Christian Teaching Resources

Tim Farron resigned as leader of the UK Liberal Democratic party in 2017. He said he was “torn between living as a faithful Christian and serving as a political leader” and later said “I put Christ ahead of my career.”  He also said he had been the “subject of suspicion” because of his own beliefs. On the one hand, this is a very sad comment on modern politics. On the other, Tim is to be congratulated on his choice.

In 2019 he gave an interview in which he said: “I’m somebody who believes in a secular society; I’m very much strongly opposed to a clerical state – I even think the Church of England should be disestablished. But just as I oppose Christianity being the State faith, I also 100 per cent oppose atheism as the State faith, and that appears to be where we’ve got to in reality. A real liberal society is one where different worldviews hold together in the same space. Not one dominant one telling all the other ones they’ve got to genuflect towards them.”

He is right in saying that British society is becoming increasingly secular and de facto atheist in the sense that some politicians are real atheists and others feel their faith is a personal and private matter, not something that should govern their political opinions and decisions. He is also right that different opinions and different religious views should be tolerated.

But his statement ignores a very important factor – the influence of Christianity in the establishment of the rule of law, democracy and human rights.

Tom Holland – “I was wrong about Christianity”

Tom Holland is a very accomplished and respected historian. He was brought up in a Christian family but turned away from the faith. He came to believe that Christianity brought about “an age of superstition and credulity.” He accepted the popular view that Christianity held back culture until the Enlightenment. He was fascinated with the ancient Romans and Greeks.

However, after much study, although still an agnostic, he came to realise that it was Christianity that shaped much of what we value in Western society in terms of human rights, culture, and rule of law. He eventually wrote an article in the New Statesman in 2016 entitled “Why I was wrong about Christianity.” In it he said “It took me a long time to realise my morals are not Greek or Roman, but thoroughly, and proudly, Christian.

In a later article “Why even atheists think like Christians,” written in 2019, he said “For a millennium now, to live in Britain has been to live in a society saturated by Christian concepts and assumptions. Prime ministers today – even the devoutest – may shrink from publicly “doing God”; but across the political spectrum, the motivation of politicians and voters alike remains impossible to understand without also recognising the enduring influence on this country of Christianity.”

Atheists agree with Holland

In 2006 Jurgen Habermas, an atheist philosopher wrote “For the normative self-understanding of modernity, Christianity has functioned as more than just a precursor or catalyst. Universalistic egalitarianism, from which sprang the ideals of freedom and a collective life in solidarity, the autonomous conduct of life and emancipation, the individual morality of conscience, human rights and democracy, is the direct legacy of the Judaic ethic of justice and the Christian ethic of love.”[i]

In 2001 atheist philosopher Jacques Derrida wrote “The concept of crime against humanity is a Christian concept and I think there would be no such thing in the law today without the Christian heritage, the Abrahamic heritage, the biblical heritage.”[ii]

John Gray is an atheist political philosopher with interests in analytic philosophy and the history of ideas. He reviewed Tom Holland’s book Dominion.[iii] He wrote about “the equal intrinsic worth of all human beings or the inherent preciousness of individual persons” and commented “These values – which secular thinkers nowadays take for granted – were placed at the heart of the Western world by Christianity. He added “Secular liberals will immediately point out that slavery was practised throughout Christendom during much of its history. Of course this is so, but the fact does not alter Holland’s central point. Even if Christianity in power sanctioned all manner of evils, it set a standard of goodness that simply did not exist in the pagan world.”

Later he writes “Holland seems to be suggesting that liberal values cannot survive the collapse of their Christian foundations … It may well be that liberal values as they were understood in the past are on the way out … If they read Dominion, as they certainly should, secular liberals might pause to reflect that they acquired their deepest values by chance from a religion they despise.”

Other supportive comments

Prof Howard Tumber says, “human rights is not a universal doctrine, but is the descendent of one particular religion (Christianity).”[iv]

Prof Brian Z. Tamanaha of Washington University points out that it was Christianity which established the rule of law, declaring all human beings to be equal in the sight of God. He wrote “The absolutist monarch inherited from Roman law was thereby counteracted and transformed into a monarch explicitly under law.”[v]

The church, particularly Archbishop Stephen Langton, was very influential in the production of the English Magna Carta in 1215.  It stated, for the first time that the monarch was subject to law and that citizens had legal rights. There was a strong Protestant influence in the establishment of the English Bill of Rights in 1689. It limited the powers of the monarch and set out the rights of Parliament and established the freedom to petition the monarch, the freedom from cruel and unusual punishments, the freedom from being fined without trial, etc. It also inspired the US Bill of Rights which was ratified in 1791.

Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States wrote “The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.”

The dangers of secularisation

Dr Augusto Zimmermann, an internationally known legal scholar, wrote an article in 2005 entitled “The Christian foundations of the rule of law in the West: a legacy of liberty and resistance against tyranny.” In it he warned about the dangers of secularisation.[vi] He wrote “The Bible has been historically recognized as the most important book for the development of both the rule of law and democratic institutions in the Western world. However, we have seen over these last decades a deep erosion of individual rights, with the growth of state power over the life and liberty of individuals. If the future we want for ourselves and our future generations is one of freedom under law, not absolute subjection to the arbitrary will of human authorities, we will have to restore the biblical foundations for the rule of law in the Western world. As such, the rule of law talks about the protection of the individual by God-given liberties, rather than by an all-powerful, law-giving government endowed by god-like powers over the civil society.”

However in the 19^th century, secularists concluded that Darwin’s theory of evolution removed the idea of God and so they replaced the law of God with the supremacy of the state. The state became the new absolute, in their opinion.

David Alton, Lord Alton of Liverpool, was the Liberal Party’s spokesman on Home Affairs. He was appointed as Professor of Citizenship at Liverpool John Moores University in 1997. In 2017 he wrote an article entitled “Western democracy needs Christian values.” In it he said “

“Democracy needs more than votes to sustain it. Without the solder of commonly held values welding together its constituent parts, democracies can easily disintegrate into competing interest groups and warring factions … We have seen crucifixes removed from classrooms; Christian midwives lose their jobs because they refuse to abort a child; universities deny free speech to Christian speakers; political leaders forced from office because they are told their beliefs are incompatible with ascendant angry atheism – like a secular illiberal mirror image of Sharia law … A democracy that simply depends on who gets the most votes leaves itself open to populism, opportunism, xenophobia, fake news and manipulation – especially in the era of social (or rather antisocial) media and the Twittersphere.

An inherent weakness of majoritarianism is that with the adept ability to affect election results through manipulation, fake news, scaremongering, appeals to greed, self-interest and the lowest common denominator, the interests of society as a whole can easily suffer.

But as we have disassociated religion and liberty, democracy and faith, we have unstitched the fabric that holds a society together and endangered its future. Too many of our Western elites preen themselves like peacocks while they reject and ridicule the values that offer the best defence against self-serving populism.”[vii]

The dangers of populism

There are different forms of populism and it can have different effects. But it is based on two principles:

• A country’s ‘true people’ are locked into conflict with outsiders, including establishment elites.
• Nothing should constrain the will of the true people.

Is populism the much-needed antidote to secularism? On the face of it, this may seem to be the case with a lot of populism. It can seem to be, to some extent, a religious backlash. Some of the populist leaders claim a link to religion and a reaction against secularisation. Donald Trump is a case in point. He maintains huge support from American Evangelicals. They support his opposition to a liberal attitude to abortion and his fairly radical support of Israel. His statements are sometimes Christian but much of his behaviour isn’t.

Vladimir Putin seeks partnership with the Russian Orthodox Church. Viktor Orban in Hungary claims to be Christian Democrat. Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil has support from Pentecostals and other Evangelicals. Matteo Salvini, who is aiming to be prime minister of Italy, used Catholic symbols in an election campaign and claimed the Virgin Mary was willing him to victory. Marine Le Pen in France and Geert Wilders in Holland refer to “Judeo-Christianity” as the pillar of western European civilisation.

However, are populist leaders really committed to the Christian faith or are they using it to gain support from Christians because they want to take over from the secularists?

Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Yale University, wrote an article in 2019 entitled “The populist right is forging an unholy alliance with religion.”[viii]  The article stated “we fail to see the global theological counter-revolution taking place right before our eyes. This dimension of our political moment might go a long way to explain why rightwing populists have scored so many victories in recent years: populists have proven very adept at hijacking religion.”

Olivier Roy is a Political Scientist and Professor at the European University Institute in Florence. In 2018 he wrote an article entitled ‘A kitsch Christianity’ [kitsch means poor quality]. He sees populism as a vehicle which appropriates Christian symbols for political ends while discarding the religion’s core values.  Roy states “When the populists refer to Christianity it is as an identity, with the explicit goal of excluding Islam from Europe. Christianity is for them a cultural factor, not a value system … Due to the Church’s lack of credibility and clarity, Christianity has been taken hostage by the populists and is turning into a kitsch Christianity.”

