birthright of every believer. And what is wrong with facing the problems of life with the same fearless courage, and practical common sense, that Christ himself displayed, provided one has the same wisdom and discretion? Whether one is atheist, agnostic, or believer, where is the blasphemy, where the presumption?
It can hardly be denied that the entire fabric of Western civilisation is built on the example of his life, down to such details as the yearly calendar and the welfare state. This is so, even if that life is now derided. Why is it then that the Church, which began by encouraging its members to follow Christ's magnificent example, is in Western Europe at least a rabble in retreat? Well, it is commonly said there are no bad regiments, only bad officers. If that is so, there is only one body at whose door to lay the blame, and that is the clergy's. But why?
The problem is this. In order to act in one's daily life with the same courage that Christ displayed, one must be able to view life's problems in the same way, with the same sense of proportion that he did. Otherwise, if one cannot see things as he would have done, if one cannot envisage the kind of solution he would have resolved upon, then to imitate his courage is merely to rush like a bull into the proverbial china shop. One must think with the mind of Christ; a thing which Paul actively encouraged christians to do: “It is not I who live, but Christ in me”. One must have the same awareness, sense of proportion, in a word the same consciousness, in a different character or soul. Unfortunately, though, not all christians have had Christ's wisdom and discretion; so rather than allow large numbers of them to make fools of themselves, and incidentally of God too, the clergy damped down their enthusiasm by coming between God and the common people. Of course it got completely out of hand, so that in the Middle Ages the clergy forbade the man-in-the-pew to read the Bible, on threat of severe penalties. Indeed in time the…