Bishops’ call for ‘hopeful realists’ to serve the common good
28 June 2010

Christians are called to be “hopeful realists” about the state of the world, politics and economics, “living thankfully” while challenging unjust systems and regimes, according to a new Church of England teaching document.

Living thankfully before God: Living fairly before each other aims to help Christians examine some key contemporary social issues, highlighting the Biblical foundations for living “the kind of life shaped by faith and hope [that] expresses itself in love for God, love for our neighbour and care for the world that God has made and given to us to look after.” In stressing this fundamental Christian idea, it argues that “thinking it is possible to live a fulfilled human existence without loving God and our neighbour is thus like thinking that it is possible to play cricket without trying to score runs or take wickets.”

Published while the new government continues to assess its priorities, the document examines how such an approach can be applied to three specific areas of contemporary concern. It outlines:

how preventing another financial crisis partly depends on the extent to which the banking sector accepts its moral duty to “serve the common good” and ensure that the riskiest activities, typically rewarded with short term profits, are avoided in favour of safer, more sustainable financial products and solutions;
in terms of extending care for the environment, how we can balance the long-term demands on the planet’s resources while having the minimum negative impact on the rest of creation. This demands honesty about the relevant scientific evidence on global warming and a more concerted effort to take appropriate action to reduce it, especially to focus “on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world who are already feeling the impact of environmental changes most acutely”;
the need to refocus on the vital importance of achieving the Millennium Development Goals, specifically how individuals can take personal action to help meet the aims, including building pressure on governments by creating social consensus around the key public policy issues.

Living thankfully before God: Living fairly before each other adds to a collection of materials hosted on the Church of England website at www.cofe.anglican.org/generalelection/church.html, originally published to help Christians consider various areas of social policy ahead of the General Election.

The teaching document has been commended by the House of Bishops as a basis for discussion and prayer by local parishes, and is freely available at: www.cofe.anglican.org/info/papers/ltbgprint.pdf (text only version available at www.cofe.anglican.org/info/papers/ltbgtext.rtf). The booklet is also available in a printed form from Church House Bookshop, Great Smith Street, London, priced £6 (email bookshop@c-of-e.org.uk, telephone 020 7799 4064).

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