Ben Ryan is Head of Research at the Theos Think Tank. He speaks of the use of Christianity by populists as ‘Christianism’. He wrote “The challenge facing Christian groups … is to be able to differentiate themselves from those who have been using their religion for a crude political ideology.” He adds “In this new Christianism a string of populist leaders … have taken Christianity as a defining feature of national purity … this has little, if any, theological depth to it, but it is the application of Christianity to a political ideology, one that establishes the pure people against outsiders.”

The Bishop of Liverpool, in a sermon at St John’s College, Cambridge in 2018, gave a critical summary of Populism:

• The language of populism assumes that society is divided between, on the one hand, ‘the people’ (noble, innocent, hard done to and pure) and, on the other hand, ‘the elite’ (corrupt, greedy, unaccountable, ignorant of life on the ground, detached from most people’s reality) – and the elite are always ‘the others’.
• Populism feeds, and feeds off, emotion, not rational analysis.
• Populism is more about style than substance – feeling rather than policies.
• Populist leaders claim the ‘will of the people’ and quickly disregard democratic norms on the grounds that we are in crisis. Disruption is the name of the game: fearmongering, the promotion of conspiracy theories, the undermining of trust (in, for example, media and institutions).

He warned of the danger of populism, drawing a parallel with the support of German Christians for Hitler’s Reich and saying that “we have to learn to pay attention to those things in our society that need to be encouraged (kindness, generosity, justice and humaneness) and identify and challenge those that are destructive.”

Jan-Werner Müller Professor of Politics at Princeton University said that populism may claim to be based on democratic principles, but what it fosters is a kind of ‘deranged democracy’.

Dr Benjamin Moffitt, Research Fellow in Political Science at Stockholm University wrote a book in 2016 called “The Global Rise of Populism.” In it he describes the approach of populists as including “the demonstration of bad manners … a rejection of the conventions of political or even polite discourse; and the advancing of a narrative of crisis, breakdown or threat.” He adds that “populism uses media to construct political cultures.” More serious he writes about “populists flaunting their democratic tendencies at the same time as undoing democratic guarantees.”

Robert Kagan served in the US State Department and is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, which conducts research and education in the social sciences, particularly in foreign policy, global economy, and economic development. In 2019 he wrote an article in the Washington Post entitled “The strongmen strike back.”[ix] In it he expressed deep concern over the growth of authoritarianism in today’s world. He said that we were lulled into a false sense of security after the end of the cold war and “did not notice” that authoritarianism was regaining its power. Russia and China were obvious examples but “an authoritarian “backlash” spread globally, from Egypt to Turkey to Venezuela to Zimbabwe … curbing free expression and independent media.” He was referring to populists.

In 2018 Jordan Kyle, Senior fellow at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, and Yascha Mounk, a political scientist and assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University, produced a paper called “What Populists Do to Democracies.”[x] In it they stated “According to our research, populist governments have deepened corruption, eroded individual rights, and inflicted serious damage on democratic institutions.” They added “many populists are using positions of power to weaken democratic norms and institutions that are needed to safeguard liberal democracies over the long term.”

Conclusion

As always, we need to see the bigger picture about what is going on in the political world. There are of course genuine Christians (and people of other faiths) in politics but the overall trend is secular. Also the Coronavirus crisis has “brought the best” out of many people, but often that doesn’t include faith. Secularism is not just a movement seeking to separate church and state, keeping religion out of public education and preventing discrimination on the basis of religion. As David Alton puts it, in dissociating “religion and liberty, democracy and faith, we have unstitched the fabric that holds a society together and endangered its future.” Secularism undermines individual rights by replacing the rule of law over everyone, including political leaders, with the growth of state power. Instead of all citizens (and leaders) being equal under God and divine law, we become subject to an increasingly secularised, more and more powerful state. And the populist reaction is no better with its divisive, emotive, xenophobic, fearmongering approach and its attacks on the media and institutions, its fake news, etc.

We need to recognise that what is happening through secularism, populism and the growth of authoritarianism is a trend towards a godless dictatorship. There have, of course, been dictators in the past but we now live in the global village and whatever the present reactions against globalism, it will not go away. We are very interdependent economically and in many other ways. We are also deeply affected by powerful electronic media and very extensive surveillance.

