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Conference and presently general
secreta ry of the British Council of
Churches, gave a grave indictment
of the churcbes in Brita in. The Brit–
ish churches we re, he cla irned , " ill–
equ ipped to help the na tion to un–
dersta nd its present crises a nd to re–
spond to them wi th fa it h a nd hope."
Dona ld Coggan, the new Arch–
bishop of Canterbury, is well awa re
of the problems faci ng the churches
in Britain, particula rly the Anglican
Church. He has decla red that Brit–
ain will have a healthy society only
when
" it
sta rts living by sorne rules
aga in, a nd there's a lo t to be sa id for
the Ten Comma ndme nts."
But will Bri ta in sta rt " Li ving by
some rules agai n" - in particular.
bíblica! rul es?
With the rise of modern critica!
bíblica! scholarship and the accep–
tance by theologians of the Darwi–
ni an th eory of evo l ut io n . t h is
observance of Christian sta nda rds
steadily disappea red . By the 1920's
the erosion of re ligious belief had
become almost complete.
Notice t he words of eminent his–
to rian A. J . P. Tay lo r : " Religious
fai th was losing its strength
[in
the
1920's]. Not only d id churchgoing
universa lly decline. The dogmas of
revealed religion - the lncarnation
a nd the Resurrection - were fully
accepted only by a sma ll minority.
Our Lo rd Jesus Christ became, even
fo r many avowed Christians. merely
the supreme example of a good
ma n.
"This was as great a ha ppening as
a ny in English hi sto ry since the con–
ve rsio n of the Ang lo-Saxons to
Christi ani ty."
T ay lo r goes o n to say th a t
" England remained Christian in
mo ra lity, tho ugh not in fa ith "
(English History 1914-1945,
pp. 222-
223). I t was only later , after the Sec–
ond World War, tha t the great de–
cline in mo ra lity took pla ce in
Britain, reaching its nadir in the 60's
and 70 's.
What Has Gone Wrong?
If we examine th e life and teach–
ing of Christ as set fo rth in the gos-
28
DR. MICHAEL RAMSEY
Former Archbishop of Canterbury
pels, the powerful and convictive
preaching of the apos tle Paul , a nd
the simple, coheren t fa ith of the
ea rly Christian church. it becomes
only too ap parent how much the
churches have departed from tbe
fa it h "which was once fo r all deliv–
er ed
to
the saints" (Jude 3, RSV).
F irst. Jet us examin e the
Bibl e
defin ition of a Christia n. This is fu n–
damenta l to a ny further discussion .
The apostle Paul said : " If a man
does no t possess the Spirit of Christ,
he is no Christia n" (Romans 8:9.
NEB). But wha t does it mea n to
have the spirit of Christ?
Notice Galatia ns 5:22-23: "T he
harvest of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, pa tience. kindness, goodness.
fidelity. gentleness, a nd self-con trol"
(N EB).
1
f a ma n has these fr uits be
can be a bsolutely sure that he is a
Christian.
T he apostle John said : "Here is
the test by which we can make sure
that we know him : do we keep his
commands? The ma n who says, ' 1
know him, ' whi le he disobeys his
commands, is a liar and a stranger
to the truth ; but in the ma n who is
obedient to his word. the divine love
has indeed come to its perfecti on.
Here is the test by which we can
make sure that we are in him: who–
ever claims to be dwelling in him,
binds himself to li ve as Christ him–
se lf lived "
(l
John 2:3-6, NEB). How
clea r! A Christia n is one who fo l-
lows the footsteps and example of
Jesus Christ.
Compare these scrip tures with the
conduct of most professing Ch ris–
tians and churches, and see for
you rself how they measure up. Ex–
amine your own life in the light of
wha t the New Testament says a true
Christian is.
What Did the Early
Church Preach?
Nex t. let us look at the tru e na–
t ure of t he ea rly Christian procla–
mation.
Jesus Christ started his ministry
in Galilee after John the Ba ptist had
been imprisoned. H is message was
abou t the coming K ingdom of God
- G od 's superna tura l in terven tion
to establish his rule and government
on the ea rt h. He sent his disciples
out to preach the same message.
The a postl e Paui preached th is
very same message of Jesus Christ.
No tice what he pr eached to the Jews
at Rome: "And when they had ap–
poi n ted him a day. the re ca rn e
ma ny to him into his lodging; to
whom he expounded a nd testified
the kingdom of God , persuadi ng
t hem concerning J esus. both ou t of
t he law of Moses, and ou t of t he
prophets, from morni ng ti ll eve–
ning. . .. And Paul dwelt two whole
yea rs in his own hired house, a nd
received all that ca rne in unto him,
preaching the kingdom of God , and
teaching t hose thi ngs which concern
the Lord Jesus Christ, with a ll con–
fidence, no man forbidd ing him"
(Acts 28:23-31 ).
T he cle rgy today is not teaching
a bo u t the comi ng wo rld -ru ling
Kingdom of God , as Christ, the
apos tles and the early church d id.
Ch urches either don' t unde rstand or
are simply ashamed to preach the
gospel Christ and Pa ul preached.
The gospe l as preached by Christ
and Pa ul had real powe r. Bu t tha t
powe r is tota lly lacking in the estab–
lished denominations today. And
unl ess they really can be seen lo be
fo llowing in the foo tsteps of Christ,
preaching his gospel and directed
by his spirit. they can in no rea l
sense be rega rded as Christian.
o
PLAIN TRUTH December 1974