Our National Life - A Christian Perspective on the State of the Nation

OUR NATIONAL LIFE: A Christian Perspective on the State of the Nation
Edited by Allister Vale
Monarch Books. 250 pages. £12.99
ISBN 1 85424 391 8

This book was published to mark the 150th anniversary of the National Club, which was founded in the mid-19th century to bring a Christian perspective to bear on our national life.

The book is a series of essays which attempts a Christian assessment of our national life today. The contributors are drawn from the Christian 'great and the good', not so much the theologians and preachers, but those with secular careers particularly in science, medicine and business.

Like most compilations, the contributions vary, not so much in quality but some are quite lengthy, like Professor Berry's on the environment, while others are relatively brief. Nonetheless, with 15 contributions, there is a bold attempt to cover a wide spectrum of issues; the monarchy, the ethics of business, education, the family, our personal finances, the Lottery, health, genetics, euthanasia, drugs, pornography, and the environment, as well as some reflections on how to influence our national life generally.

Since reviewers are never less than human, I must confess that my 'first glance' impression of the book as I opened its parcel was along the lines of 'worthy and waffly', but as I actually began to read through the essays, I began to find myself pleasantly surprised. The contributions are from thoughtful and experienced people who have useful things to say. The tenor is informative rather than critical but you learn something, in fact, quite a lot.

Having said this, I felt there were two main weaknesses. One was the omission of some crucial issues like the European Union, and multi-culturalism, which are having a huge impact on our society and on which some careful comment would have been welcome. The other weakness was the sense that the big picture of where our post-modern secular culture is actually going - rapidly downhill - was just not sufficiently appreciated. Some of us wonder what our 'national life' will be like, if it exists at all, in not many decades hence.

Ian Cooper

© Evangelicals Now - January 2000
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Main Articles

• Here's hoping!
  The future for Northern Ireland
• The harvest of abortion
  A report on the shocking US trade in the body parts of aborted foetuses (reprinted from World Magazine)
• God's doorman
  The testimony of a bouncer in a London nightclub
• The Crowded House
  Steve Timmis discusses an initiative to plant a network of household churches in Sheffield (part 1 of series)
• Old church - new church
  Comparisons for 'old churches' and 'new churches' to challenge and stimulate thinking
• At work together
  A report from the Spring Harvest conference on the world of work
• Watch and warn
  Three trends that threaten the health of Christ's church - entertainment, psychology and how we treat Sunday (reprinted from World Magazine)
• Where it's @
  The increasing effect of the Internet and computers on our lives - is it as significant as the invention of the printing press?
• Monthly column on hymns and songs: choose your three
  A look at which songs can be called Real Hymns
• Monthly column on the arts: setting a course
  Looking back on evangelical involvement in the arts over the last millennium and into the next
• Monthly column for youth leaders: a millennium meditation
  A guided tour of history for youth groups - even if they (and you) are tired of the millennium hype
• Anniversaries 2000
  A trip into the past - a reminder of millennium anniversaries

Other articles

• The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - Review of the Royal Shakespeare Company's theatrical production
• The Sixth Sense
• China's Christian Millions - The story of the 1982 revival showing the work of God among the house churches - an extract from the book China's Christian Millions
• A Housewife's Adventure with God - the Story of Jessie McFarlane and Prayer Chain Ministries
• Our National Life - A Christian Perspective on the State of the Nation
• No Turning Back - CD and tape review
• The Inquisition
• The Psalms - An Artist's Impression
• Free to Love - Sexuality and Pastoral Care
• Holding Up A Mirror - How Civilisations Decline
• Great Quotations of the 20th Century
• A Walk Through the Bible
• Evangelical Eloquence