The New Testament makes it clear that the End Times will be marked by rebellious, godless, authoritarianism (2 Thess 2:3-4). And we need to remember that Jesus (and Paul) told us to take note of this. Looking at the effects of secularism and the behaviour of some populists, it is not difficult to believe this. None of us knows the timescale of such a prophecy but we can recognise relevant trends.

The undermining of society through secularism and populism may not be corrected by political action. What is needed is revival which can bring a fundamental restoration of the church and a widespread transformation of society which can replace godless leadership.

The New Testament prophetic view of the future is that in the medium term the devil will appear to be winning: the Antichrist, persecution etc., but in the long term the Lord will win.  However in the short term, despite trends towards the medium term, we can pray for deliverance and correction of wrong trends, especially for revival, which is also a sign of the End.

Tony Higton

[i] Jürgen Habermas, (2006) “Conversation about God and the World.” Time of transitions. Cambridge: Polity Press, p. 150-151. Source: https://quotepark.com/quotes/1771824-jurgen-habermas-christianity-has-functioned-for-the-normative-self/

[ii] Jacques Derrida, “To Forgive: The Unforgivable and Imprescriptable,” in Questioning God, ed. John D. Caputo et al. (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2001), 70.

[iii] https://www.newstatesman.com/dominion-making-western-mind-tom-holland-review

[iv] Tumber, Howard; Waisbord, Silvio, eds. (2017). The Routledge Companion to Media and Human Rights. New York: Routledge. pp. 412–414.

[v] On the Rule of Law; History, Politics, Theory, Cambridge University Press 2004 p. 23

[vi] https://creation.com/the-christian-foundations-of-the-rule-of-law-in-the-west-a-legacy-of-liberty-and-resistance-against-tyranny

[vii] https://www.gisreportsonline.com/western-democracy-needs-christian-values,politics,2419.html

[viii] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/11/populists-right-unholy-alliance-religion

[ix] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2019/03/14/feature/the-strongmen-strike-back/

[x] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/hard-data-populism-bolsonaro-trump/578878/

Our hearts go out to those suffering from Covid 19 and we pray for their healing. We also need to pray for and care for our neighbours facing the effects of the crisis. We need, where possible, to help them as they face anxiety, loneliness, job loss, financial crisis, frustration and boredom. We need to pray for the government and NHS as they face huge demands and inadequate resources. I don’t for one moment minimise this suffering and self-sacrifice in what I am going to say now.

But we also need to ask about God’s perspective on the crisis. What is he saying? What is he doing? This may not become the worst pandemic in terms of the number of deaths. Some 200 million died in the Black Death and 40-50 million in the Spanish Flu epidemic following the terrible losses in World War 2. But it is having a very dramatic effect on society. Sky News referred to a week in mid-March as “frightening and bewildering.” The Chancellor of the Exchequer said “We have never in peace time had such an economic fight as this one.” One commentator said “The world will never be the same despite all technology because a very tiny invisible object can bring us down.”

This huge worldwide crisis comes at a time when there is also profound concern about the environment – and some scientists believe the spread of Coronavirus resulted from abuse of one aspect of the environment. It is also a time when persecution of Christians is worse than ever; when the Western world has largely turned away from its Christian heritage and when, as we noted recently, the church is officially abandoning important teaching of God’s Word. It is likely to result in the global economic system being under very serious threat (it doesn’t take much imagination to think it could at some stage collapse in a day as the Book of Revelation describes in chapter 18). It also comes at a time when there are significant events happening with respect to Israel. All of these things are matters which Jesus said were signs of the End. Although some of them are early recurring signs, the coinciding of them all is surely intended to make us prepare for his Return, as Jesus taught his disciples.

The serious effect and the context of Coronavirus show that it is an act of redemptive judgment, i.e. it is one of God’s warnings intended to lead us to repentance. It is making people think about their mortality and the meaning of life. Doubtless many outside the church will turn to prayer. People are likely to be more open to God than they have been. We trust also that leading Christians will use the media for evangelistic purposes.

The Coronavirus crisis is also God calling the church back to him. We now cannot even worship together! Yet we have seen the church develop endless, largely prayerless, committees, synods, reorganisations, regulations, administrative procedures, etc over recent decades. But God is calling the church back to himself – which primarily means extensive individual and, where feasible, corporate prayer. Jesus felt the need to major on prayer. How can we soft-pedal it? How many churches have prayer meetings? During this crisis many Christians will have time on their hands. We need to use that to major on prayer. It is vital to do so, not least because the Book of Revelation teaches that redemptive judgment, if unheeded, is followed by eternal judgment.

