Protection from harm should extend to social institutions – Bishop of Rochester
THE TREND in society to protect people from harm should be extended to protect vital social institutions such as marriage, the family and the church, a leading Bishop has declared.
The call came from the Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, who was delivering the newly revived Chavasse lectures at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford. Commenting on the current trend in commercial, educational and political organisations to publish a list of values, since this
recognised that people look for more than markets, coercion or an elected dictatorship in their common life, the Bishop said these core values needed to be extended.
The Bishop asked whether these values are freestanding, or whether they suddenly arose from the 18th century enlightenment? He argued that, properly understood, morality is too important to be left to politicians.
Values should be held by all. We should know why and how they have arisen. The fact is that many legislators in the UK invoke a transcendent principle, which is expressed in the Christian view that men and women are made in the image of God. Citing an example, he pointed out that, except in self-defence, human life cannot be taken. At the beginning of life, since science cannot settle when personhood begins in the embryo, the transcendent precautionary principle
means that the embryo must be treated as if it has inalienable dignity.
Equality before the law also goes back to these Christian origins, said the Bishop. He went on to warn that the sanctity of human life, the dignity of the embryo, and equality before the law cannot be plucked from thin air. These basic values are deeply embedded in a moral and spiritual vision and receive vigour from the person, suffering and resurrection of Jesus, he said.
The slave trade campaign was based on the gospel value of equality. The campaigners wanted the slaves to be free so that they could be what God wanted them to be, but that was not to be like the slavers.
In the Christian vision, he suggested, dignity and equality are taken to a new level. They are restored in the resurrection and exalted in the ascension. He said that receiving the gospel has given millions of people a sense of dignity and destiny, and of being able to make a difference in the course of history. Instead of seeing themselves as nobodies, people can see themselves as somebodies.
The Bishop also showed how a society rooted in a Christian moral and spiritual vision can be welcoming of others without compromising its integrity. There is no ‘neutral’ standpoint and what claims to be such can marginalise people of all faiths.
Jesus’ resurrection affirms and vindicates the whole of creation and anticipates the end for which we were created. Jesus’ resurrection gives us the means of valuing the whole of creation which is being redeemed by the creator. Questions of personal and universal value cannot be removed by science.
The next two lectures , commemorating Bishop Christopher Chavasse of Rochester, take place on May 24 and June 14 at Wycliffe Hall are about how the person and work of Jesus relate to issues we are facing today. The content of the lectures is to be published by Paternoster Press
next year.
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