{"id":20302,"date":"2026-02-28T03:20:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T03:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=20302"},"modified":"2026-02-28T03:20:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T03:20:02","slug":"amid-calls-to-make-britain-christian-again-here-are-some-questions-for-the-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=20302","title":{"rendered":"Amid calls to ‘make Britain Christian again’, here are some questions for the Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n \u00a0(Photo: Getty\/iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bradford taxi driver was insistent \u2013 despite my sceptical questioning: \u201cYes, they have burned down two churches \u2013 and no one can say anything about it because you will be called racist \u2026 Bradford is no longer Bradford \u2013 the Muslim influence is too strong.\u201d That conversation a decade ago came to mind this past week when I read of two political proposals to \u2018make Britain Christian again\u2019 or \u2018keep Britain Christian\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rupert Lowe, the leader of the newly launched Restore party, tweeted, \u201cBritain is a Christian country, and under a Restore Britain Government – it will remain a Christian country.\u201d Meanwhile Reform UK stated that it would grant some 40,000 UK churches listed status to stop them being converted into mosques. Zia Yusuf, who acts as Reforms \u2018shadow home secretary, promised that this would prevent alterations affecting their historic character and would restrict change of use. What is intriguing is that Mr Yusuf, a Muslim, argues that this is required to restore Britain’s Christian heritage and to ensure that Britain remains Christian to its core. All this is deemed necessary because of \u201cthe sheer quantities of people that came to the country in a short period of time\u201d.<\/p>\n

There were various Christian responses to this. Some welcomed it, seeing it as a good and necessary intervention in what could be termed the \u2018religious culture wars\u2019. Others regarded it as a cynical move by what they perceive as \u2018the Far Right\u2019 seeking to capitalise on Christian symbolism in pursuit of their political ends. A common response from not a few evangelical leaders was along the lines of the MP, Stuart Anderson, who tweeted, \u201cChristianity is not about buildings. It is about having a relationship with Jesus. Knowing He is the way, the truth and the life and sharing this wonderful news.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That is of course true.\u00a0 But it is also a truism which falls into the trap of making an either\/or case when the situation is more complex. The fact that there is a greater truth does not mean that there are not lesser ones. While Christianity is about having a personal relationship with Christ and sharing the wonderful news, it is also about the implication and outworking of that news \u2013 at a personal, community and national level.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No true Christian would argue that Christianity was about buildings \u2013 but there are very few who would say it has nothing to do with buildings. I find buildings very useful and would find my evangelism much hindered without the great old building that is Scots Kirk, Newcastle, where I am currently minister.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I thought of Mr Anderson\u2019s remarks on a stopover in Istanbul when recently travelling between Australia and my homeland of Scotland. I had wanted to go and see the Hagia Sophia, probably the grandest church building ever built. But sadly, I couldn\u2019t \u2013 not only because of time constraints but also because it has been turned into a mosque and since 2024, Christians have not been permitted to enter the lower hall. Maybe it\u2019s my relationship with Jesus Christ, and my desire to see him glorified, that I feel more than a little upset that his church and people have been so colonised in this way?!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Others noted that Islam was not the problem, it was the rejection of Christianity by the native Brits which was the real reason that Britain was losing its Christian heritage. We would only get to be a \u2018Christian country\u2019 if the majority of people were truly Christian. Again, there is great truth in this. But it is not the whole truth. You do not require the majority of the population to be truly converted (how would you measure that anyway?). Most of us are in churches where we cannot really determine the real percentage of real Christians are \u2013 the wheat and the tares grow together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This also applies in terms of Islam. I am told that the majority of Iranians no longer regularly attend mosques. Does that mean Iran is not really a Muslim country? My own view is that when a town or city in the West becomes more than 15-20% Islamic, then the whole community is greatly changed. Give me 10% of a community becoming clearly Christian and there is no doubt that that community would be turned upside down!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

