AN UNCERTAIN SOUND!

The apostle Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, asked the very pertinent question, "if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" (1 Corinthians 14:8). In any area of life, all who occupy positions of leadership are required to speak with clarity and authority and, if they fail to do so, they confuse, demoralise and de-motivate those whom they purport to lead. Such failure was well illustrated in a lengthy discussion between the "four main church leaders" on BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence programme recently. Dr Robin Eames, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh & Primate of all Ireland, Dr Sean Brady, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh & Primate of all Ireland, Dr David Clarke, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and Rev Ivan McElhinney, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, were asked about a wide range of moral and spiritual issues raised by listeners. Overall, their responses were a solemn and frightening reminder of the perilous condition of the professing church today. These "leaders" had plenty to say and yet nothing to say. Their comments were classic examples of ecumenical spin and duplicity and, while lip-service was occasionally paid to the Bible, Biblical teaching on sin, on the sovereignty of God, on the doctrines of grace, and on other key issues was, where necessary, conveniently ignored or rejected. We thought readers might be interested in a short overview of some of the issues and how they were handled.

1. All four men were agreed that the most important challenge facing the church today was to make its message more relevant in a secular age. But, not surprisingly, no attempt was made at a proper explanation of what that message was and, after a few minutes of largely meaningless generalities, the programme's presenter, William Crawley, felt able to say that all were agreed in their theological views!

2. Each man was then asked whether he regarded the other denominations as Christians. Dr Clarke said that Presbyterians in general would regard Roman Catholics as true believers and the Roman Catholic church as a Christian church, albeit one with errors. When asked if he regarded the Presbyterian church as a Christian church, Dr Brady first tried to evade the matter and then said that they certainly described themselves as a Christian church! Then, when pressed by the interviewer, he admitted that he did not regard the Presbyterian church as a full Christian church in the same sense as the Roman church, but emphasised that, in his view, the division between Christians was a scandal. When asked if Dr Eames's church was a full Christian church, Dr Brady said he said he was not going to answer such interrogation. Dr Eames stressed that in a discussion on such an issue, we must acknowledge that we are all responding to the same God.

3. The discussion then turned to whether other faith groups could be saved. Again, the responses were predictable. Mr McElhinney said we have to leave the judgement with God. Other religions believe in God in their own way. "The religions of the world have been trying… to come together to foster understanding – that is a good thing" he said. Dr Clarke accepted that the only way to God was through Jesus, but he seemed unwilling to follow this through and, when pressed, his answer became increasingly ambivalent. Dr Brady said that people can be saved by following their conscience and doing what is right and good, and a faithful Muslim would of course be saved. Dr Eames felt that the issue was largely irrelevant. It was not right, he felt, to insist that someone should believe in our way and our way alone.

4. On the issue of creation versus evolution, none of the leaders was prepared to state that he accepted the literal accuracy of the Biblical account of creation. On the contrary, Dr Clarke stated he was a theistic evolutionist and asserted that the opening chapters of Genesis were "different" from the rest of the Book. If evolution was over a long period, "I can live with that", he said. Mr McElhinney said that children should not be taught that God made the world in six days. Dr Eames, in stark contrast with his Bible-believing and illustrious predecessor Archbishop James Ussher, argued that there is an interpretation of evolution which must be considered by Christians.

5. When asked for their views on controversial scientist Richard Dawkin's attack on God as a psychotic, vindictive, blood-thirsty ethnic cleanser, there was a general rejection of Dawkins' analysis, but, rather than defending the God of Scripture, attempts were made to distinguish between the angry God of the Old Testament and the more loving God of the New Testament. There seemed to be some embarrassment about God's judgements on the Canaanites who inhabited the land at the time of Joshua's conquest, and Dr Brady said that we have moved on from the God of the Old Testament to God as revealed by Jesus Christ. The image of God in the Old Testament had been corrected by the God of the New Testament.

6. On homosexuality, the leaders accepted the concept of civil partnerships but stressed the sanctity and superiority of marriage between a man and a woman. However, the church must respect the rights of all, and it therefore had a duty to welcome people of all life--styles. Dr Eames said the church must apologise for treating gays wrongly. He had no problem regarding a practising homosexual couple living in a partnership as Christians. Faced with such uncertainty and prevarication, it is the duty of all who love the Lord and His Word to sound the trumpet of Gospel truth with vigour, clarity and simplicity. It is that sure and certain sound that people need to hear in these days of confusion - and to which, by God’s grace, they will respond.