Our World: England

Showing posts with label England. Show all posts

Thursday, 14 June 2018

June 14, 1381 Simon of Sudbury his head hacked off as traitor

In 1380, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon of Sudbury became Lord Chancellor of England. It was an honor that cost him his life. Outraged by a corrupt church, a failing war with France, and the hardship of special taxes, England's peasants revolted. Under the leadership of men like Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, and John Ball, they petitioned for the abolition of serfdom, and the reform of tithes, game laws and use of the forests. Above all they wanted the hated poll (head) tax abolished. Archbishop Sudbury had approved this crushing burden. The Roman Church was at a low ebb of respect at the time, particularly because of the great schism which had rival popes warring with one another.

On this day, June 14, 1381, while Wat Tyler negotiated with the king, the mob broke into the Tower of London, shouting, "Where is the traitor to the kingdom? Where is the spoiler of the commons?" When they found Archbishop Sudbury, he was at prayer before an altar with some of his associates. The rebels dragged all of them outside and down some steps to Tower Hill where they hacked off their heads as traitors. Lifting the heads on pikes, they carried them in triumph through the city.

June 14, 1381

More Muslim children than Christian children growing up in our cities

England has to come to face what can be seen already in many cities at the continent.

Statistics from 2011 Census show more Muslim children than Christian growing up in Birmingham
Of 278,623 youngsters, 97,099 were registered as Muslim compared with 93,828 as Christian
A similar trend has emerged in the cities of Bradford and Leicester
Experts said more must be done to ensure that society does not become polarised along religious lines

English: More crowds on Brick Lane (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This frightens many Christians. What I do find strange is that of those scared Christians nobody wonders why so many Caucasians coming form a Catholic or protestant family (Anglican, Church of England) wanted to convert to a religion which was not for a long time originally present in their surroundings.

In England’s second* city of Birmingham, of 278,623 youngsters, 97,099 were registered as Muslim compared with 93,828 as Christian. The rest were of other faiths such as Hindu or Jewish, or none.

A similar trend has emerged in the cities of Bradford and Leicester, the towns of Luton, in Bedfordshire, and Slough in Berkshire, as well as the London boroughs Newham, Redbridge and Tower Hamlets, where nearly two-thirds of children are Islamic.

writes Paul Alexander in his article Children in many UK Towns and Cities now more likely to be Muslim rather than Christian.

I do agree with Professor Ted Cantle, of the ICoCo Foundation who said:

‘What we are seeing are several trends running together. There is a long-term decline in support for the established religions, notably Christianity; continuing immigration from the Asian sub-continent; and higher fertility among the Muslim population, which has a considerably lower age profile.

But to me it is not only by deepening segregation exacerbated by the loss of white population from cities, which the professor and many white people say. It is not only in the cities where we can find more intensive concentration of black and minority ethnic groups as a result of replacement, that we do find Muslims. In Belgium for example there are a lot of Belgians, with Belgian Caucasian ancestors, who converted to the Islam.

It is far too easy to point the finger to a so called "pace of demographic change" and saying that the Government has no policy to combat segregation

"because it inevitably reduces understanding and tolerance on both sides of the divide."

We should more come to see that we are going to a secularization because lots of people are not anymore interested in relgion and have no message in the god of others.

Why do not more people come to see that the churches in the West lost their flock? Churches are running, even so much that many churches already became closed and that in many villages there are not any more weekly services. For Sunday Mass people now have to go a few kilometres out of their doorstep, but this is perhaps demanded too much for them. So where is their connection with their faith and what do they want to do for their faith. The same can be said for their clergymen, are they really going out preaching, proclaiming the Word of God? How many Christians are willing to testify for their faith and do go out preaching the Gospel of the Good News?

Do Christians not have to see in their own bosom, to find that not many Christians really have a true faith?

There is still hope for the Christian community to have it back growing or not diminishing any more.

The figures show that Christianity is still the dominant religion in every local authority area in England and Wales, even in the most culturally diverse towns and cities.

Of the 45.5million participants, 27.9million subscribed to Christianity, compared with 1.8million Muslims, the second largest grouping.

However, among dependent children – defined as those aged up to 15, or between 16 and 18 and in education and still living at home – the gap is narrower.

Of 12.1million youngsters, 6.1million were Christian and 1million were Muslim. And in some places, the balance has now tipped towards Islam.

