The Labor government of Great Britain--the same government that recently endorsed Barack Obama in his presidential bid--has officially officially adopted
Sharia Law, with special Islamic courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases. One must wonder if this is the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning.
What do you mean by the last sentence of that post?
ReplyDeleteIt is a question of eschatological expectation. Some will take news like this as the end of Christian influence in the land and the harbinger of a terrible and tragic demise. But others will take it as a challenge and a motivation to the the Gospel of all grace prevail anew in the land of the English, Welsh, Cornish, and Scots. As for me, the latter is far preferable to the former.
ReplyDeleteHow would one keep from being disheartened, even debilitated, while spreading truth in wicked lands that bear signs of already having heard the Gospel, accepted it deeply, and rejected it anyway? What would it take for the Gospel to be heard anew in a post-Christian world so very innoculated against it?
ReplyDeleteOh, that's very straightforward: “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:13-20)
ReplyDeleteDr. Grant, there are those who assert that due to the voluntary nature of these courts there is little reason for concern. How do you respond to that assertion?
ReplyDeleteMark: Well, the problem is that now you've changed the standard of the law--whether voluntary and just for domestic disputes or not. So, you have essentially untethered the law from the objective and from the historic roots of Christian justice. A society without bonds soon must come undone.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to me how the Western press, especially American, has hardly even covered this story; perhaps THE story of 2008!
ReplyDeleteGeorge,
ReplyDeleteOff topic...I've heard you explain your spiritual ancestry/lineage before, and am wondering if someday you might blog it? It was fascinating to learn who discipled whom throughout history, bringing the Gospel to you.
Off topic even more.
ReplyDeleteThe candidate's first name is spelled with a c before the final k. I'd end this comment with a wink smiley but I'm almost thirty and that would be silly.
I second that more-off-topic comment. You're an intelligent man, so I'm left to assume that you're intentionally misspelling his name. Why are you doing that?
ReplyDeleteJeremy
R and J: It's the Kenyan and Indonesian spelling--apparently used alternately by his father and step-father during his childhood. I'd been working on another piece regarding his childhood and just reverted to that spelling without thinking. The current usage is, as you have properly pointed out, spelled with a c before the final k. I should probably change the post!
ReplyDeleteC.S. Lewis long foresaw this event (whether he knew it or not) in the pages of The Last Battle. It seems the Calormenes are beginning to carry spears.
ReplyDelete