Posted by: ultraguy | March 27, 2008

The Decline of Britain: From ‘New Jerusalem’ to New Gaza

One of my favorite movies — back in high school when it came out and, still, today — is Chariots of Fire. The film can be taken on many levels: from runner’s real-life fantasy (the initial attraction for me) to early 20th century British history lesson to Sunday school teaching tool, to parable of peaceful pluralism, to just plain good film-making, character portraiture and story-telling. And, as I wrote last November in one of the inaugural posts on this blog, the film even resonates to an extraordinary degree with events unfolding today as some new bright lights prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

My reason for mentioning it here is the backdrop that the film’s musical score provides for events unfolding in Britain. The score by Vangelis, won an Academy Award for Best Original Musical Score in 1981. It included a spine-tingly boys choir rendition of the hymn ‘Jerusalem’. Anyone who has seen the film will recognize instantly. The lyrics come from a poem by William Blake circa 1800:

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the Holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land.

What a contrast, just 84 years after the film is set, when we read of the Archbishop of Canterbury caving in on the question of singular, absolute truth in Christ and for all intents and purposes advocating sharia law for those who most definitely have not given up on pushing their (incorrect IMHO) version of it on whomever they can dominate. As the late British theologian and missionary, Lesslie Newbigin (1909-199 8) points out in his book “The Gospel in a Pluralist Society” (1989)”, p. 155-162 [bold added; italics in original]:

…critics [of Christianity as sole truth] would say [that]… for our grandparents, who were ignorant of the spiritual riches of the great world religions, the idea that these were to be displaced by a triumphant Christianity was excusable. It it is not excusable today… the Church must have the courage to recognize a new fact… and therefore abandon the claim to be the sole possessor of the truth.

This view is now so widely shared that it has become in effect the contemporary orthodoxy. Pluralism is the reigning assumption and if one declines to accept it, as I do, one must give reasons…

[Advocates of the universalist view] often say that [pluralism] is a radically new situation which the Church has not faced before, and therefore calls for radically new formulations of the Christian faith. This is clearly not the case. The world into which the first Christians carried the gospel was a religiously plural world and — as the letters of Paul show — in that world of many lords and many gods, Christians had to work out what it means that in fact Jesus alone is Lord…

All serious seeking involves reliance on some clue. Christians are also seekers, and they believe that the decisive clue, the true and living way, has been given in Jesus. A common search cannot surely mean a search which abandons any specific clue and simply agrees to search.

…to suppose that modern [pluralistic] historical consciousness gives us a privileged standpoint where we really do see things as they are, is of course unsupported dogma. Modern historical consciousness is also the product of a particular culture and can claim no epistemological privilege… the cultural collapse which has abandoned the struggle to find truth in the welter of human experiences… is a feature of only one side of our culture. In the world of science the effort to grasp the coherent rationality of things has not been abandoned…

The Church does not claim to possess absolute truth: it claims to know where to point for guidance (both in thought and in action) for the common search for truth… the statement that there are no absolutes in history is obviously a pure assertion for which no proof is offered or can be offered.

I could go on. It is an excellent book and will challenge anyone, no matter what their starting point. It’s a shame it has become somewhat obscure. I hardly do it justice by excerpting tidbits from a masterful argument that builds to a grand, intellectually challenging crescendo I’ve scarcely touched. Bottom line: those who say there is no absolute, knowable truth incarnate in history are attempting to assert their own version on the sly, whether they know it or not.

My reason for launching off in that direction this morning is this headline: the number of marriages in Britain in the latest year for which statistics have been compiled — 2006 (not the rate per population, but the absolute number) has fallen to a low not seen since 1895, when the population of Britain was just over half what it is today. Furthermore, the marriage rate (per population) has fallen to an unprecedented low — not seen since they started keeping records almost 150 years ago.

The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, said that in 2006, fewer than ten in every 1,000 single adults in England and Wales were married.

Among men the rate was 22.8 in every 1,000, among women 20.5. When marriage-rates were first calculated in 1862 the level was 58.7 for men and 50 for women.

Even during the world war years marriage rates for women never dropped below 40 in 1,000. They fell below 30 for the first time in 1995.

The raw numbers of weddings in the figures for 2006 also tell the dramatic story.

There were 236,980 marriages, the fewest since 228,204 were recorded in 1895, a year in which Oscar Wilde was sent to Reading jail, W.G. Grace scored his 100th century and Queen Victoria had still to celebrate her jubilee.

