Graham Thornton
President-Elect
Christian Union
Free is an outreach mission that has been organised over the last week by the Christian Union. It wants to offer people the chance to find out for themselves what the Christian faith is about and examine the claims of Jesus, hopefully clearing some of the many misconceptions around today.
The talks, discussions and copies of Mark’s gospel (the story of Jesus’ life) handed out around the University all provide people with this opportunity. We have not forced anyone to take the copy of Mark’s gospel, nor forced anyone to attend any of the talks, and we certainly don’t want to put pressure on people to agree with what is being said. We want people to be free to come to their own conclusions regarding Jesus based on the evidence that we can show them and that is put before them.
Our aim has been to provide the platform for discussing the truth of Jesus, his death and his resurrection because we believe it to be the greatest news in the world. Jesus says ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life’. Would it not be immensely selfish for us not tell other people about this when we believe it? Immensely unloving of us to deny them the opportunity to know God and enjoy eternal life?
Jesus claimed to be God on Earth, dying on the Cross, that we might know Him. If this is wrong, then neither he nor Christianity are of importance. But if it is true, his claims are of infinite importance and so is the Christian faith. These statements are often seen as intrusive because they tear apart the worlds that we have created for ourselves. They suggest that there is more to life than the success that we make for ourselves in this world. Jesus tells us only He can help us know God – claims which may understandably strike discord with many. They were offensive to my pride when I first heard them.
However, with investigation, these claims are found to be true and liberating. Jesus himself said ‘Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free’. Jesus is inviting us to have the freedom of knowing God’s forgiveness and love. This is, then, what Free is trying to do, and what we at the Christian Union will continue to try to do. We want to present this invitation to you so that you have the chance to know God and know his love for yourself.
Richard Thompson
Co-President
Oxford Atheist Society
The fact that the point of the recent Free event was to convert people to evangelical Christianity is indisputable. Just look at their website for all the evidence you need: ‘Our hope is that many will choose to follow Jesus.’ Then look at all the merchandise they offered, the free gospels they gave out, all the posters – and so on.
As an atheist I do not see how the event can be portrayed as having brought forward an unbiased discussion, one that will help people ‘come to an informed decision’ as the website suggested. From the point of view of non-Christians, then, this discussion was not welcome. In fact, it simply served as an evangelical intrusion in to the lives of us who are perfectly happy without following Christianity.
I suppose that the organisers of Free would argue that the discussion does not need to be unbiased, as Christianity is right and everything else is wrong. Hence, for them, the idea of ‘coming to an informed decision’ should equate nicely with ‘coming to a decision with only the Christian side having been presented’. But – refraining here from going in to the big details and arguments – I would argue that Christianity is not right, it is in fact wrong. Therefore, the organisers made a logical slipup at the first possibility. Oops! And so, it seems to me to be quite clear, although with some slight generalisation, that the event brought forward a welcome discussion from the point of view of Christians. From the point of view of everyone else, it was an evangelical intrusion.
Right, now that I’ve argued the very wrong premise of the initiative, I’d like to go on a bit of a rant about the name. Free. I understand what the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship were referring to when they chose to call the event Free- Jesus freed us from sin and thereby offered us salvation and the promise of eternal life, etc etc. But… oh, the irony! I’ve got a friend on the executive of Oxford Intercollegiate Christian Union, and he has had less free time this past week than ever before. Though I suppose it was inevitable that he’d waste the Free week on his fictional God – seeing as this character is simply a product of his nature and his nurture, both of which are completely beyond his control…