God is also calling the church back to his Word – not just renouncing liberalism but living biblically i.e. being radically biblical in the power of the Spirit. How many modern disciples match up to the standards Jesus taught “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even their own life – such a person cannot be my disciple … In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (Lk 14:26, 33). Obviously the word “hate” is not literal but it is Jesus’ dramatic call to put God way before all loved ones.  How many churches correct persistently sinful members as Jesus said they should? How many churches proclaim the sternness of God as well as his kindness, as Jesus did?

I have no delusions of grandeur – I am a tiny piece in God’s jigsaw picture. But I know that, out of the blue, in November 2015 he gave me a strong sense of call to major on prayer and preparation for Revival. He called me initially to invite people local to us to join in, then, to my surprise, to create a national mailing list, which he has blessed (see http://networkforrevival.co.uk/. The four years since then have been probably the most spiritually rewarding I’ve ever known. Now almost 600 people, mainly clergy, ministers and church leaders in the UK, are members of Network for Revival. This is significant and now we are confronted with this Coronavirus mega-crisis. I believe it is not a coincidence but a God-incidence.

Coronavirus is a call to redouble our prayer and preparation for revival. I believe God is calling us to pray that many, many people who feel vulnerable and therefore more open spiritually will turn to the Lord. The Coronavirus crisis is not just a difficult event. It is a powerful divine call to pray for Revival now. It is intended to give us a sense of urgency as we see remarkable events and trends in the world. I am very sympathetic to those affected by Coronavirus and, as a family, we are seeking to reach out to neighbours pastorally and evangelistically. But the fact that people feel vulnerable, sense their mortality and therefore are more open spiritually is, I believe, an answer to prayer. We need to pray they will concentrate on eternal realities and the need to be ready to meet God and that this will be a permanent change, not just whilst the crisis rules

We need to pray for revival to happen now. The way it comes about may be different from earlier revivals. Pray that this crisis will turn into revival. We must not miss this opportunity – for the sake of humanity – and for God’s sake. God is calling us – the matter is urgent!

NOTE: N T Wright has written an article entitled “Christianity offers no answers about the Coronavirus. It’s not supposed to.” I have a real respect for him as a theologian but believe he is mistaken in this article. I have written my response at https://christianteaching.org.uk/uncategorized/recognising-the-significance-of-major-events/

Tony Higton

I read an article by N T Wright (for whom I have  a lot of respect) entitled “Christianity Offers No Answers About the Coronavirus. It’s Not Supposed To” (https://time.com/5808495/coronavirus-christianity/). In it he writes “No doubt the usual silly suspects will tell us why God is doing this to us. A punishment? A warning? A sign? These are knee-jerk would-be Christian reactions in a culture which, generations back, embraced rationalism: everything must have an explanation. But supposing it doesn’t? … perhaps what we need more than either is to recover the biblical tradition of lament. Lament is what happens when people ask, “Why?” and don’t get an answer.”

I don’t have a problem with the idea that we do sometimes have to cope with things we can’t understand. That’s part of faith. But Wright goes on to say “It is no part of the Christian vocation, then, to be able to explain what’s happening and why. In fact, it is part of the Christian vocation not to be able to explain—and to lament instead.” I believe this statement is mistaken.

Yes, some Christians do jump to naive and embarrassing conclusions about the significance of current events. But, as is often the case, these people are going too far about events which we ought to be seeking to explain sensibly.  Extremism is often a valid truth taken to excess. It is baby and bathwater.

It is clear in the New Testament that Jesus does expect us “to be able to explain what’s happening and why” even though we will not be able to explain everything. He tells his disciples to “watch out” for “the beginning of birth pains” (rabbinic language for the sufferings which would precede the coming of Messiah) Matt 24:4-8. These are recurring signs – wars and rumours of wars, famines, earthquakes, persecution, people departing from the faith, false prophets, false messiahs. Luke adds “pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven” (Lk 21:11). No, we cannot predict the time of Jesus’ return, but we should be recognising the significance of the events which are birth pains of the Messiah.

It also seems reasonable to expect that these signs will increase in intensity as the time of the return of Christ approaches. In fact, Jesus goes on to later signs: “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Lk 21:25-28). There could be literal signs in the heavens. After all NASA is constantly watching out for near-earth asteroids.

