jesus and the Apostles came to teach us all (1 Cor 10). We can picture the Temple, the Synagogues, the family framework of society, the Torah basis of life, ceremonial washing, the worshipping community, the Feasts, and so on, as we explore our biblical heritage anew.
• From this background emerged Jesus the Messiah. An expectation of the coming Messiah built up over the years of Israel's history. As we take a step back conceptually into this biblical history and culture, and look forward from Adam's fall to our day, we gain relevant concepts of who Jesus is. We also understand better who we are as the Covenant community today, and have a better understanding of the ongoing place of Israel in God's purposes. Through this, we understand more clearly Jesus' coming into the world, the giving of the Holy Spirit, and the Gospel going to all nations. It was into this historical context that Gentiles could finally come in and fulfill their part of God's Covenant promise to Abraham.

If we consider every aspect of the development of the Covenant Community prior to the call to the Gentile nations, we can properly identify what was intended in the extension of the existing community to include both Jews and Gentiles by faith in Jesus the Jewish Messiah.

The Church existed before the Gentiles entered it: Jesus brought reformation to the existing community of faith."

Jesus brought reformation to the existing community: the Church existed before the Gentiles entered it. In terms of a gathered community it went back at least to those who stood before Mount Sinai to receive God's commandments and it extends through all history to encompass some from every nation in the one community of faith. I would say it went back even further than that, certainly to the family of Abraham, and in some way to the heavenly community that existed before creation.

Summary

The roots of the Christian Church in the history of Israel are vital to understand: not only to properly understand the Church's true identity, but also to understand its relationship with Israel- past, present and future.

Every practice and function of the Christian Church (including the origin of the term 'Church', the practices of communion and baptism, the Feast days, the ethical structure of the community, the family basis, worship, prayer, knowledge of God through faith, the authority structure, the meaning of Torah and on and on into every principle and practice) can be best reviewed in terms of the Hebraic and Jewish heritage.

For Study and Prayer

Consider if there are any ways in which your own Church has moved away from the biblical heritage of the First Century. How might we reconnect with that heritage?

Next time: The Council of Jerusalem

References

1 Our Father Abraham, Eerdmans, 1989, p33.

2 In Jewish Identity and Faith in Jesus, Caspari Centre, 1996.

3 Adama Books, 1987.

These studies are developed from the course Christianity's Relationship with Israel and the Jews, first prepared for Tishrei Bible School.

'Paradoxology' by Krish Kandiah (Hodder & Stoughton, 2014, 308 pages, £13.99, available on Amazon for £12.78)

To Western minds, paradox shouldn't exist. Everything should be explicable within a neat logical system. In Christianity we strive to produce systematic theologies to help us understand the complexities and mysteries of our faith. Yet instinctively we know that life isn't so simple.

In 'Paradoxology', the author recognises that Christianity was never meant to be simple. Paradoxes are not only to be expected, but embraced as pathways into a deeper truth. Rather than undermine faith, they make it more vibrant.

Each chapter takes one main biblical paradox and explores it via Bible characters (mainly Old Testament) and events. As such, it is a Bible-centred book (a key strength), although those already well-grounded in Scripture may find there is an excessive re-telling of Biblical narratives which can be rather tedious.

All the best-known paradoxes of the Christian faith are included. Through Abraham, Moses and Joshua we are led to think through how the God who needs nothing from us can demand so much, how God can be both close and far away, permanently with us and yet often elusive, and how a compassionate God can be associated with so much violence and slaughter.

Christianity is not meant to be simple. Its paradoxes should be embraced as pathways into a deeper truth: they make our faith more vibrant."

Moving on to Job, Hosea and Habakkuk, we consider suffering in the light of God's omnipotence, how a forgiving God can reject people, and how an unchanging God can be unpredictable, reliable yet surprising. Through Jonah and Esther we tackle issues such as free will and predestination, inclusivity and election; God loves us all and yet elects some more than others! Does God have favourites after all?!

The New Testament provides further material, most notably Jesus himself: the key paradox of divinity and humanity in one person. Judas illustrates choice versus fate, and the cross is seen as multi-paradoxical – how does it actually work? Can one event solve everything? Paul's letters to Rome and Corinth open up personal paradoxes: we are a new creation and yet do what we hate rather than what we should (Rom 7:15). He also considers the paradoxes of the Church as the Body of Christ and his Bride-to-be, yet often inadequate, ineffective and flawed.

Here is a comprehensive collection of Bible paradoxes which encourages a change of mind-set towards faith and the realities of life."

Issues such as these are often debated, but here is a comprehensive collection in one place. The result is a very full book, perhaps overlong. There is a sense that the author is putting in everything he can think of from his wealth of experience and expertise, including his scientific background (a bit technical!), personal examples and plenty of quotations. This is a book from an academic's study, one to read carefully and then keep on the shelf for future reference.

Its main value is that it might help change our thinking towards that of the Biblical writers, for whom paradox and mystery were normal. As our mind-sets become more Hebraic, we will be better able to wrestle with the complexities of our faith and the realities of life. In addition, our worship of God will become more meaningful and our ability to trust in him will increase.

This book does not seek to resolve the paradoxes of our faith- it encourages us to live with them productively."

The author is realistic enough to admit that the "paradoxes of our faith will not be resolved by this book, or any other book" (p307). But then, his main thesis is that we should not even try. Instead we should learn to live with them, and to that end his book makes a valuable contribution.