Series: Christian influence in a secular world
God in His grace has provided the means to restrain evil and to enable human life to flourish. This ‘common grace’ is necessary for both Christian and non-Christians alike. Our society rejects God’s common grace at its peril.
Series: Contending for the faith
This first lecture looks at the role of rational argument in proclaiming and defending the Christian faith. Whilst the human mind is fallen, it is still possible to appeal to the conscience and use rational argument.
Series: Contending for the faith – part 2
Converted as a teenager, Josephine Butler become a leading social reformer. After caring for dying prostitutes in her own home, she went on to lead a national campaign to end licensed prostitution and raise the age of consent from 13 to 16.
Series: Changes facing Christian charities
Colin Hart, the Director of The Christian Institute, addresses the changes being made by the Charity Commission in relation to churches and Christian organisations. He particularly focuses on the removal of the presumption that religious charities (including churches) provide ‘public benefit’, and how these organisations can demonstrate their ‘public benefit’ in order to maintain their charitable status.
Series: First and Last Things
As Christians we are in the world but not of the world. But how do we engage with the culture of our day, if at all? Should we abandon, embrace or try to transform it? In 1951 American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr famously described five ways professing Christians have engaged with culture throughout history. In this talk we will use these five ways to better understand how we as Christians should engage with the wider culture.
Series: The faith once delivered to the saints
From its beginnings to the present day, the first concern of the Institute is that the Church must not accommodate to the world. Only in this way can believers be an influence on the nation which is so vitally needed. We have sought to promote Christian truth particularly as it applies to the nation, the world of work, education and the local community. Christians equipped by the work of the Institute have urged our nation’s leaders to do what is right. We look at how the work of the Institute has developed over the years including, among other things, the work of the Legal Defence Fund.
Colin Hart and Simon Calvert reflect on the wider implications of the recent criminalisation of parents in Wales who use light, infrequent smacking to lovingly discipline their children.
Series: The faith once delivered to the saints
From its beginnings to the present day, the first concern of the Institute is that the Church must not accommodate to the world. Only in this way can believers be an influence on the nation which is so vitally needed. We have sought to promote Christian truth particularly as it applies to the nation, the world of work, education and the local community. Christians equipped by the work of the Institute have urged our nation’s leaders to do what is right. We look at how the work of the Institute has developed over the years including, among other things, the work of the Legal Defence Fund. The Institute’s approach has been a great strength in the campaigns we have fought. But there have been disappointments as well as victories. It’s right to look back and give thanks to God for much that has been achieved.