UK Christian leaders urge calm and faith in time of 'fear'

Blackleaf

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God can chase away "the fear of terror" and "the economies of injustice", the Archbishop of Canterbury has said in his Christmas sermon.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby spoke about finding God in a world which "feels more awash with fear".

His sentiment was echoed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Britain's most senior Catholic, at his midnight Mass.

In his homily at Westminster Cathedral he said there was "much anxiety about the state of the world".


Christian leaders urge calm and faith in time of 'fear'

BBC News
25 December 2016


The Archbishop will deliver his Christmas sermon during a Eucharist service at Canterbury Cathedral

God can chase away "the fear of terror" and "the economies of injustice", the Archbishop of Canterbury has said in his Christmas sermon.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby spoke about finding God in a world which "feels more awash with fear".

His sentiment was echoed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Britain's most senior Catholic, at his midnight Mass.

In his homily at Westminster Cathedral he said there was "much anxiety about the state of the world".

Mr Welby delivered his sermon during a Eucharist service at Canterbury Cathedral on Christmas Day.

'Glory of God'

In the sermon, he told the congregation that the end of 2016 "finds us all in a different kind of world, one less predictable and certain, which feels more awash with fear and division".

He quoted Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said globalisation had for many brought "uncertainty" and "low wages, insecure employment, stateless corporation and striking inequalities".

He said: "That uncertainty of our world, our feelings tell us that our values are in the wrong place.

"Economic progress, technological progress, communication progress hasn't resulted in economic justice. It hasn't delivered glory for us."

The archbishop drew on his personal experiences of meeting "persecuted believers" who, he says, have "seen the glory of God, a glory that chases away the fear of terror".

He added: "How then do we find glory? The only place and person who can bring glory to us is the child of Bethlehem who became the victim on the cross."


The Archbishop of Westminster called for more compassion for the elderly

In a similar vein, Cardinal Nichols spoke at midnight Mass of a "deep and widening sense of uncertainty" felt by many people.

"Yes, we are anxious of the current instability in economic prospects and in the effectiveness of political structures," he said.

"But here we come to a deeper centre, to Bethlehem, to Him who shows us the foundations on which we must build, the priorities we must seek."

He urged Catholics to show compassion to "the homeless, the refugee, the victim of violence and human trafficking", and in particular, older people, who were too often left alone without human contact.

"Meeting this challenge requires a recognition that good care for the elderly and vulnerable is not only important but nothing less than a defining characteristic of our society," he added.


The Archbishop of York, the second most senior bishop in the Church of England after the Archbishop of Canterbury, says people can face the future with hope with God's help

The Church of England's second most senior figure, Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu, also urged those worried about Brexit and the US presidential election to look to God.

Writing for the Yorkshire Post, he said: "In the midst of uncertainty and personal danger, I can testify to the fact that God will never leave us or forsake us. God will always show us a way."

Meanwhile, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland the Right Reverend Dr Russell Barr discussed the contrasts of Christmas, and how the promise of Christmas cheer was juxtaposed with "unspeakable human suffering in war-torn Aleppo or Yemen or South Sudan".

Analysis



By Martin Bashir, religious affairs correspondent


The traditional sound of Once in Royal David's City heralded the start of a solemn Midnight Mass at Westminster Cathedral.

Cardinal Vincent Nichol began his sermon by quoting the poet WB Yeats - referring to a turbulent year.

"Uncertainty on many levels in this country and in those major partnerships and neighbours that we have… so with Europe, America, the Middle East. It's an unsettling time," he said.

He argued the answer was neither materialism nor the pursuit of selfish interest but rather a renewed focus on the life of Christ.

"The birth of Jesus is a recorded fact, marked in time, as we heard in the Gospel," Cardinal Nichols said.

"The life he holds out for us is not a theory or a philosophy or an ideal."

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, also addressed the uncertainty that has marked global politics, saying that anxiety about the future is a clear sign that we have placed our trust in the wrong things.


