Church of England must act to regain moral authority

FATHER Neil McNicholas (Yorkshire Post, September 24) wonders why if people don’t believe in God they can’t live as if they did. Many who try to practise Christianity would counter “If the Anglican Church believes in God, why can’t it behave as if it does?”

Circa 500 AD, the substitution of bread – which itself became too expensive – and wine for the charitable meal (“agape”) was the first economic heresy. The belated 20th century Anglican change of translation of agape from “charity” to “love” in Corinthians 13.13 also fuelled the sexual heresy.

Researching for Germinal, Zola discovered that the miners still thought of Van Gogh as “The Second Christ.” His church declared him mad and sacked him for following in Christ’s footsteps.

The Anglican Church is a Tyranny of Princes which demands its Parish Share rather than delegate authority to the parishes. It became the Labour Party at prayer when the Labour Party abandoned its Christian economics.

It bought the American Priest Idol Fr James, a house in an upper-middle class, dormitory development rather than requesting a council house in Lundwood. What Graham Greene called “the superstition” 
sustains this institutional hierarchy.

Fr Neil recently wrote that some people believe they are the centre of the Earth. Scientifically, each phenomenon is the shifting centre of an infinite and eternal universe. In 1963, Bishop John Robinson asked: “How can any truly contemporary person not be an atheist?” In 1988, Bishop David Jenkins questioned the miracles, specifically the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection.

The Anglican Church could regain religious credibility by teaching superstition as metaphor but it will not regain Christ’s moral authority unless it embraces Liberation Theology which is inspired by the awesome, scientific reality.

From: Chris Schorah, Gascoigne Avenue, Leeds.

BILL Carmichael (Yorkshire Post, September 27) reminds us that around the world Christians are being killed because of their faith. In fact significant persecution occurs in over 50 nations and in many the law encourages it.

The overall figures are appalling with estimates suggesting that more have been killed in the last 100 years than in the previous 19 centuries.

The article asks why the Church’s response is so muted? Indeed, we should do better. However, because of a lack of media interest, most of what is done goes unreported. The Church has worldwide interdenominational organisations, such as Open Doors and Barnabas, who care for and support persecuted Christians. Church leaders, along with the rank and file, regularly lobby the UK government.

However, the response across political parties is often tokenism. This was illustrated at the Beijing Olympics when China’s official persecution of its religious minorities was brushed under the carpet. Politicians recognise that causes supporting Christians are not as effective vote winners as those favouring other minorities.