In Bradford, 52,135 children are Muslims (45 per cent) next to 47,144 Christians; in Leicester the figures are 22,693 and 18,190 respectively.

The widest gap is in Tower Hamlets where 62 per cent of children are Islamic, outnumbering Christians by 34,597 to 8,995.

writes Paul Alexander.

Sughra Ahmed, president of the Islamic Society of Britain, said:

‘Britain’s Muslims make up just 5 per cent of the population but have a younger demographic profile than other faiths, as these figures show. It matters to us all that this next generation of young British Muslims develops a clear and confident sense of their British identity alongside their Muslim faith. It’s important that schools teach all of our children the values of respect and tolerance.

For every Western country it is important that all children learn to respect all other cultures and religions.

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Note: *The Daily Mail, Sept. 15, 2014, denotes Birmingham as England’s “second city” but some estimates rank Birmingham as the third largest city by population, below Manchester and London.

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Friday, 25 April 2014

Christianity to be enshrined

In a letter to The Telegraph, eight leading thinkers including Prof Roger Scruton, the philosopher and writer, insist that the moderate brand of Christianity “enshrined” in the British constitution actively protects those of other faiths and none.

The letter was published as Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, who is himself an atheist, said it was “flamingly obvious” that Britain is founded on Christian values.

David Robertson in the course of a 90 second talk had used the words "Britain's Christian traditions". It was enough to get him excluded by a particular member of the BBC's thought police. One wonders if the Prime Minister, David Cameron will be allowed to say his latest remarks on the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Many object to the British Prime Minister his characterisation of Britain as a “Christian country” and the negative consequences for politics and society that this engenders.

"In his call for more evangelism, Mr Cameron is exclusively tying himself to one faith group, inevitably to the exclusion of others," opined Elizabeth O'Casey, Policy and Research Office at the National Secular Society. She also warned the British people that we are moving away from the concept of all of us being "rights-bearing citizens first and foremost, with democratic autonomy and equality, regardless of which faith they happen to have, or not have".

At a social level, Britain has been shaped like many other European countries for the better by many pre-Christian, non-Christian, and post-Christian forces. They are a plural society with citizens with a range of perspectives. To call it religious is taking the religious element out of proportion. I do know many call Belgium also a Catholic country, but if you would question the citicens about their beliefs, wou would get a total different opinion. They mix Catholic and Christian as if it is the same, because they do not know the diffenrence and most of them do not know what Catholicisim enhales.

Most citicens donot want to recognise they have gone far away form religion and certainly far away for m the reall Christian and Jewish values.

The inhabitants of the West European countries should come to realize that they are a largely non-religious society.

I would agree with more than 55 signatories:

Constantly to claim otherwise fosters alienation and division in our society. Although it is right to recognise the contribution made by many Christians to social action, it is wrong to try to exceptionalise their contribution when it is equalled by British people of different beliefs. This needlessly fuels enervating sectarian debates that are by and large absent from the lives of most British people, who do not want religions or religious identities to be actively prioritised by their elected government.

Gavin Littaur reacts also:

David Cameron should be more careful when pontificating about Christianity, given that he does not speak for those (such as myself, a Jew), who are not necessarily of his faith and beliefs.

The Prime Minister’s urging of Britons to be “more evangelical about a faith that compels us to get out there” is particularly unfortunate. It is at best tactless and at worst an exemplification of the zealous proselytising of extremists.

The commentator finds the letter against David Cameron just the latest expression of an infantile multi-culturalism that has done terrible damage to social cohesion precisely because it is too weak to create any substantial bonds of identity.

The Church of England is the established church and the Queen is the head of it for reasons which are deeply bound up with the country's political, religious and cultural inheritance.

Neither does the fact that most people don't nowadays go to church on a Sunday mean that Christian values and symbols do not play a vital role in national life. Whenever there's a national tragedy -- the death of Diana for example -- watch how quickly Christianity moves back into centre stage.

says The commentator.

As in Belgium the Catholic church may be the main church, the Church of England is the established church in England, but that does not mean that most British citizens would adhere to that church or believe in the God of that church.
It is not because when we go from place to place, where we may find everywhere in any town or village across the country a local church, that we may find religious people coming to that church aor that it is functional or not. It tells more about the past than about the present. In most countries those village churches are most of the time empty buildings.

More than anything else the church buildings may define the local landscape and the visual community of which we are all a part, but that does not tell us that they and we are from the same religious community, nor believing in the same things.

