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Burning Questions
answered by Rev. Colin Le Noury
In
a multi-cultural society, isn’t Prince Charles
absolutely
right in his tolerant desire to be
a Defender of all
faiths?
I
THINK the words he used were "Defender of Faith",
as opposed to "Defender of THE FAITH",
by which we must suppose he meant ALL faiths. Far
from being absolutely right, I would suggest that
he is absolutely wrong in this desire. The title
held by our present monarch dates back to the time
of King James I and every monarch since has taken
a coronation oath to do just that.
Because
of the relationship that exists between church and
state, our monarch, or Head of State, pledges to
defend the Christian faith as upheld by the Church
of England and its doctrines enshrined in the Thirty
Nine Articles. These are unashamedly protestant
and evangelical and need to be upheld.
Unfortunately
in recent years we have seen a monarchy which has
"flirted" with other faiths. Our Queen,
herself, has been involved with functions of a multi-faith
nature which some Protestants find quite alarming.
Prince Charles, even more so, has shown great interest
in other religions, including an Islamic teaching
centre in Oxford. One wonders how these interests
could be compatible with the requirements of the
coronation oath.
On
the matter of tolerance, two things need to be said:
firstly, that our Lord himself was not afraid of
being accused of intolerance. He it was, who said,
"I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no man
comes to the Father but by me". By today’s
multi-faith standards that sounds very intolerant
and yet it embodies all that we believe in our gospel.
The
second thing that needs stating is that, some of
the religions requesting tolerance and acceptance
in our society are highly intolerant to the Christian
faith in their own lands. Those of us who have travelled
in Moslem countries, for instance, well know of
the hardship and difficulties faced by the evangelical
Christians in those places.
Perhaps
the question, though, is touching on something very
prophetic, for Jesus himself asked the question,
"When the Son of Man comes shall he find faith
on the earth?" This seems to suggest an environment
where absolute truths regarding Christian faith
and beliefs are almost non-existent or at the least,
sadly lacking.
Prince
Charles’ stated desire would surely lead us further
down that road where the absolutes and fundamentals
of our faith seem not important enough to be held
to tenaciously. This surely is in keeping with the
prophecies suggesting a falling away in the last
days.
YT
02/95
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