In Depth:  Melvin Tinker

What is superstition? ‘To believe in spite of evidence or without evidence. To account for one mystery by another. To believe that the world is governed by chance or caprice. To disregard the true relation between cause and effect. To put thought, intention and design back into nature. To believe that mind created and controls matter.’ It is all to do with living in a spooky, chancy who-knows-what- might- happen-next kind of universe.

Before Christianity came onto the scene, the ancient world was very much a world of magic, astrology, amulets, charms, curses, and love potions. Often they were associated with religion — especially seeking the aid of certain gods and goddesses. Every village had ‘wise ones’, who dispensed to people’s needs. Archaeologists have found magical curses scratched on lead tablets and papyri offering recipes and instructions for black sorcery.

‘It is impossible for a scientific discovery given by God to contradict a Word given by God. If therefore a scientific discovery, as distinct from scientific speculation, contradicts what we have believed by the Bible, it is not a question of error in God’s Word, but of error in our way of interpreting it. Far from “defending” the Bible against scientific discovery, the Christian has a duty to welcome thankfully, as from the same Giver, whatever light each may throw upon the other. This is the “freedom” of a fully Christian devotion to the God of Truth.’¹

Objections not withstanding, the fact is that within the international scientific community the Theory of Evolution is the universally accepted working paradigm for the origin and development of life. To attempt to downgrade it as nothing but a ‘theory’ achieves very little. Evolution, as distinct from evolutionism (which is an ideological parasite), is as religiously neutral as Dirac’s unified field theory. If the theory is true (and the cumulative weight of evidence and the fruitfulness of the model are not to be dismissed lightly), then we would expect it to be compatible with biblical, evangelical belief. Many think this to be the case.²

When Rowan Williams was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, the reaction by mainstream evangelicals (including a large proportion of the Church of England Evangelical Council) was quite rightly negative.

He was seen by many as not standing within the full orbit of orthodox Christianity on a variety of issues, not least that of homosexual practice. What has changed such that he could be invited to an evangelical gathering such as NEAC 4? Precious little.

He was identified as 'Patient Zero' - the initial carrier of the AIDS HIV virus in the US.

His name was Gaetan Dugas, a French-Canadian airline steward. Before his death in 1984, Dugas estimated that he had had sexual liaisons with 2,500 partners in New York and Californian bathhouses, rest rooms, bars and motels. Even after he had been told by doctors that he had this fatal sexually-transmitted disease, he continued to infect dozens of partners. 'I've got gay cancer', he would tell them afterwards, perversely enjoying the merging of sex and death.

It wasn't so much because the walls lay in ruins and the temple was all but a charred remains that they cried. It was because all that Jerusalem stood for seemed to have perished too.

Jerusalem: the 'city of peace', which symbolised the peace of God and all the promises of Yahweh was a desolate wasteland. Yes, how they wept.

During the 1960s and 70s, Western evangelicals spent much time discussing the relationship between social action and gospel proclamation, with major conferences held in Berlin (1966), Lausanne (1974) and Lausanne 2 in Manila (1989).

Some see such developments as a recovery of a vital element of authentic evangelicalism that was previously lost as an overreaction to the 'social gospel'. Other assessments are more negative, seeing a move away from full-blooded evangelicalism to a more liberal direction.

Jonathan Stephen of FIEC and Melvin Tinker of St. John's, Hull, Anglican church, answer questions about a recent initiative among conservative evangelicals.

EN: Tell us about Essentially Evangelical.

JS: EE is a network of Christian believers who stand for historic, biblical evangelicalism and its contemporary application. On that basis we aim to work together in whatever ways will help in the building of Christ's church.

Have you ever wondered how words work which make them so powerful in shaping our thought-life - our beliefs, values and so our actions?

Someone who considered this in great depth was the late Professor Donald MacKay who was not only a brain scientist at Keele University but also a committed Christian and profound thinker.

To be justified is to be right with God, and 'justification by grace through faith alone' was the rallying cry of the majesterial Reformation.

In 1538, Luther expounded Psalm 130.4 and referring to justification claimed that 'if this article stands, the church stands; if it falls, the church falls'. (1)

The destruction of frozen human embryos and the abortion of a twin baby has raised again in the public domain the vexed question of the sanctity of human life.

This issue, with the passing of time, will become more acute, not less.