Friday, 14 February 2014

19° century London and Unitarians

It is not like certain website may want to believe people that the "original movement began in Poland back in the mid-1500s when a member of the Minor Reformed Church challenged the Trinity doctrine."

Unitarians, are people wanting to keep to Only One True God have been around for ages. Though we do agree that the the church denomination which is called Unitarian Church did come into existence many years after the death of the son of God. Most people in Poland were such believers in Only One God and took Jesus as the son of God, who really died, whilst God can not die.
Those who agreed with the member of the Minor Reformed Church who challenged the Trinity doctrine were given the ultimatum to convert to Roman Catholicism or leave.

Most of the once preferring to keep to the biblical Truth went to Transylvania, which is where they first used the name “Unitarian” to describe themselves.

Unitarianism came to the U.S. in the 1780s; Boston’s King’s Chapel was its first church. Many Unitarians, including the ones who attended church with the family of Andrew Sullivan, the author of the Dish, refer to themselves as Universalists. The term originally meant universal salvation, opposing the idea that God would punish or not save anyone. …

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19°Century U.K.

Unitarianism has made way in England.

Newington Green Unitarian Church, London, England. Built in 1708, this is the oldest non-conformist church in London still in use as a church. (October 2005) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act became law the Unitarians in England were a small sect, and had not a single place of worship. It was not till 1779 that it ceased to be required of Dissenting ministers that they should subscribe to the Articles of the Church of England previous to taking the benefit of the Toleration Act, and even this small boon was twice thrown out in the Upper House by the King’s friends and the Bishops. In 1813, however, one of the most cruelly persecuting statutes which had ever disgraced the British code received its death-blow, and the Royal assent was given to an Act repealing all laws passed against those Christians who impugn the commonly received doctrine of the Trinity. It was no easy matter to get this act of justice done; the Bishops and the Peers were obstinate.

In 1772, we read, the Bishop of Llandaff made a most powerful speech, and produced from the writings of Dr. Priestley passages which equally excited the wonder and abhorrence of his hearers, and drew from Lord Chatham exclamations of “Monstrous! horrible! shocking!” A few years after we find Lord North contending it to be the duty of the State to guard against authorizing persons denying the doctrine of the Trinity to teach. Even as late as 1824, Lord Chancellor Eldon doubted (as he doubted everything that was tolerant in religion or liberal in politics) as to the validity of this Act, and hinted that the Unitarians were liable to punishment at common law for denying the doctrine of the Trinity. Yet the Unitarians have a remote antiquity. They can trace their descent to Apostolic times, and undoubtedly were an important element in the National Church, in the days of William and the Hanoverian succession.

Dr. Parr, says Mr. Barker,

“spoke to me of the latitudinarian divines with approbation. He agreed with me in thinking that the most brilliant era of the British Church since the Reformation was when it abounded with divines of that school;”

and certainly Unitarians may claim to be represented at the present day in Broad Churchmen within the Establishment, and in divines of a similar way of thinking without. They have been much helped by their antagonists. No man was less of a Unitarian than the late Archbishop Whately, yet, in a letter to Blanco White, he candidly confessed,

“Nothing in my opinion tends so much to dispose an intelligent mind towards anti-Trinitarian views as the Trinitarian works.”

As a sect, the Unitarians are a small body, and at one time were much given to a display of intelligent superiority as offensive in public bodies as in private individuals. They were narrow and exclusive, and had little effect on the masses, who were left to go to the bad, if not with supercilious scorn, at any rate with genteel indifference. There was in the old-fashioned Unitarian meeting-houses something eminently high and dry. In these days, when we have ceased to regard heaven—to quote Tom Hood — as anybody’s rotten borough, we smile as a handful of people sing—

“We’re a garden walled around,
Planted and made peculiar ground;”

yet no outsider a few years ago could have entered a Unitarian chapel without feeling that such, more or less, was the abiding conviction of all present.

“Our predominant intellectual attitude,”

Mr. Orr confesses to be one reason of the little progress made by the denomination. A Unitarian could no more conceal his sect than a Quaker. Generally he wore spectacles; his hair was always arranged so as to do justice to his phrenological development; on his mouth there always played a smile, half sarcastic and half self-complacent. Nor was such an expression much to be wondered at when you remembered that, according to his own idea, and certainly to his own satisfaction, he had solved all religious doubts, cleared up all religious mysteries, and annihilated, as far as regards himself, human infirmities, ignorance, and superstition. It is easy to comprehend how a congregation of such would be eminently respectable and calm and self-possessed; indeed, so much so, that you felt inclined to ask why it should have condescended to come into existence at all.