The Coronavirus crisis comes at a time when persecution of Christians is worse than ever; when the Western world has largely turned away from its Christian heritage and when the church is abandoning important teaching of God’s Word; when a religion which proclaims a false christ is growing more and more dominant worldwide. It is likely to result in the global economic system being under very serious threat (it doesn’t take much imagination to think it could at some stage collapse in a day as the Book of Revelation describes in chapter 18).

It also comes at a time when there are significant events happening with respect to Israel. Luke records Jesus’ prophecy about the future of the Jewish people “They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Lk 21:24). It is quite clear that the falling by the sword, being exiled to all nations and Jerusalem being dominated by Gentiles was literally fulfilled. And then in the 20^th century Israel was re-established after 2000 years and the Jewish people regained control of Jerusalem. Are we to conclude that we should not “to be able to explain what’s happening and why” with respect to Israel. With 75% of the prophecy clearly fulfilled in history and the State of Israel being re-established after 2000 years, I find it impossible not to see prophetic significance in the re-establishment. It would have to be a massive coincidence if it is not significant (and I’m well aware of the political problems and justice issues, having ministered in Jerusalem for some years).

Jesus clearly doesn’t want his disciples to be surprised by these events but to “be always on the watch” (Lk 21:36). All of these things are matters which Jesus said were signs of the End. Although some of them are early recurring signs, the coinciding of them all is surely intended to make us prepare for his Return, as Jesus taught his disciples.

Since Jesus told us to watch out for pestilences as a “birth pain” of his coming, I think it is, to say the least, strange not to see this massive Coronavirus crisis as relevant and therefore “to be able to explain what’s happening and why.”

However, its significance is not just a sign of the End (which, according to Jesus, it is). We also need to remember that a very important aspect of God’s work over the centuries has been through prophets. Surely the very essence of prophecy is “to be able to explain what’s happening and why.” After all Amos says “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets” (Am 3:7). God called the prophets to see significance which many other people didn’t see.

God’s usual way of working, including in judgment, is through natural/human events. We need to seek insight into the significance of events and trends. That means we have to make prayerful judgments/assessments, but obviously we are not infallible.

It seems to me that N T Wright is dismissing the whole prophetic ministry which is prominent in Scripture. He is throwing the baby of genuine, prayerful prophetic discernment out with the bathwater of naïve, embarrassing jumping to false ‘prophetic’ conclusions.

Tony Higton

Human beings have an unhelpful tendency to believe what they want to believe. One example of this is to imagine that aborted babies are just blobs of jelly without awareness or feeling. However:

The remarkable early development of the human embryo

• 5-6 weeks after conception the unborn baby’s first electrical brain activity begins[i] and his/her heartbeat can be detected.

• 7 weeks after conception the unborn baby’s eyes (cornea, pupil, iris, lens, and retina) start developing. He/she can see light from about 16 weeks after conception.

• 8 weeks after conception the unborn baby can feel pain (Maureen Condic, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Utah, told the US congress: “The neural circuitry responsible for the most primitive response to pain, the spinal reflex, is in place by 8 weeks of development. This is the earliest point at which the foetus experiences pain in any capacity.” She added “There is universal agreement that pain is detected by the fetus in the first trimester [12-14 weeks].”[ii] Dr Stuart Derbyshire, research psychologist, who is pro-abortion, wrote in 2006 that “foetuses cannot experience pain”, but now acknowledges there is “good evidence” they can.[iii] Two other scholars state: “Sensitivity to touch, develops from 8 weeks” (Viola Marx and Emese Nagy, School of Psychology, University of Dundee).[iv]

• 11 weeks after conception the unborn baby can move his/her face and even smile; responds to light, noise and pressure.

So, even in the first three months of pregnancy, the unborn baby has remarkably human characteristics: brain activity, heartbeat, developing eyes, ability to smile and respond to light and noise. He/she can also feel pain. This is not a blob of jelly but very clearly an embryonic human being.

When does an embryo become a human being?

But is such an embryo really a human being? Some say no, the unborn becomes human later. I have always found this a totally unconvincing argument – but a very convenient one for proponents of abortion. To argue that an embryo is not human until some stage after conception is arbitrary wishful thinking. The only argument which makes sense is that an embryo is human from the point of conception – as soon as the male and female elements from the parents come together. That union of male and female elements makes sense as an important enough development to mean the creation of a new human being. Nothing else which happens during the pregnancy logically warrants the idea that the embryo suddenly becomes human.

