February 23rd, 2008 at 2:36 am
The Times of London reports:
A diocese of the Church of England is giving an unprecedented £250,000 towards a multi-faith building in which the largest amount of worship space will be reserved for Muslims.The Guildford diocese is one of the wealthiest in the UK. The Bishop of Guildford, the Right Rev Christopher Hill, today handed over the £250,000 cheque to Surrey University for the first multi-faith building of its kind in Britain.
I can almost rationalize from one standpoint that the Church of England may feel the need to prove to Muslims in England that the CofE means no harm. Trouble is, I think they know that.
Converting each other will be strictly forbidden, an insider said, but it is hoped that the different faith members will form friendships, learn to respect each other and enhance each other’s understanding.
There are things here that should not sit well theologically. First, there isn’t much of a stronger signal that all faiths lead to God/heaven/whatever than to participate in the construction of a multi-faith building. I doubt even that all of the £250,000 stays in the Christian portion of the building.
Secondly, that there is a prohibition for conversion. Mixing Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, and Christians is bound to have people talking about religion. Someone is going to have a change of opinion. How is this going to be enforced?
Most importantly, the Church is in the business of conversion. How does the Church of England justify deliberately not doing the business of the church?
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