Mrs. Jarley’s waxworks, as described by that lady herself, may be taken as a very fair description of an average Unitarian congregation at a no very remote date. Little Nell says, “I never saw any waxworks, ma’am; is it funnier than Punch?” “Funnier?” said Mrs. Jarley, in a shrill voice, “it is not funny at all.” “Oh,” said Nell, with all possible humility. “It is not funny at all,” repeated Mrs. Jarley; “it’s calm, and what’s that word again—critical? No, classical—that’s it; it’s calm and classical. No low beatings and knockings about; no jokings and squeakings like your precious Punch’s, but always the same, with a constantly unchanging air of coldness and gentility.”

Now it was upon this coldness and gentility that the Unitarians took their stand; they eliminated enthusiasm, they ignored the passions, and they failed to get the people, who preferred, instead, the preaching of the most illiterate ranter whose heart was in the work.

In our day a wonderful change has come over Unitarianism. It is not, and it never was, the Arianism born of the subtle school of Alexandrian philosophy, and condemned by the orthodox Bishops at Nicea; nor is it Socinianism as taught in the sixteenth century, still less is it the Materialism of Priestley.

CDV portrait of James Martineau (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Men of the warmest hearts and greatest intellects belonging to it actually disown the name, turn away from it as too cold and barren, and in their need of more light, and life, and love, seek in other denominations what they lack in their own. The Rev. James Martineau, a man universally honoured in all sections of the universal church, confesses:

“I am constrained to say that neither my intellectual preference nor my moral admiration goes heartily with the Unitarian heroes, sects, or productions of any age. Ebionites, Arians, Socinians, all seem to me to contrast unfavourably with their opponents, and to exhibit a type of thought and character far less worthy, on the whole, of the true genius of Christianity. I am conscious that my deepest obligations, as a learner from others, are in almost every department to writers not of my own creed. In philosophy I have had to unlearn most that I had imbibed from my early text-books and the authors in chief favour with them. In Biblical interpretation I derive from Calvin and Whitby the help that fails me in Crell and Belsham. In devotional literature and religious thought I find nothing of ours that does not pale before Augustine Tauler and Pascal; and in the poetry of the Church it is the Latin or the German hymns, or the lines of Charles Wesley or Keble, that fasten on my memory and heart, and make all else seem poor and cold.”

This is the language of many beside Mr. Martineau — of all, indeed, to whom a dogmatic theology is of little import compared with a Christian life.

Let us attempt to describe Unitarianism negatively. In one of his eloquent sermons in its defence, the late W. J. Fox said,

“The Ebionites, Arians, is not essential to Unitarianism; Dr. Price was a Unitarian as well as Dr. Priestley, so is every worshipper of the Father only, whether he believes that Christ was created before all worlds, or first existed when born of Mary. Philosophical necessity is no part of Unitarianism. Materialism is no part of Unitarianism. The denial of angels or devils is no part of Unitarianism.”

Unitarianism has no creed, yet briefly it may be taken to be the denial of a Trinity of persons in the Godhead, or of the natural depravity of man, or that sin is the work of the devil, or that the Bible is a book every word of which was dictated by God, or that Christ is God united to a human nature, or that atonement is reconciliation of God to man. Furthermore, the Unitarians deny that regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit, or that salvation is deliverance from the punishment of sin, or that heaven is a state of condition without change, or that the torments of hell are everlasting.

It may be that the Broad Churchman entertains very much the same opinions, but then the Unitarian minister has this advantage over the Church clergyman, that he is free. He has not signed articles of belief of a contrary character. He has not to waste his time and energy in sophistications which can deceive no one, still less to preach that doctrine so perilous to the soul, and destructive of true spiritual growth, and demoralizing to the nation, that a religious, conscientious man may sign articles that can have but one sense and put upon them quite another. Surely one of the most sickening characteristics of the age is that divorce between the written and the living faith, which, assuming to be progress, is in reality cowardice.