To argue that we would need a majority of true Christians is to argue that Britain was never Christian. In a purist sense I suppose that could make sense, but in terms of historical and practical reality it\u2019s not true. Anyone who doubts that our foundations and culture are fundamentally Christian should read Tom Holland\u2019s Dominion<\/em>. What I call the pietist approach sounds right because it uses all the right evangelical buzzwords, and it has the advantage of us not having to worry about the state of society \u2013 because after all Jesus will sort it out in the end; but I would argue it is a lazy and unhelpful way to interpret Scripture. Just as the so-called Christian Nationalists veer too much in one direction, so the Christian pietists swing too far the other way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the church progressives have also had their say. The Baptist minister Steve Chalke appeared on LBC to argue as a self-appointed \u2018Christian theologian\u2019 that those who wanted to make Britain Christian again were wrong. Chalke began by arguing his usual mantra \u2013 \u2018Jesus wasn\u2019t a Christian\u2019. Rather than being the brilliant \u2018wow\u2019 point that Chalke thinks, it is a rather irrational argument. Of course Jesus wasn\u2019t a Christian \u2013 a Christian is after all someone who follows Christ and worships him. Jesus doesn\u2019t follow and worship himself! The trouble is that Chalke seems to see the term Christian as similar to a racial identity – just as Jesus doesn\u2019t care about what colour your skin is, so he doesn\u2019t care about what religion you have. That\u2019s about as far away from the Christ of the Bible as you can get.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Chalke meant Jesus welcomes everyone from whatever religious background, as long as they turn to him in repentance and faith, then what he says would be true. But he is using the term \u2018inclusive\u2019 to suggest that Jesus would have no problem with someone being a Muslim \u2013 someone who de facto because of their religion denies who Christ is (the Son of God) and what he did (died on the cross for our sins).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And here we come to the elephant in the room. How strange it is that a Muslim like Yusuf seems to grasp it more than a \u2018Christian\u2019 minister like Chalke! The question that both Lowe and Yusuf are referring to is the rise of Islam, and the decline of Christianity within Britain. While it is true that the rise of Islam has not caused the decline of Christianity, it is also true that the rise of Islam in Britain, in conjunction with its (for now!) political allies, the Green progressives, will accelerate the death of Christian Britain, and will result in discrimination and persecution against real Christians.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are church leaders who are rightly concerned about the use of religion in politics by some on the political Right. But if that disturbs them, wait until they see what the rise of Islam in politics has coming for us all! This is because Islam is as much a political system as it is a religion. Islam means submission \u2013 and it brooks no rivals. There is no separation of \u2018church and state\u2019 in Islam; Islamic law must prevail. And to that end there seems to be an increasing willingness among Muslims – in the UK at least – to ally themselves with those who on paper would be their enemies. Think of the strange alliance between the progressive Greens and the radical Islamists. Only in the postmodern suicidal West could you have \u2018Queers for Palestine\u2019 supporting an organisation like Hamas that wants to criminalise and kill queers. The one thing that binds them together is hatred of the West\u00a0 – and Israel and the Jews.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is fine, and right, for Christian leaders to warn about too close a link between Christianity and the political Right – as long as they are equally vocal in challenging the link between progressive Christianity, Islam and the political Left. But I have noted far too often a deafening silence or sometimes even worse. Some evangelical leaders even speak of the similarities between Christian ethics and those of Islam. Again, there is some truth to that, and I can see the attraction of it \u2013 which is why it is so dangerous.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As I type this, I am on a long Turkish Airlines flight to Sydney and it is fascinating to observe that all the \u2018naughty\u2019 words (swearing, sex references) have been bleeped out of The Big Bang Theory<\/em> (and I assume other programmes). Very \u2018family friendly\u2019. But does that mean I have to ignore the sexual abuse and denigration of women in some Islamic cultures (the effects of which have been clearly seen in some parts of the UK)? Does that mean I have to keep silent about the intolerance and abuse of Christians – and homosexuals – in Islamic regimes? Because I admire Turkish Airlines, should I stay silent about the 300 missionaries, pastors and Christian workers recently expelled from Turkey, our NATO ally? What fellowship does light have with darkness?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And should we ignore the government cutting the budget for listed church repairs from \u00a342m to just \u00a323m for the year in the space of two years? Although the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was not exclusively for Christians, the vast majority of listed places of worship in the UK are in fact historic churches. When your view of buildings and the spirituality of Christianity leads you to ignore the injustice of a government giving \u00a340m to protect mosques, and just \u00a35m to protect churches (and that is to be shared with Hindu and Sikh places of worship!) then perhaps you need to tweak your thinking a little? I know the Church is not a building, but can you really see nothing unjust in the government cutting funding for churches, while at the same time increasing funding for mosques?\u00a0<\/p>\n

And what would you say to the recent incident in Whitechapel where a Christian preacher was told by a group of Muslim men that he could not preach there because it is \u201ca Muslim area\u201d (according to Tower Hamlets Council, in the last census Muslims accounted for 42.4% of Whitechapel\u2019s population)? Thankfully in this instance a brave policewoman stood up to them and explained about free speech. In many other instances the police have simply cited \u2018community concerns\u2019 (i.e. upsetting Muslims) to justify closing people down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What would those who are so sanguine about Britain being Christian say to my Bradford taxi driver? Would they call him a racist for being concerned that Bradford now has over 168,000 Muslims (a third of the population)? Would they dismiss his story of churches being burned as a conspiracy theory?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The late great Christopher Hitchens warned years ago that people needed to speak out about Islamism before it was too late. He was particularly referencing Christian leaders who seemed to be either ignorant or silent about the dangers facing the Church in this country. Maybe an atheist like Hitchens was not the best spokesperson in defence of the Church. Maybe Restore and Reform are not the best people to speak up for Christianity. But if not them, then who will?<\/p>\n

David Robertson is the former minister of St Peters Free Church in Dundee and a former Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland. He is currently the minister of Scots Kirk Presbyterian Church in Newcastle, New South Wales, and blogs at\u00a0The Wee Flea.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0(Photo: Getty\/iStock) The Bradford taxi driver was insistent \u2013 despite my sceptical questioning: \u201cYes, they have burned down two churches \u2013 and no one can say anything about it because you will be called racist \u2026 Bradford is no longer Bradford \u2013 the Muslim influence is too strong.\u201d That conversation a decade ago came to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[2695,110,72,82,715],"class_list":["post-20302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-christian-living","tag-britain","tag-calls","tag-christian","tag-church","tag-questions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}