beginnings - Aidan

The Christian faith has been coming under increasing pressure in recent times. We are a long way from the place of persecution but the attacks have been subtle. The erosion of faith sneaks up on one in the west, where as in other parts of the world many believers continue to be in physical danger. The church in China grows at a fantastic rate but much is underground and unseen. In the west, with freedom of speech, come written attacks such as the book ‘The God Delusion’, advertisements on London buses declaring that there is probably no God, and continued comments and asides from well know TV personalities and comedians in popular programmes such as QI.

Of course this is nothing new and I am a firm believer in the fact that God is big enough and well able to look after Himself but I do want to stand up for Him, because I love Him and I want to refute statements such as 'faith is one of the world’s great evils’ (Richard Dawkins, Is Science a Religion? – The Humanist 57 (1997). The implication that those who are Christ followers are perpetrating evil is disturbing and in my book blatantly untrue.

Aidan was an Irish monk who joined the Christian Community founded by Columba at Iona. In 631 he was chosen to lead a mission to the largest English kingdom of Northumbria, at the request of its new young king, Oswald. Aidan turned his back on the trappings of privilege afforded to him with bishop’s status but walked everywhere and constantly meditated on the scripture. He established a mission community and monastery on Lindisfarne with the first school for English boys. He used the money to help the poor and to buy slaves their freedom. This holistic approach to evangelism won many followers to Jesus Christ in a powerful and loving witness which was to the betterment of the people.

At the roots of Christian faith in our country is a man who lived out his faith to bless and to do good and certainly not for evil, following Christ who was everything to him. May we do the same.