- p. 196 - p 202 from The Religious Life of London by J. Ewing Ritchie

Release Date: June 16, 2010  [eBook #32844]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Religious Life of London, by J. EwingRitchie

Preceding article: 19° Century London Christadelphians and the Religious Life Of London

19° century London and Unitarians

continues with: 19° century London, Unitarians and Evangelical Alliance

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Wednesday, 20 March 2013

Christadelphian School in South Wales

The proposal for a Christadelphian School in South Wales has been unsuccessful due to lack of political support from the Welsh Government and Local Education Authority. In England, however, faith schools are looked on more favourably and are being encouraged, to a certain extent, by the government's free school initiative.

Rathmines_2011_ 028 (Photo credit: MargaretBee)

There is a strong demand in Birmingham in terms of Christadelphian families wishing to send their children to a Heritage College. There are also a number of people prepared to support a project in terms of data collection, financial advice, sourcing a suitable location and writing the necessary documentation etc. In spite of this, no-one has come forward to lead the project.

Is there anyone in your ecclesia prepared to take on this role? There is full support available for any brother or sister prepared to take the Heritage College Birmingham on (both from our Swansea team and the newschoolsnetwork.org). It would be a shame to miss such an opportunity, especially as the school would be open to children from a non-Christadelphian background, and would thus be a strong vehicle for preaching the gospel as well as providing an excellent education. Anyone wanting further information should contact us - Andy & Sarah Joiner (project.managers@heritagecollege.co.uk or telephone 01792 232001).

It is also worth noting that Andy & Sarah Joiner have collected in the region of 6,000.00.pounds If there is no other group in the UK prepared to try to start a Christadelphian School, then the money we have collected will be given to an existing Heritage College(s).

Thursday, 7 February 2013

Jehovah in the BASF

George Booker looks at the BASF as a time-honored document. It has stood the test of generations, and if we let down our guard on a single matter, then we surely will have offended in all points!

No manmade statement can be perfect because it is, in the best case, the expression of saving truth by some fallible man (or committee of fallible men). You know what they say about a camel? It’s a horse designed by a committee.
But then it might be said, ‘It is the best we have, or are likely to have.’ This probably means, ‘We have no mechanism in the brotherhood for improving it — so you and I just have to make the best of it.’
This may be true. But then again, nothing was ever changed without somebody (forerunner, troublemaker, agitator, visionary: take you pick) suggesting that it could be changed.
Is someone who suggests that the BASF could be changed (i.e., improved) a heretic? Suppose the change could bring this “touchstone” of a Christadelphian statement of faith closer to the Biblical standard — we already know it isn’t perfect, so that is a possibility. Shouldn’t such proposals be discussed?

In North America it has been used to exclude from fellowship a lot of folks who would have been accepted long ago if they lived in Australia or the UK.

According to sources at The Christadelphian Office, “Yahweh” never occurs in the original version of the first Birmingham Statement of Faith, nor the earliest versions of the BASF. However, “Jehovah” does!

Which name of God is acceptable and suitable for Christadelphians to use? Well, the name “Jehovah” does appear in the BASF, but the name “Yahweh” never does, at least not in the “real” BASF, the one the was written in England and then amended there in 1898. That one used “Jehovah”!

The funny thing is: a lot of Christadelphians (in North America for sure) think they not only must substitute “Yahweh” for “God” when they do the Bible readings (even when the original text doesn’t allow for it!), but they just might throw out someone who tried to slip a “Jehovah” in there.

Jehovah-God%27s_Name_ (Photo credit: ideacreamanuelaPps)

On the other hand, probably many others would say, “So what?” Still they allow the “Yahweh” clique to persist and proselytize, oblivious to the evidence against it in the earliest BASF. A bit of an ironic or sarcastic anomalous situation, don’t you think? (If you’re not sure what that meant, feel free to look it up for homework. You may be tested.

Description unavailable (Photo credit: Tom Paton)

By the way, an informal and unscientific survey suggests that, worldwide, there may be many more Central Fellowship ecclesias that use “Yahweh” than those that use “Jehovah”. This also means, of course, that — strictly speaking — they are not truly BASF ecclesias. But I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell them!

Course Notes:
Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 4

WCF

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About God's Name find a.o.:

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Saturday, 22 December 2012

People are turning their back on Christianity

English: Catholic Church in Europe - percentag...