The idea that separation from the mother’s body is the point at which an embryo becomes human is also unconvincing. An embryo could be successfully separated from the mother’s body quite early in the pregnancy and could survive. The two youngest babies to survive premature birth are thought to be James Elgin Gill (born on 20 May 1987 in Ottawa, at 21 weeks and 5 days gestational age), and Amillia Taylor (born on 24 October 2006 in Miami, at 21 weeks and 6 days gestational age).[v]

So the embryo must be human (or ‘potentially human pending the separation’) at this quite early stage in the pregnancy. And we are back to the question at what stage in a pregnancy does an embryo become human? We also have to remember that a new born baby remains very dependent for some considerable time. How do we decide on the level of dependency which causes a baby to be human? Again, all of this is clearly arbitrary wishful thinking.

The fact of the matter is that an embryo is human from the point of conception and this is confirmed by the remarkable early developments listed above. So to kill an embryo is morally wrong. It can only be justified if it is definitely the lesser of two evils, i.e. an unavoidable way to save the mother’s life.

In February 2020 the Bishop of Carlisle made the following statement at the General Synod on behalf of the House of Bishops: “The General Synod resolved in 1983 that ‘in situations where the continuance of a pregnancy threatens the life of the mother a termination of pregnancy may be justified and that there must be adequate and safe provision in our society for such situations’ and in 1993 that ‘In the rare occasions when abortion is carried out beyond 24 weeks, ‘Serious foetal handicap’ should be interpreted strictly as applying to those conditions where survival is possible only for a very short period.”[vi]

On what grounds do abortions take place in Britain?

Britain has one of the most liberal abortion laws. Most countries allow abortion up to 12 weeks of gestation, while some allow it up to 18 weeks (Sweden), 22 weeks (the Netherlands), or 24 weeks (United Kingdom). The government in its “Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2018”[vii] speaks of seven grounds:

A. Where there is a risk to the life of the mother.

B. To prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the mother.

C. To prevent injury to the physical or mental health of the mother (up to 24 weeks of pregnancy).

D. To prevent injury to the physical or mental health of any existing children in the family (up to 24 weeks of pregnancy).

E. Where there is a substantial risk the child would be seriously handicapped.

All the above must be certified by two registered medical practitioners but abortion on the following emergency grounds can be certified by one registered medical practitioner:

F. to save the life of the mother (cf A above).

G. to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the mother (cf B above).

This government report states that in 2018, there were 205,295 abortions notified as taking place in England and Wales in 2018 (23.8 per cent of pregnancies), of which 200,608 were to residents of England and Wales. (The following figures relate to the latter figure). 97.7% of abortions (196,083) were performed on Ground C, i.e. to prevent risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the mother. NOTE: This is not Ground B: to prevent GRAVE permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the mother. These were abortions to prevent harm to the mother which were NOT SERIOUS OR GRAVE PERMANENT INJURY. The word ‘harm’ has been very loosely interpreted, in many cases meaning against her wishes to have the child thereby causing her deep upset.

A further 1.6% (3,269) were carried out on Ground E:  to prevent substantial risk the child would be seriously handicapped. Another 0.6% (1,104) were carried out on Ground D: to prevent injury to the physical or mental health of any existing children in the family

Only 145 abortions were carried out on Grounds A and B together (the government don’t separate the figures) i.e. where there is a risk to the life of the mother or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the mother. Another 7 abortions were carried out on Grounds F or G which are emergency versions of Grounds A and B.

So only 0.076% of the 200,698 abortions carried out in England and Wales in 2018 were to save the life of the mother or prevent permanent injury to her. On the basis of abortion being morally justified only as an unavoidable way to save the mother’s life, this means that some 99% of abortions were morally unjustified. Since this involves ending the life of unborn human babies this is a VERY serious matter.

Abortion is a huge moral issue because in 2019 there were over 42 million abortions in the world, the single largest cause of death. Also new research from the National University of Singapore, reported in the New Scientist indicates that sex-selective abortions may have resulted in the deaths of more than 23 million girls around the world.[viii]

Since 1967 there have been 9 million abortions in Great Britain. David Steel, who spearheaded the 1967 Abortion Act, says he didn’t anticipate there would be so many and added: “I still think there are too many, and [that it is] wrong to use abortion as a contraception.”[ix]

Moves to decriminalise abortion

Britain has one of the most liberal abortion laws. Most countries allow abortion up to 12 weeks of gestation, while some allow it up to 18 weeks (Sweden), 22 weeks (the Netherlands), whereas the UK allows it up to 24 weeks. But there are moves to make it even more liberal.

