Wanting different things (strongmen rulers and the Christian church)

When strongmen rulers appeal to the "moral majority", and claim to uphold traditional values against the onslaught of liberal decadence, they follow in the footsteps of rulers who have gone before them, not least Adolf Hitler.

The period between the First and Second World Wars in Germany is known as the Weimar Republic (1918-1933). This followed defeat in World War One, and various attempted uprisings at that time. The Weimar Republic was an attempt to introduce liberal democracy to Germany, however it ultimately served as the prelude to the rise of the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler. As well as the infamous hyper-inflation and the inept divisions in party politics, the Weimar Republic was a time of moral decadence. Berlin was particularly notorious for this decadence, represented by figures such as Anita Berber (painted by Otto Dix - left) or night clubs such as the Eldorado or Moka Efti.

The Nazi party was able to capitalise on popular revulsion towards the moral decadence of the Weimar period to present their alternative, which might have been seen as a return to the purity of traditional values. No doubt this was appealing to many. However, ultimately, at its core Nazism was not about the family, but about far more sinister values such as hatred for non-Germans (especially Jews, but not only) and expansionist ambitions.

The Christian church, regretably, has a long history of being "taken in" by, and supporting powerful rulers who appear to be on the side of "righteousness", but who, in reality, are only really interested in power and control, in the pursuit of which truth is relativised and human life expendable.

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Bury, Greater Manchester - Timeline of churches

979? First Church on the site of the present Parish Church (the picture below is an artist's impression of Bury parish church in 1485). This was the only church in the town of Bury until 1719 (see below). 1585 Parish church (re)built in the gothic style . 1650 During the Commonwealth, Henry Pendlebury was ordained for Holcombe Chapelry. 1662 Having been ejected from the Church of England, Henry Pendlebury of Holcombe (1626-1695) held services at a Chapel on Bass Lane by Richard Kay, and others ejected from the C of E (replaced in 1712 by Dundee Chapel, Holcombe) 1669 The vicar of Bury parish reported to the Bishop of Chester that he heard several conventicles were "constantly kept at private houses of Independents, Presbyterians, Dippers and other such like jointly, of the bset rank of the yeomanry and other inferiors." 1689 ...

William Tyndale & the translation of the Bible into English

This year (2025) marks the 500 anniversary of the translation of the Bible into English by William Tyndale. There were translations of the Bible from Hebrew/Greek into other languages from the earliest centuries of the Christian church. The first languages to "get" translations were Syriac (the area stretching eastwards from Antioch), Latin (Rome and western Europe) and Coptic (Egypt). Later, in the centuries from the 300s to 500s, translations were also made into Gothic, Armenian, Georgian and Ge'ez (Ethiopia) languages. There had been translations of the Bible into English before Tyndale. The Venerable Bede, a leading monk living at Jarrow from the late 600s, undertook a translation of John's gospel into English. Also, King Alfred (849-899) translated the first five books of the Old Testament into English. Later, in 1384, Reformer John Wycliffe and his followers completed a translation into English from the Latin (Vulgate). However, the institutional church durin...

History of Christianity in Latvia - great "saints" and heroes of the faith in Latvia

The Baltic region, including what is now Latvia , was one of the last outposts of European paganism, and was only evangelised and converted from the 1100s. Bishop Meinhard (1134-1196) was one of the first to successfully plant the gospel in Latvian soil. An Augustinian canon (similar to a monk), he served as the first bishop of the see of Üxküll (now Ikšķile , Latvia ). However, the murder of his successor led to a more violent imposition of Christianity. This was in the context of the Northern Crusades (Livonian Crusade) whereby peoples/tribes inhabiting this region, including the Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians and Curonians, came to embrace the Christian faith. Andreas Knoepken (1490-1539), a disciple of Luther, was the one who "brought" the Protestant Reformation to Latvia in its Lutheran form. 1521 is considered the date of the Protestant Reformation in Latvia; by the mid 1500s the majority of people had become Protestant. The Bible was ...

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