Catholic Church in Europe - percentage by country (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the world Christians number 2.2 billion, or about one-in-three (32%) people worldwide. About half of all Christians are Catholic (50%). An estimated 37% of Christians belong to the Protestant tradition, broadly defined to include Anglicans as well as independent and nondenominational churches. The Orthodox Communion, including the Greek and Russian Orthodox, make up 12% of Christians. And people who belong to other traditions that view themselves as Christian (including Christian Scientists, Mormons, Christadelphians and Jehovah’s Witnesses) make up about 1% of the global Christian population.

Most Christians (87%) live in countries where Christians are in the majority. Of the 232 countries and territories included in this study, 157 have Christian majorities. However, most of the Christian-majority countries have relatively small populations: about seven-in-ten have fewer Christians than the Christian-minority country of Vietnam (7 million Christians).

Last year’s census in England about faith showed that most of the English people are not really interested in faith, God and religion. Nearly one-in-three people declared themselves to be non-religious.

The number identifying themselves as Christians in England is down 13 percentage points. In 2001, 72% (37.3 million) called themselves Christians. In 2011 that had dropped to 59% (33.2 million).

grl-christian-1

Interestingly, Christianity is not down everywhere. Newham, Haringey, Brent, Boston and Lambeth have all shown increases in the Christian population.

The 2011 census has seen the proportion of Christians in North Somerset drop from 75 per cent to 61 per cent during the past decade – a fall of about 18,000 people.

While the percentage of Buddhists, Jews, Muslims and Hindus have remained stable, the proportion of those indicated they had no religious affiliation has almost doubled to 30 per cent.

Sunday mass attendance in England and Wales has fallen by half from the 1.8m recorded in 1960; the average age of parishioners has risen from 37 in 1980 to 52 now. In America attendance has declined by over a third since 1960. Less than 5% of French Catholics attend regularly, and only 15% in Italy. Yet as the mainstream wanes, traditionalists wax.

Reverend Gill Putnam, lead chaplain for Chaplaincy about Town, played down fears that North Somerset, and the country as a whole, are shunning religious practices.
She said: “We are still predominantly a Christian nation. Those who have no religious affiliation or who don’t think of themselves affiliated to any church organisation, will have some sort of faith as we are all spiritual beings.”

That the institutional Catholic Church is in a state of crisis is surely an understatement. It has been widely castigated and scorned for the disclosures of sexual abuse and its grossly inadequate response, including cover-ups and protection of perpetrators.

English: Mar Mathew Arackal (Bishop of Kanjirappally Eparchy) and Rev. Dr. Prasant Palakkappilly C.M.I (Principal, Thevara Sacred Heart College) along with other priests at the tomb of Servant of God Fr. Varghese Payapilly Palakkappilly. Mar Thoma Cross, symbolizing the heritage and identity of the Syrian Church of Saint Thomas Christians, is seen in the hands of the bishop. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Professional theologians the last few years showed their dissatisfaction with the state of affairs. In Austria started a much more radical Catholic priests’ initiative, for a “Call for disobedience”, later repeated in Belgium.The Protestant church of the Netherlands (PKN = Protestantse Kerk Nederland) and the Flemish Catholic priests launched in 2007 and 2011 a Manifest for believers Manifest “Gelovigen nemen het woord”,

The first manifest: Manifest ‘Wij kiezen voor eenheid’ or ‘We choose for unity’ consecrated on the union many believers of the Christian faith wanted to see between all those who call themselves Christian. a lot of Christians where found discussing and created confusion by lots of people. The whole situation with all the disasters of sex-abuse, financial fraud, dishonesty made the belief and church-business distasteful. An unacceptable abuse of power and lack of accountability, by many of the bishops and Vatican officials, in complete contravention of the decisions and declarations at Vatican II in favour of a collegial church, and a Church of all the people, mad people draw away from the Catholic church but also from Christianity.

The manifesto for believers Manifest “Gelovigen nemen het woord” presented to the Belgian belief community at the turn of the year hit like a bomb. It got the approval from 8233 religiously but had probably more counter parts. A lot of Roman Catholics launched a counter attack. In the month January the reaction was so violently that the initiators took away their website with further definitions.{See: Manifests for believers #3 Catholic versus Protestant)

A big problem in history of Christianity is that from the 4th century power became more important and priests and bishops became vicars of the pope. the clergy became very much connected with particular institutions and represented more a denomination instead representing Christ and working for God.

No only the ordinary civilian has had doubts of what is written in the Bible, many theologians, who had already mixed a lot of philosophical and pagan teaching in their writings confused people more and they themselves became also so confused that many did not mind openly to declare that they did not believe in God. How in Gods name could they than bring people to God?

