Faith in Britain

governing authorities we must accept that others who may not share our faith must be convinced of the rightness of our views. The Christian community must also abide by the results of the democratic process.

What is the Christian basis of democracy? There are many different approaches and arguments. They may be based on questions of justice, personal autonomy or on the symbolic equality which humanity shares before God. A biblical approach to democracy will also want to add reference to the political implications of Pentecost. The empowerment given by the Holy Spirit gave all, from slaves upwards, the right and boldness to speak out. In politics this right is best symbolised through giving everyone the right to vote and participate in the democratic process. Christians therefore identify with a political system which preserves the basic dignity of human beings through creating conditions under which they may fully develop, spiritually and materially, through co-operation with others. Related to this is the conviction that social and political power should be distributed to different groups and bodies at every level of society so that neither the State (nor for that matter the Church) monopolises it. Within the British political context, but drawing on the European practice of Christian democracy, this approach may be summarised thus. It constitutes a defence of traditional values against secular philosophies. It seeks to provide the order and values conservatism pledges to protect, the freedom liberalism espouses, and the social justice and equality promised by social democracy. It simply believes all three can be accomplished only if the Christian emphasis on the spiritual dimension and fundamental worth of each human being is the starting point.

Christians can argue for these values in different ways. Our shared goal is to maintain a Christian prophetic witness. This will involve speaking out and using our votes, but also lobbying politicians, joining pressure group campaigns and being involved at the level of grassroots action. It also involves being informed about our heritage and being able to argue our cause with gentle conviction.

This book - like the new Movement for Christian Democracy - is a contribution to the debate. I am grateful to Hodder and Stoughton that their invitation to write the book came at such a timely moment, this probably being a General Election year.

It also comes in a year when Evangelical Christians have been celebrating and relearning the implications of the victories of their predecessors, Wilberforce and Shaftesbury, who radically reformed unjust social structures; and it comes in the centenary year of the publication of the great Catholic call to social and political engagement, the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum.

Faith in Britain examines the Christian contribution to Britain's politics. It contrasts this with the different experience of Western and Eastern Europe. It then examines the condition of Britain's social ecology and why a small group of people