The Bishop of London has warned that fundamental concepts vital to British society will be unsustainable without a Christian underpinning.
The Rt Revd Richard Chartres said Britain’s culture and civilisation were founded on the Bible, and expressed concern at any undermining of that foundation.
Rt Revd Chartres, who gave the sermon at last month’s Royal Wedding, was speaking at a symposium in the House of Lords on the Bible.
Sacrifice
He said: “The economy and politics must have ground beneath them. In Britain that ground has been biblical since our earliest days – and you do not sacrifice that without sacrificing much of what has been built upon that ground.”
The Bishop also commented that concepts such at dignity and tolerance would be “very difficult to sustain without a Christian ground”.
Also at the symposium was former high court judge, Baroness Butler-Sloss. She said: “The Bible had a great effect on me as a judge and in my private life – and still does. I was very much aware that I would one day be judged as I was doing.”
Encourage
And Lady Butler-Sloss added that she wanted to pay respect to the King James Bible, which is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year.
“In these days of moral pluralism, the celebration of the King James Bible in this year may encourage more people to read it and to benefit from it,” she said.
Last year the former Bishop of Rochester warned that if school children do not learn more about Britain’s Judeo-Christian heritage we risk losing our national values.
The Rt Revd Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali said: “The Judeo-Christian tradition provides the connecting link to ‘our island story'”.
And earlier this month it was revealed that many people are unaware that a number of everyday phrases come from the King James Version of the Bible, instead attributing them to pop stars, politicians or Shakespeare.