Tony Blair and ‘Faith’
June 22, 2009 – 5:05 pmBack on June 9, Ruth Gledhill, of the London Times, wrote on the issue of Tony Blair and his push for “Faith organizations.” In it, she quotes Blair’s comments about understanding other faiths:
‘I think when you sit down, you analyse [sic]the way the world works, this is a very, very natural part of understanding it and I don’t think you can understand the modern world unless you understand something of the world of faith, and of faiths outside of your own [faith] and your own traditional culture.’
Right on, Mr. Blair! We do need to understand the religious worldviews of those around us. However, the Bible offers a different motivation than that of the former Prime Minister:
‘The longer term ambition for the Faith Foundation is to become a central place of interfaith encounter, not just through dialogue and thought, but also through action, because I do believe that religion is often seen as a divisive force but it needn’t be seen as that.’
Read the entire post.
The apostle Paul affirms that he is not
ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. - Rom. 1:16
The gospel. A very narrow “faith” indeed. Not much room for “interfaith encounters.” We must continue to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” Followers of Jesus must not back down from the truth claims of the Bible. Rather we must stand for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ as proclaimed in the Word of God.
