Daniel: Being Distinctive in Uncertain Times - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Michael T. Gowen================

For most of his working life Michael Gowen has been involved in church leadership. Including twenty-five years in Brussels, Belgium. Now retired, he is a member of the Birmingham Vineyard Church where he is still involved in training and mentoring leaders. He is married to Liz with three grown-up children and seven grandchildren.

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The book of Daniel in the Bible was written over 2,500 years ago. Yet it remains highly relevant for us today. Daniel and his friends were transported to a society where their future was uncertain and where they encountered hostility to the practice of their faith. Their response gives us important pointers as to how we can maintain our distinctiveness and enjoy God’s protection in similar situations.'

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Since 1983 the proportion of the British population identifying themselves as Christian has fallen from 66 per cent to 38 per cent, and now more than half (52 per cent) do not regard themselves as belonging to any religion.23 British Christians are now in the minority for the first time in more than 1,000 years. We may now find ourselves labelled as intolerant and bigoted – or worse – unless we are willing to buy into the prevailing morality of our society. The pressures we face are not dissimilar to those which Daniel experienced.This unfamiliar minority position has created a good deal of confusion within churches in Britain, and indeed throughout Western Europe. It has forced us to reflect on how many of our moral values are merely reflections of the culture of yesteryear, and how much they are based on the eternal truths of the Bible. And often Christians come up with very different answers.At one end of the spectrum are those who are unwilling to budge a single inch on any of their beliefs or practices. Then at the other end of the scale are those who largely adapt themselves to the morals of the society around them with a thirty-year time lag. Very mixed voices are being presented from the Church to the outside world. These challenges are only likely to increase as our society continues to change so rapidly. How can we negotiate this confusion?