The Catholic clergy is aware that abuse of choosing for leadership offices in the church only candidates of a particular mindset, should be eradicated.They would like to see new norms to be laid down and supervised to ensure that elections to such offices are conducted in a fair, transparent and, to the extent possible, democratic fashion.

The reality of today's Catholic Church is that the Spirit is suppressed in many ways. Lay people have no channel to voice their insights and take decisions. Theologians are muzzled. Free expression through normal church media is virtually non-existent. Even Bishops Conferences and the Central Synod of Bishops cannot genuinely make their own contributions. Paul's warnings: "Do not extinguish the Spirit! Do not treat the gift of prophecy with contempt!" (1 Thessalonians 5,19), are not heeded at all.

The Reverend Michael Keane, a contemporary of the
    signatories to the Irish Bishops Pastoral, The Work of Justice, was recently
    reinstated after a 23 year suspension visited on him in response to challenges
    based on conscience writes:

“People today talk much about following their own conscience. Yet the strange thing is that this is the very time when so many people will follow with blind obedience in whatever direction their conscience is led by their group or movement or political party, their firm, or union, or professional organisation. We allow much of our moral thinking to be done for us by committees or by ‘headquarters’, or by the mass media. We need to inform and educate our conscience and have the courage to stand by it even if we stand alone. We cannot rest content with situations where we find ourselves as members of some organisation, doing things which personally we would never do and which privately we know to be wrong, or failing to say or do things we know to be our duty. As someone put it recently, ‘We must not allow governments, corporations and unions to do our sinning for us’. Selfish, sectional and unjust actions committed by my group are in part my responsibility. It is not enough, to examine my conscience about my personal behaviour, I need also to examine myself about actions of a group of which I am a member.”

The Second Vatican Council prescribed collegiality and co-responsibility on all levels. This has not been realised. Priestly senates and pastoral councils, as envisaged by the Council, should involve the faithful more directly in decision making concerning the formulation of doctrine, the running of the pastoral ministry and evangelization in secular society.

The Roman curia requires a more radical reform, in line with the instructions and vision of Vatican II. The curia should be retained for its useful administrative and executive roles.

To bring religious matters to the public they would love to see a congregation for the doctrine of the faith being assisted by international commissions of experts who have been independently chosen for their professional competence.

The exercise of authority in the Catholic church should emulate the standards of openness, according to the protesting priests, who understand that the principal source of present-day stagnation lies in misunderstanding and abuse affecting the exercise of authority in our Church.
The role of the papacy needs to be clearly re-defined in line with Christ's intentions they do find. "As supreme pastor, unifier and prime witness to faith, the pope contributes substantially to the health of the universal church. However, his authority may never obscure, diminish or suppress the authentic authority directly given by Christ to all members of the people of God." they say.

It is because the leadership could not be seen to be honest and credible; inspired by humility and service; breathing concern for people that many believers lost faith in the church.
In many denominations people could see that those churches where preoccupied with rules and a one-sided discipline.

The attitude of certain denominations to people who are feeling different than the majority creates also a lot of problems.
In a speech to the Vatican Curia today, Pope Benedict made what is considered to be one of his strongest attacks yet on gay marriage. Over the past few years, the Pope has made known his opposition to homosexual conduct in no uncertain terms, previously describing it as an “objective disorder“. This view has been repeated by numerous representatives of his senior executive team throughout the world.
Such strong words and showing not a Christian love for other people is still getting more people leaving that church.

Instead of finding a liberating faith, many people did find that those churches were trying to put them in chains of obedience to the institution. Those churches are and were not radiating a Christ who makes us free.

We have to face the reality that we live in a fallen and broken world. People are sinful and are not perfect – that is the simple truth. Also clergy can do faults and are not free of sin. They are people like all other people, but who should take on the function of being an example for others. So they should be even more careful not to sin, and to live impeccable.

To stop people turning their back to church, it has to think seriously how to be representatives of God and how they can form a community worthy of the Lord.

