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you a few fihodghfs,zwhigh:will héée‘fb
bélwigiikgd‘i
h‘,ou¢ much more ffilly op o?her oc‘asiohs5usugfieé;efi by %h¢ coindidénéerthahr L‘today is not only thé Eve of thé Last 95y Hf Passover, by; flap gé飧r‘f Sundgy.
And the first thought,
\‘ih'ihh‘oaclurs‘ to‘
me
that
gnar‘lyivof
“:“
Ghrigtianwngigbbours,“gapecially in't5is éountry, have geen‘deigbyatifig
‘Easfier this year in a new framé of mindw To Which you will say: mah,v fl Nightannah — hqw is this Easter differefif from all firevious.3asters?
’
Well, the fact is that for many years, ifiaeed evefi since the 16th éegégry;
7
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Christianity hgs been losing ground. First the various Prbtestant gécfié ‘arose,anfi challénged the supremacy pf the Catholic Chufch, aha denied some';
:
‘
pf its doctrinés.
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mhen came men like Déscartes who esmablishefi a secdiar
'fihilosophy no longey subservient to the Chufch.‘ @hen dame the 18th
CEntury, thé Age‘of Reaépn, curing whiqh ifitellectuais likeLVolfiaiye
'
Christian
‘op’ehlyjrqepudi'ated
theolq. Then
:
the Unitariafl";
‘Church which rejecfied the Trinity and other fundafiehtal Cfirifitian éfictrines;
Ll~ihen.Scientific Hhmgnism. ‘
Then Marxism.
k
For many yeérg, théreforg,‘,
Christians have knowq that fiheir faith no lbnger dominates the world, that it has to contend against many powerful rival idéolbgieé. ‘But
Christian leadgrs still maintained that their religibn was souné, that it negced only to be expressed more convincingly; and that it woplg “ultimately regain the aliegmance of the masseé.
But that assuranégvyés ‘now been shéken, for in thé"1ast year Chriétian thinkers, 1eader§,af fihe‘Q r
Church, have publicly vonfessed that much firaditional Qhristian dogma is insecurély based and must be modified or rejectéfi.
I referiin
parfiicuiar to tfio recénfirbboks:f"fi;nest to God" by Dr John fiobinSon; Bishop of Woolwich; and "Objections to Christianity"'by fouf Cambridge theologians}
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fha‘b
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ASE a
result many: ‘orflinary Christians must be beginning to feel
Christianity has failed and thatfl
it‘é
future is uncertain.
failed in two reggec’as.
First, it has‘ fails
If ha‘é‘i‘ailed to prevent
v:a:t=;,
d"
_
It hag;
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socially and politically, ‘
It hag failed to-pravent persecution.
It has failed "to prevenfiwéojqial §mjustioe5; and‘t‘he rise. of Communiémg; an’dvtnlrflae‘
céusequen‘b divisiofi of tfié “for-1d into two hostile' camfis,
"t-hrez’xtens
130‘
“engulf humanity, is the direct. resultiof‘tvhéth failure.
And secondly it has failéd about
“the
‘ T} .
‘
finaamenfal teachings
intellec‘tually‘.‘ uI‘hs
Virgin Birth, the Incarnation; the Resuxjrection
>
so ‘forth
anii
are now seen by gm évef grmving‘nxzmbrer of intélligend: penpgg to he so much irrational mythology which does not'bear sexievntiri‘ic or historical
scrutiny.
Millions of Chrisians, worshipping in their churches at this
~ véry moment, must be wondering what sort orf
should attach
Jésus which they 'I‘r
tic}
91;:t‘1fgusands‘will gise‘é‘n
the alléged histbrical
fiagé
amlfaica-gfferafiing:
supposéd
'lé-t
haw;
an aftic'Ie.‘by
td‘fbe'
fiewmen'pifqnyévs
:réad‘
9:111:15
“fierve” substantially "V‘Chfis-‘oian- dogm’a
'of
e‘ven-t
can
,
of the Resurréctioni‘of’
cfimm‘emora'bing. :O‘Y‘l‘lry‘
9%
sighificanoe they H
Afid
'le‘sflgt
you. t‘hinié‘
oné exampler,‘ tha‘b hundreas of OBSER‘WIER.
théy'
Téynbee entitle‘d "Have Christians
ag‘rqeing ytith“the Bishasp of Woolwiéh that
‘V'I'il‘lrhaixrvéaI
theirjgl‘f“ t‘rradi‘tixbna‘
has had its day, in otfielr wprds ‘fhat Qhristianity is
~¢r3tellectua11y bankrupt. :Anfl on tfié front pager of the
a
:1
‘
’y'a'eekend‘Review‘,
expected a theoéogicak anticle félating to Easter V‘Sunday, tiiey will have Eead a diary about the Warsaw Ghetto Rising, the
_,1vhere they might
’20th éhniverdary
though
it.
haxfe
of. whrfic‘h
only deals
will occur later this wéekm This movinfi
firizfgrg
fine-brief episode, calls him mind thék whole
unépeakable horror- di‘vwhat happened under- the‘Nazi‘s,‘ in a country in '
=
which Christianitg‘ had reigned for 1500 years;
v.
