The best known attempt to run a community on Christian lines was by William Penn in the early years of Pennsylvania. It was known as the Holy Experiment. It was severely criticised at the time, and ended in miserable failure or flagrant hypocrisy, whichever way you look at things. The same thing would happen today. If the government of this country were handed over to Christians, they would reduce it to chaos within months. And before you allow the Sermon on the Mount to dismantle the Rule of Law, you do want to ask the question whether you want to hear the knock at the door at 2.0am. either by the Secret Police or the local Protection Racket? Christians, without further experience, are utterly incapable of running a decent just society, and depend entirely on others to do so. Their function is different.
In secular language, religion is not primarily for the benefit of the worshippers; it is primarily for the benefit of the society in which the worshippers live. They are expected to be the leaven of society. As such, they are expected to understand, not only their own mental discipline, but everyone else’s too. For Christians to be ignorant of the general principles of science, while they live in a society that is dominated by science and technology, is nothing short of inexcusable. They might as well say they are not interested in mission.
Equally for Christians to be the leaven of society, they need to have an intellectual structure that commands respect, even from those who disagree with it. But once the Church has that, there is no need to try to force it on others; it is more important to get on with life. With that proviso, what do I mean by reconciliation between religions? I mean seeking to reconcile all religions within the Christian message, as far as possible, admitting their virtues, but refusing to overlook their limitations. The Christian example is of complete self-sacrifice. But not every soldier has to die in battle; and you would not succeed in recruiting much of an army, if they all had to die. There is a difference between the ultimate ideal, and what is necessary or expedient in practice; just as there is a difference between the ultimate sacrifice, and a willingness to stand firm against the shifts and often dishonest evasions of fashion, and to accept the consequences of doing so. We are not all expected to be heroes.
Most people would say that Religion is about faith and belief; that is to say with the concepts in the spiritual or intangible world that one holds most dear. But it is not as simple as that! Islam is a religion of “works”. It is a religion of doing; you pray five times a day, you keep the commandments in the Koran as interpreted by the mullahs, and that is your religion, apart from the adoring mysticism that is common to all religions. You are not troubled by thoughts about the relationship of God to Man, because I understand most Muslims would consider that Allah would demean himself by seeking man’s friendship. In contrast Christianity is a religion of “grace”; whatever Jesus meant by his preaching, he has been interpreted to mean that what matters is the attitude of the mind and heart.