Continue reading: Democratic principles for the church of today

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Do find:
Catholic Scholar's Jubilee Declaration

Please do read:

Manifests for believers #1 Sex abuse setting fire to the powder

Manifests for believers #2 Changing celibacy requirement

Manifests for believers #3 Catholic versus Protestant

Find also in Dutch:

Een Manifest voor Gelovigen

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Welcome

Welcome at this zone created by Marcus Ampe for the Belgian Free Christadelphians, where previous articles from the MSN Groups and Multiply are brought together and made available again to the general public. On 2012 October 26 this site came into development and new articles shall be added next to our main site and to the Christadelphian Ecclesia site: Christadelphian Ecclesia.
You are welcome at that site to find more articles.

All who want to follow Jesus/Jeshua (Yeshua/Yahsua) from Nazareth, the Christ, the Messiah and wants to be united with people who sincerely want to keep to those teachings of this masterteacher are welcome to share their love for Christ and their hope for the coming Kingdom.

The names "Christadelphia" and 'Christadelphian' is compounded of two Greek words: 'christos' and 'adelphoi' and means 'brethren in Christ'.

This site is created by a Free Christadelphian only bounded to Jesus Christ. We are open to anybody who wants to share the brotherly love of Christ. Coming together by a common belief in 'the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ' (Acts 8:12).

In the older Multiply messages links to Multiply shall not always work from 2012 December 1, but you shall be able to find them by copying and pasting the title in the search machine. I have worked on re-editing those links from 2005 onwards, so that they could work in the future, but it became a to much time consuming job, so I stopped doing it after a while. (My apologies for certain links not working any more.)

Thanks for visiting us and hope to see you again.

Welkom

Wij wensen allen welkom die hier op deze pagina's terecht komen en hopen dat zij geïnspireerd mogen geraken om verder de Bijbel ter hand te nemen en zelf op onderzoek te gaan wat er in de Heilige Schrift werkelijk staat.

De namen "Christadelphia" en "Christadelphian" is een samentelling van twee Griekse woorden : "Christos" en "adelphoi" en betekent 'broer in Christus'. De Christadelphians zijn een groep van mensen die samen verbonden zijn door hun gemeenschappelijk geloof betreffende de dingen aangaande het Koninkrijk van God en de naam van Jezus Christus (Jeshua, de Messias) (Handelingen van de Apostelen 8v12).
Christadelphian mensen zouden tot een wereldwijde gemeenschap moeten behoren, wiens doel is zo trouw als mogelijke de leerstelling en voorbeeld van Jezus/Jehsua Christus te volgen, zoals het geregistreerd staat in de Bijbel.
In een wereld die vol is van onzekerheden genieten wij van een eenvoudig, rechtstreeks en logisch geloof, dat nu al vrede en voldoening aanbiedt en de belofte van het nog te komen eeuwigdurende vreugderijk: het Koninkijk van God.

Op deze site, gecreëerd door Marcus Ampe voor de Vrije Belgische Christadelphians, of Broeders in Christus, zijn in oktober 2012 de vroegere berichten uit de MSN Groepen en Multiply samen gebracht en terug zichtbaar gemaakt voor het algemeen publiek.

Meerdere linken in de vroegere artikelen zullen vermoedelijk niet werken, maar u kan de titel dan kopiëren en plakken in het "Zoek" venster om zo bij het juiste artikel te komen. Ik maakte er werk van om de artikelen vanaf 2005 terug te editen en daarin de linken te vernieuwen, zodat zij terug zouden werken. Maar dit vroeg zo veel tijd dat ik het heb opgegeven. Daarom verzoek ik mij te verontschuldigen indien u een link tegen komt die niet meer werkt.

Vanaf 26 oktober 2012 is deze website opengesteld naar het publiek en zullen er in de toekomst nog enkele artikelen bij komen. Maar de meerderheid van de teksten zullen nu geplaatst worden op de site van de Vlaamse Broeders in Christus of Christadelphians en op de kerkgemeenschapssite
Christadelphian Ecclesia.

Graag ontmoeten wij u daar voor meerdere artikelen.

Our World

Pages

Thursday, 14 June 2018

June 14, 1381 Simon of Sudbury his head hacked off as traitor

Wednesday, 8 October 2014

More Muslim children than Christian children growing up in our cities

Friday, 25 April 2014

Christianity to be enshrined

Friday, 14 February 2014

19° century London and Unitarians

19°Century U.K.

Wednesday, 20 March 2013

Christadelphian School in South Wales

Thursday, 7 February 2013

Jehovah in the BASF

George Booker

Saturday, 22 December 2012

People are turning their back on Christianity

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Thursday, 14 June 2018

Wednesday, 8 October 2014

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Friday, 14 February 2014

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