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and with only desultoryppposition from the Christian churches
‘ ‘
leaders.
a'nd‘
‘
What shatterng‘ evidence
What an indictmen’c of Christianity!
of its bankruptcy in terms of social anu political ethics!
Is this loss ‘of self-assurance on the‘par’a of Christianity to be ‘
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apylauded or regretted?
,
,
That‘depends on the consequences; In fihe'first;
‘
h
instance'i't will create an».ever--growing> Spiritual Vacuum, and ‘thagreat
“a
‘question is how that vacuum will. be filled? ‘11; my bé filleé only With grga‘ber confusion, with a total lack of ideology in whichfi moral standards »
will be“ undermined; and the pursuit of pieasfir-e will become £11635; un‘re— strainea flan é‘vgr}. Tlha’a would Be a tragedy. flay bé filled 'wi'bh Sicieznfiific Humahirsm.
{that
would
be,
a great deal bétfier; But» Sgientific
HSjmanisxfi is Vague’rzvana' undefiinéd, and-it gah J
ive wfiich hurfian beings neec}
’60
s‘:2:—;(1:*ceil;,“,f
providevthe‘é inqent—
exercise se1f~oontr01 and £0 make sacri-
fices “for-moral kpri‘ncipiés and to
'pursue‘
the 368.1 of 'ethical‘ perfection.
Jufiaiem‘
‘But there is a third poséibiility, remote though it may séem. I
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901116 fill the vacuum.
:After' all; what remains of Christiénity when it is sifippé‘d of: i’cé
‘
mytnélogiéal'uengnle? According‘tg‘ some thinkers, inciuding the
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hugizan’ pet‘s'on’
Bighop“ of Woolwiqh, thépé rerzainsafhieflj
h
of Jegue ,1
f»
his allegedhr rdéfignifiéent egamplé ‘of‘ a noble life, ahd his e'fihireiailw.“ {shei‘r Vsu‘premer emphasis 'on love ‘a’sr-th'é guiding prinéiple téachings
‘
‘
‘
bfhuman
behaviour";
Altrinéham;1vrit ing I
uééma dughfi fio’be néighb'our.’
.I-fe
31.51%
in‘
the eésence of the
thé éuéfdian the other-V
réducec‘!
did not
in reality thei‘é remaifis
to
‘ftx‘lo
:lgxie
Lei-é
said thatrchri'Vctianr‘
of
(39:1
and love of '
principlefi cofiétitute in bhristianity." But there ishtuch
’rlgaii‘ge “thét
Je¥’zish»‘elémen1§
m
qssenyiials:
flaky,
muc‘h‘rriof-er
finese
an“§é. ‘1‘ 7
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where
‘infia'ae.
‘
h
‘—
r
‘
the whéle Jewish conteption
need‘ ‘of modificaiioAQ’Sifi ‘Iesé éusceptible
Chrisianiconcept‘i‘on érzeoa,
“lys‘he
0; man, of
nun-nan
«sf
Di‘vbinson': strictlireé
"an
theflJewisrh conce'pigiég‘
Tilers
There ié the‘nish‘
airmityanfl péfi’ectibili’cy.
conception‘of h1Story with ifis Meséianfl: hope.
,
“conception of the
GOG, perhags also in“
‘gondrrliféu, coz3xpi'ising not
‘
‘
Theré $5 the Jewish
only love' but
anc righteousness. And sojme; could continue.
gals-o
fiusfiiea
Prarc‘aicéilly evefi‘thing
in Christianity that i‘é‘Lethicaily gooqand inteile’c’suallg: reason‘able ‘is Hebrafié, stems @0131 Jufiaism. Thy, fihen,‘ shoqld not Jutlaism, in which
“
fully aha 'cnnsie‘tently apvelopea, fill' repudiate the gap? Why, if. Christians mmizzzss, after ‘ZOOO'years, those rvery’ originally _ "60‘ doctrines which/sepaba’cpd them,from‘the Jews, should they not
theée Hebraic elements are
=mOI'C
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Surely a full-blobaea Judaism is preferablto a chrisaianitg diluted by the rejeétibn 01‘ everything that at first male i'h disuhcfivea égdaiém.‘
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in:
There are 6f bourse mapy‘rcasohs
"will not be j
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s
‘
v;
.
‘i‘ofthinkong that thé vacuum
filléd‘ by Judaism: the ignoranc’e‘ of: it among Chrisfiiéha,
the pnefiaudice‘ Oxjt'hodéic
m
-
tn? aiis‘ions within Jewry, the reluctance acfiit'pro‘sely'bes. ‘But fliers: is nor doubt tha'fih,
against“v‘i§b‘,fi
Jufléism
fov
bf
J gamma—Ji’u‘be faced infihe year: to come with an oppbrizunity and a challenge u‘presuhiletea; in its binarmy. it is a
If it rises to the
big if ~ then whp knows fi’hat may not ‘hapjen.
occ’asiori
Perhaps in”“
years to come Bpitiéhfiufifiaypafirs at. this: season will carry cr‘ticles, not‘ about the‘myb‘h affine Itégurrectinn of an indivdual, “out aboufi the ‘Egoaus from Egzyptrwhich,‘ in its chnsequences! lain} the fgunaations of v
all rhhat isw‘no‘ble‘una redemptive in human civili’gation. ‘
.—
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