The Labour Party manifesto for the 2019 election included plans to decriminalise abortion, without a time limit. The Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Medical Association support decriminalisation. Supporters argue that women, not doctors, should have control over their own bodies and should not be forced to carry “foetuses” to term against their will. One slogan is: “Reproductive freedom is a basic human right.”

In May 2018 the Observer newspaper published an editorial which said: “Access to reliable contraception and safe abortion has unshackled women from the burdens of unwanted pregnancy. Our abortion law remains stuck in Victorian times: abortion is still a criminal offence and a woman is only permitted to have an abortion if two doctors confirm that continuing with the pregnancy poses a greater risk to her physical or mental health, or that of her existing children, than terminating it. This is demeaning, paternalistic and out of step with public opinion: 70% of the public believe a woman should be able to access an abortion if she does not want to proceed with the pregnancy.”[x]

Such callous comments ignore the unborn baby’s rights.

Even worse comments were recorded in a BBC Panorama programme “America’s Abortion War” in 2019 which interviewed Dr LeRoy Carhart, a proud late-term abortionist in Maryland.  He said: “To the foetus it makes no difference whether it’s born or not born. The baby has no input in this as far as I’m concerned.” The interviewer asked “And you don’t have a problem with killing a baby?” Dr Carhart responded: “Absolutely not. I have no problem if it’s in the mother’s uterus.”[xi] Dr Willie Parker is a Christian doctor in the US who practises obstetrics and gynaecology, specialising in abortions and is a reproductive justice advocate. In a newspaper article he described how he changed his mind about the compatibility of abortion with his faith. He included the comment “The Bible says nothing about abortion.”[xii] This ludicrous statement shows Dr Parker should stick to medicine. The Bible has strong things to say about taking the life of innocent people.

However the good news is that several US states have recently signed a bill making abortion illegal in most cases.

Abortion harms women

In 2011 a report published in the British Journal of Psychiatry concluded that: “Women who had undergone an abortion experienced an 81% increased risk of mental health problems”.[xiii] It said that more than 50% of women who have abortions, do so because they were put under pressure to abort by family, friends and partners.

The Northern Ireland situation

Northern Ireland had an almost total ban on abortion until in 2019 the Westminster Government decided, whilst the Northern Ireland Executive was not meeting, that abortion should be permitted in Northern Ireland.

The decision

– Removes from law all explicit protection for the unborn child up to 28 weeks of pregnancy.

– Offers no specific protection for unborn babies with disability.

– Does not prohibit abortion based on the sex of the baby.

The majority of people in Northern Ireland do not support the Westminster decision and there is strong criticism of the ignoring of devolution. Conservative MP Fiona Bruce described the proceedings as “unconstitutional, undemocratic, legally incoherent and utterly disrespectful to the people of Northern Ireland”. She also criticised the government for proceeding “with just a derisory one hour’s debate”.[xiv]

This is an example of the very strong commitment to liberal abortion in Britain.

Conclusion

Opposition to abortion is strong in the US but tends to be largely ignored in the UK. Yet it is a huge moral issue which involves taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of unborn babies. It is clearly something which brings the nation under God’s judgment and we need to be very concerned.

Tony Higton

[i] https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/19/books/chapters/the-ethical-brain.html

[ii] https://ethicscenter.nd.edu/Whitepapers/testimony-before-the-subcommittee-on-the-constitution-and-civil-justice/

[iii] https://www.christian.org.uk/news/unborn-babies-may-feel-pain-from-12-weeks-says-pro-abortion-researcher/

[iv] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4460088/

[v] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_viability

[vi] https://christianconcern.com/ccpressreleases/church-of-england-says-that-over-98-of-uk-abortions-are-morally-wrong/

[vii] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales-2018

[viii] https://www.christian.org.uk/news/over-23-million-girls-killed-by-sex-selective-abortion/

[ix] https://www.christian.org.uk/news/author-of-1967-abortion-act-there-are-too-many-abortions/

[x] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/20/observer-view-on-abortion-donald-trump-gag-rule

[xi] https://www.christian.org.uk/news/panorama-documentary-exposes-abortion-practices/

[xii] https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/catholics-choice-ireland-abortion-law-repeal-the-eighth-a8366831.html

[xiii] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/abortion-and-mental-health-quantitative-synthesis-and-analysis-of-research-published-19952009/E8D556AAE1C1D2F0F8B060B28BEE6C3D

[xiv] https://www.fionabruce.org.uk/news/fiona-speaks-northern-ireland-executive-formation-bill