By Les Henson.
Over the past hundred years or so, the Gospels have proved to be a fulcrum around which many of the most incisive examinations of Western society have revolved. There continues a wilful misreading the situation that sees Christianity as intrinsically reactionary, intuitively committed to class, race and gender intolerance, compelled by a fundamentalist viewpoint, and beleaguered with old superstitions. It is not hard to understand why many people think this way. The media inundates us with attention to the most extreme and astounding manifestations of the Christian faith. At the same time, the work of serious Christian thinkers is simply ignored or so distorted as to be barely recognisable. To amend this error even within the church, never mind the world, we must continually represent a macro-view of history that accurately and intelligently engages these issues and a Christian worldview that challenges the idols of Western culture and the prevailing secular worldview.