Christian leaders urge calm and faith in time of 'fear' - BBC News
 

Blackleaf

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A little cognitive dissonance there religion is based on fear.

There's nothing wrong with the Protestant faith.

The Catholic faith, though, is idolatrous. I keep saying it, and it's true.
 

Curious Cdn

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A little cognitive dissonance there religion is based on fear.

Fear of what?

You've probably heard too many of those hillbilly evangelicals down in Appalachia spouting brimstone and hellfire. Be aware that their brand of Christianity compared to most of the rest of Christianity is like what Wahabism is to mainstream Islam.
 

Ludlow

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Fear of what?

You've probably heard too many of those hillbilly evangelicals down in Appalachia spouting brimstone and hellfire. Be aware that their brand of Christianity compared to most of the rest of Christianity is like what Wahabism is to mainstream Islam.
Hell? Eternal damnation? Things like that.

Measuring up???
 

Curious Cdn

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Hell? Eternal damnation? Things like that.

Measuring up???

Most Christians think that it's ridiculous. The Southern US Baptist is more than a little odd ... a sort of left-over from the seventeenth century.
 

Ludlow

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Catholicism is wrong, hence why us PROTESTants are protesting against it.
One of the initial things protestants were against in the Reformation was indulgences. Collecting money to insure that dead relatives would spend less time in purgatory. Hell , the protestants have made money scams into an art compared to the Catholics. The prostitution of hope exists in all Christian faiths.

This has little to do with most of Jesus teachings which I admire.
 

coldstream

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The Church of England would be hard pressed to call itself Christian anymore. It has completely caved in to the profane and idolatrous culture of the New Age. It offers rationales and sophistry, that have lost all sense of scriptural integrity, which amounts to a validation of moral relativism and radical individualism. The result is a faith without a moral core or a book.

The Catholic Church under Francis is a mess as well.. and is on the verge of taking the same treacherous path. I'd compare this period in the history of the (one) Church of Christ to that of 500 years ago, when the Borgias (most notoriously Alexander VI), nepotism, sale of indulgences, political intrigue and personal enrichment disfigured the Church. That led to the Protestant Reformation which Henry VIII used cynically to consolidate his thievery and despotism under the artifice of the Church of England.

It all led to the great Council of Trent, the Catholic Counter Reformation, which has sustained the Church until the modern era when sacrilege, and the confusion instilled through Vatican 2, again began to deform its structure.
 
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Blackleaf

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The Church of England would be hard pressed to call itself Christian anymore. It has completely caved in to the profane and idolatrous culture of the New Age. It offers rationales and sophistry, that have lost all sense of scriptural integrity, which amounts to a validation of moral relativism and radical individualism. It produces a faith without a moral core or a book.

Well I agree with you there.

It's one of the many formerly great British institutions - including the BBC, Parliament and the media - to have fallen victim to political correctness.
 

Blackleaf

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All religions are a little odd.

I watched Midnight Mass live on BBC One this morning, and they were all talking about the birth of Christ (and being idolatrous Catholics, they even had a colourful, painted church and images of Jesus on the cross). But I watched it anyway, and then it struck me that Father Christmas doesn't really have anything at all to do with Jesus and his birth. The two are completely unrelated.
 

taxslave

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I watched Midnight Mass live on BBC One this morning, and they were all talking about the birth of Christ (and being idolatrous Catholics, they even had a colourful, painted church and images of Jesus on the cross). But I watched it anyway, and then it struck me that Father Christmas doesn't really have anything at all to do with Jesus and his birth. The two are completely unrelated.

Thats true. Christmas is just the name religious invaders put on the long standing pagan holiday of winter solstice.
 

Blackleaf

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Thats true. Christmas is just the name religious invaders put on the long standing pagan holiday of winter solstice.

Well, it's a fun and enjoyable day for most people and all sorts of people celebrate it, not just Christians.