"Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave."
Yes, it is and I try not to be too downhearted about it. Christians have to be brave in admitting publicly that they are Christians. There are so many sneering comments about us and the way we 'talk to our imaginary friend', ugh! There are also those who assume we are cult-like, wanting to indoctrinate susceptible people. Or we are hypocrites and are out to take money from gullible people and spend it on a luxury life-style! These days in the west we aren't actually thrown to the lions any more but the abuse is quite awful. In Britain we fill out a census form every ten years and there are questions on religion. Quite often, people used to write C of E when they didn't go to church just to conform but nowadays people proudly write atheist.
Yes, just so! I have recently been on a course run by our diocese where we have been discussing how to make our church 'grow'. I couldn't and still can't see that the course will make any difference but one common theme was the lack of young people in the church. State -run schools in England are supposed to have a school assembly every day which contains some sort of religious content (Christian, as the state is nominally Church of England) but sometimes this doesn't happen. Schools are obliged by law to provide Religious Studies from the age of 5 until 18 but pupils can opt out if their parents don't wish them to learn this subject.Pupils of 18 years or over can opt out without parental consent. Once pupils decide at age 14/15 which subjects they will take in their GCSE exams and they choose not to take an exam in religious knowledge they are still supposed to have some kind of regular teaching in the subject. I think there is supposed to be a slight bias towards Christianity in the lessons but other religions and non-religious lifestyles are studied. Changes have been made to the type of syllabus schools must provide and this has resulted in many schools failing to employ a religious studies teacher and the lessons are often given by another teacher (often the games or PT teacher!) unqualified in religious studies. Many children in this country grow up with absolutely no knowledge of the Bible or what the church is for. I apologise for this long rant!
This is good to know! Christians are in a minority in Britain and we need all the help we can get!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I felt a shock on reading your comment, but of course Christianity is in the minority just about everywhere!
DeleteYes, it is and I try not to be too downhearted about it. Christians have to be brave in admitting publicly that they are Christians. There are so many sneering comments about us and the way we 'talk to our imaginary friend', ugh! There are also those who assume we are cult-like, wanting to indoctrinate susceptible people. Or we are hypocrites and are out to take money from gullible people and spend it on a luxury life-style! These days in the west we aren't actually thrown to the lions any more but the abuse is quite awful. In Britain we fill out a census form every ten years and there are questions on religion. Quite often, people used to write C of E when they didn't go to church just to conform but nowadays people proudly write atheist.
DeleteIt is amazing how, in such a short time, any even rudimentary knowledge of Christianity could be so - lost.
DeleteYes, just so! I have recently been on a course run by our diocese where we have been discussing how to make our church 'grow'. I couldn't and still can't see that the course will make any difference but one common theme was the lack of young people in the church. State -run schools in England are supposed to have a school assembly every day which contains some sort of religious content (Christian, as the state is nominally Church of England) but sometimes this doesn't happen. Schools are obliged by law to provide Religious Studies from the age of 5 until 18 but pupils can opt out if their parents don't wish them to learn this subject.Pupils of 18 years or over can opt out without parental consent. Once pupils decide at age 14/15 which subjects they will take in their GCSE exams and they choose not to take an exam in religious knowledge they are still supposed to have some kind of regular teaching in the subject. I think there is supposed to be a slight bias towards Christianity in the lessons but other religions and non-religious lifestyles are studied. Changes have been made to the type of syllabus schools must provide and this has resulted in many schools failing to employ a religious studies teacher and the lessons are often given by another teacher (often the games or PT teacher!) unqualified in religious studies. Many children in this country grow up with absolutely no knowledge of the Bible or what the church is for. I apologise for this long rant!
DeleteNo! This is all very interesting, Clare. :)
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