Religion – a Force for Good in the World?
In November, former Prime Minister Tony Blair engaged in a debate in Toronto with Christopher Hitchens, defending the proposition that religious faith is a force for good in the world. Mr Blair, who turned formally to Romanism after leaving office, is the founder of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which exists to promote respect and understanding between the major religions and makes the case for faith as a force for good in the modern world. Christopher Hitchens is an English-American intellectual who describes himself as an anti-theist and a believer in what he calls the Enlightenment values of secularism, humanism and reason. Claiming that “the only position which leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism”, he has been aggressive in writing and speaking against religions of all kinds, though one suspects he usually has Christianity in his sights.
A fundamental flaw in much discussion of this subject, as in this debate, is the failure to distinguish between true and false religion and faith. It should seem obvious to any “rational” person that religions which cancel each other out in doctrine and practice cannot all be true. Mr Blair’s position is that “the common thread running through all faiths is to ‘do unto others as you would have them unto you’”.
We understand the universal existence of “religion” in general to be the inevitable and inescapable human response to the fact that human beings cannot get away from the being of God. They “hold the truth in unrighteousness”; “that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them” (Rom 1:18,19) and they “show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another” (Rom 2:15). When Paul described the Athenians as “too superstitious” (Acts 17:22) he literally described them as being very reverent to pagan gods or demons. This was the outcome of fallen human beings not liking to retain God in their knowledge and being given over to a reprobate mind (Rom 1:28). Human beings cannot get away from God but, rejecting or not having the clear revelation of the Bible, sin makes them either worship gods of their own imagining, or else fail to realise that the stirrings of conscience which they may have indicate accountability to God, or rage against the very concept of God.
True religion is the response to God of a sinner whose mind is enlightened and whose will is changed so as to receive and respond believably to the revelation which God has given of Himself in His Word and in His Son Jesus Christ – a revelation which is received in truth and with saving effect only when it comes with the convincing power of the Holy Spirit, but which is perfectly consistent with all the facts we know about ourselves and the total environment in which we exist.
The true Christian religion has its external aspects, determined by God, but it is possible for the formal external aspects to exist where internal reality is lacking, which allows James to distinguish between having a religion which is pure and having a religion which is vain (Jas 1:26,27).
Religion which is the response of a believing soul to the revelation of God in Christ is a force for good in the world, spiritually, socially, educationally, materially and in every way – as any student of history should acknowledge. Many without the power of godliness in their hearts may yet be influenced by Christian principles and be constrained by these principles to do much that is good for others. Many around the world may be better in natural things than the false religions they profess, though this is not the product of their religion. Many who professedly adhere to the Christian religion live and act in such a way that their influence is for evil, and they get a bad reputation for the religion they profess, as the natural man does not recognise the difference between the reality and the name. The Christian religion in its very nature is productive of good, coming as it does from God. HMC
United Free Minister Wins Lottery
The press reports that a United Free Church minister and his wife have won £30 000 in the Postcode Lottery after putting in £50 a month. The United Free Church of Scotland condemns gambling on the grounds that it is “inconsistent with living our lives the way God expects us” and that it “appeals to the selfish and greedy part of our nature that the Scriptures are so diametrically opposed to”. The United Free Church “urges all Christians not to participate in the National Lottery and says that neither the Church nor congregations should apply” for a lottery grant.
This is good as far as it goes, but it would be better still to mention the divine providence, and the profanity of betting upon what God is going to bring to pass next. The Larger Catechism condemns betting under the sins forbidden in the Third Commandment (Q 113). It appears from the press reports that the minister is unlikely to be disciplined. Curiously, the minister describes his lottery win as an answer to prayer. One wonders how a prayer that others might lose their money can be consistent with the commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”. It would be better not to have such a prayer granted. “He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul” (Ps 106:15). DWBS
Parcel Deliveries on Sabbath
It is sad once again to see parcels being delivered on Sabbaths in December. Sabbath-breaking is evil and, unless repented of, it will be punished by God in due time. There is no necessity for such work, nor is it an act of mercy. “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates” (Ex 20:9-10). Since the resurrection of Christ, the weekly Sabbath has been observed by the Christian Church on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2). DWBS