In 1895, there were around 30 million people in England and Wales compared with more than 54 million now.

The general decline of marriage has been under way since 1972 when there were 426,000 weddings and marriage rates were more than 78 in 1,000 for men and 60 for women.

I would add that, back in 1985, not only was the much-lauded Oscar Wilde being jailed and the much lambasted Queen Victoria sitting royal, but G.K. Chesterton was on the verge of conceiving his magnificently prescient, insightful and readably brief book, ‘Orthodoxy’. I could editorialize on causes and possible results of this sorry state of faith, morality and the crumbling of the pillars of society (as well as their implications for Britain’s former colony)… but I am out of time for the morning.

You readers will probably do a much better job, so have at it. Nicely. Please take care not to step on those third rails (or push others against them). Truth can be civil, loving and kind even when it is reinforced by unbendable iron rods.

As a parting reflection, let me add an excerpt from this morning’s one-year-bible reading that struck me. It’s from Deuteronomy, chapter 8, verses 3, 11, 12, 17 and 18 [emphasis added]:

…man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD… Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving to you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and area satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God… You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant…

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Responses

“I could editorialize on causes and possible results of this sorry state of faith, morality and the crumbling of the pillars of society (as well as their implications for Britain’s former colony)”

Best not to editorialize too strongly on the ’sorry state of faith’ (have you ever visited?). The society may now be pluralistic but the pillars are still holding strong. What has happened in the UK is that cultural Christianity has eroded in favour of pluralism. This simply means that people are no longer claiming that they are Christian simply by virtue of being British, and thus no longer attending churches in such numbers. This offers new challenges for the churches of all denominations in the UK - but has allowed the gospel to be heard with fresh ears. Pluralism can mean that people are more open to listen to it.

By: tallandrew on March 27, 2008
at 10:29 am

Andrew - Thanks. And welcome. That’s great news. I’d be interested to hear more about what pillars you’re referring to. But yes, headlines can be deceiving relative to the state of hearts and minds on the ground. (Witness China, for example, where Christianity is flourishing even as the state clamps down.)

Yes, I have taken more trips to Britain than I can count over the past 24 years — mostly business, several for pleasure. I count as friends and close colleagues several ex-pats. I recognize those don’t substitute for living there — the one thing I haven’t done (my wife has).

Stop by again some time. Again, thanks.

By: ultraguy on March 27, 2008
at 10:36 am

Sorry - I didn’t mean to be combative. I guess I was drawn in by the slightly sensationalist headline which predicted the decline of Britain!

The pillar I was thinking about is the church. The number of evangelistic and mission minded people in the church is growing, both from pastors and congregations. As people look around at the empty pews around them they ask the questions as to what it is they really believe, and how to help others come to faith. Even churches from non-evangelical traditions are starting to think about mission.

Britain now has a cultural distrust of institutions, church included, so many new initiatives are taking off to engage people where they are - similar (I think) to some of the emerging churches in the US. Most people outside the church still beleive in something ’spiritual’, but they don’t have the background, story, or framework to pin that onto. This is where the gospel can be effective. Check out the Fresh Expressions website for some examples of mission-minded communities.. http://freshexpressions.org.uk/index.asp?id=1

It’s quite exciting, but there’s a lot of work to be done.

Just a question - I wonder whether you think that we want to go back to the the days of “Christendom” - nations that explicitly call themselves Christian. We certainly want to help as many get to know Jesus as possible, but is a Christian state desirable? Last time we had one, we did a lot of bad things in the name of Jesus….

By: tallandrew on March 27, 2008
at 1:42 pm

Andrew - Good stuff. The more-than-slightly-sensationalist headline could have read “biting my fingernails over nearly-as-fast-if-not-faster decline of the U.S.” or “where Britain goes, the U.S. may soon be headed — for good or for ill”.

I did not intend it to be as triumphalist or exclusivist as it probably came across!

Great insight re. people looking around at empty pews and it causing them to think hard about what they really believe. That’s certainly a factor in my corner of the States. God always does something with the remnants…

The funny thing about ‘mission’, and I suspect this may be as true in Britain as it is in more secular parts of the U.S., is that it doesn’t require an airplane ticket anymore — unless said ticket is being purchased for someone to come to the West from the revived churches in places like sub-Saharan Africa where they are absolutely on fire.

Re. new church initiatives, there are many and some of the best ones IMHO are not denominationally affiliated (or only nominally so). One I just ran across (and don’t know that much about, but it seems to fit the category) is http://www.xenos.org. Another non-denominational one that’s thriving is the more well-known http://www.truthforlife.org out of Parkside Church. Both of these are in Ohio. (I’m not.) Btw, thanks for that last one. We’re borrowing one of your countrymen to lead it (a Scot, actually).

Re. going back to ‘Christendom’… big question.

My initial reaction is that no, it would not be desirable, for the reason you cite and more (e.g., the church has always done best under persecution and has stumbled, often badly, when holding the reins of secular power). But then God may have other plans. I guess my sense is that very broadly speaking, the world is moving, and has been moving for some time (with many fits and starts) towards less and less compulsion in everything (economic, social, religious, etc.) Islam is the notable exception, of course.

And that is a state of being required for the volitional aspect of “coming to Christ” (i.e., making a free-will decision) to have any meaning at all.

So as much as I might pine on the blog to have rubbed shoulders with Chesterton or Calvin or Augustin (not that those are comparable) the reality is that God has put us here in the 21st century and the story continues to move forward. We know how it ends. We’re just speculating about the route things take to get there. The answer to your question is probably not yes or no but rather, as Jesus himself said: a kingdom not of this world (but orthogonal to it).

By: ultraguy on March 27, 2008
at 2:50 pm

Well, Ultra and Andrew,

“Christendom” did abolish slavery and child labour, and and the sort of regulated prostitution that merely made the state an abettor in forcing women into the life. In Britain, most institutions ranged themselves against women’s suffrage, but the opposite was true in America. I am very much an Evangelical Anglican, so the importance of free choice is very clear to me, too, and after all, as Americans, we are pretty mistrustful of institutions and even experts, an idea we tend to think of as a British import. Nevertheless, I am interested in a balanced understanding of history.

I have not been too Britain since 1983. :( However, I have friends who are in para church work there, and of course, we have all heard of Holy Trinity, Brompton, a C. of E. church that has overthrown pretty much all the stereotypes.

Finally, Andrew, this reader is also very glad to welcome you. It appears already that you will bring very good stuff to the discussions.

By: Michael on March 27, 2008
at 4:19 pm

Funny you should mention that hymn, “Jerusalem.” I was thinking of it recently also. See:

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12777

By: Patrick on March 27, 2008
at 9:39 pm

Ultraguy,
Check out a book titled “Restoring Methodism.” ISBN 978-097786730-1 Lots of good stuff.

By: Tigger23505 on March 28, 2008
at 9:40 am

Jerusalem has always annoyed me. Mainly because it is bad theology. It didn’t become a popular hymn until about the middle of WWI, of course now it has achieved almost iconic status. One can not hear it with out thinking of both the British Empire (Mad dogs and Englishmen) and the nearly as iconic “Chariots of Fire.”

By: Tigger23505 on March 28, 2008
at 9:44 am

Working nights, at a well-paying but pretty boring job,I get a lot of time to think. So what did I think about last night? I thought about how, when we see Christians getting athe same idea, in diverse places, this is one of the signs that we are seeing the Spirit at work. In China, for example, communication among believers is stifled. Still, they are getting the idea of sending missionaries to the Arab countries. “We are cheap to feed, and have skills in demand that get us past the gates, and we can see that the persecutions we have endured here have been good practice for what we’ll face, so, we are ready Lord, send us.” Now, our brother TallAndrew reports British Christians seeing opportunities in their empty churches. Um Hmmm. They may be sending some folks to heathen America, sooner than we think. If y’all get to Texas, stop in for coffee. God is not through with us until He calls us home.

By: Michael on March 28, 2008
at 12:09 pm

Michael,
It is already happening in some “mainline” churches. The pastor at the United Methodist Church that I attend is both a convert from Buddhism and from Korea.
You may also have heard that some traditional Episcopal Parishes have left their parent Diocese and aligned with an African Anglican umbrella group.

By: Tigger23505 on March 28, 2008
at 2:57 pm

Tigger23505,

Ahem,ours is on its way :)

By: Michael on March 29, 2008
at 2:32 am

[...] of religion-like precepts at least as dogmatic as any they attribute to traditional religion but without root in anything other than the average of public opinion at any particular moment. I.e., ‘grounded’ in [...]

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at 3:51 pm

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