It\u2019s rare to hear political leaders speak with candor when it comes to religion.<\/p>\n\n
Imagine the angry newspaper headlines if a world-famous legislator dared to say: \u201cI fear for the future of authentic faith in our country. We live in a time when the common man \u2026 is thoroughly influenced by the current climate in which the cultural and educational elite propagates an anti-Christian message. We should take a look at what has happened in France and learn a lesson from it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
How would pundits respond if the same politico then said: \u201cIs it any wonder \u2026 that the spiritual condition of our country is of little concern to those who don\u2019t even educate their own children about true Christianity?\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Of course, a modern politician didn\u2019t air these blunt words on \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d An 18th-century Member of Parliament named William Wilberforce published them in a British bestseller entitled \u201cA Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes in This Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe first time I read that book, I thought, \u2018It\u2019s hard to work through some of the old language, but what the man is saying could have been written yesterday,\u2019 \u201d said the Rev. Bob Beltz, an evangelical Presbyterian who oversees special media projects for billionaire investor Philip Anschutz.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI kept writing \u20181797\u2019 over and over in the page margins, with exclamation marks. His words are so relevant that it\u2019s shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The question is whether modern Americans will admire Wilberforce as much as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and others admired him in the past and, perhaps, go see his life story on a movie screen.<\/p>\n\n
Modern Wilberforce disciples are doing what they can, producing new books, educational projects and political activism (www.theamazingchange.com) tied to his legacy. For example, Beltz set out to translate the heart of Wilberforce\u2019s book into modern language, a slim volume now called \u201cReal Christianity.\u201d Proceeds will go to the Dalit Freedom Network that is active in India.<\/p>\n\n
At the same time, Beltz was involved with Bristol Bay Productions to produce the new movie \u201cAmazing Grace,\u201d released on the 200th anniversary of Wilberforce\u2019s greatest victory. It was on Feb. 23, 1807, that the slave trade was abolished throughout the British Empire after years of struggle that taxed the abolitionist\u2019s faith, will and health.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cAmazing Grace\u201d opened on a modest 791 screens and grossed $4 million its first weekend, a $5,442-per-screen average that matched the top releases. The studio hopes to increase its promotional budget and reach more screens in upcoming weeks.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe know that this isn\u2019t the ordinary kind of movie that makes people rush to the theater,\u201d said Beltz. \u201cThen again, Wilberforce wasn\u2019t your ordinary kind of man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Born in a successful merchant family, Wilberforce won a seat in the House of Commons in 1780, shortly after graduating from Cambridge University and celebrating his 21st birthday. Before long he was both a radical social reformer and a radical evangelist who \u2014 after two years of intellectual and spiritual turmoil \u2014 came to see no conflict between his twin callings in the public square.<\/p>\n\n
Thus, Wilberforce on Oct. 28, 1787, wrote in his diary that, \u201cGod Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.\u201d In that era, pledging to reform \u201cmanners\u201d meant supporting public efforts to promote moral virtue and oppose vice.<\/p>\n\n
As if these passions were not enough, Wilberforce was also a spectacular orator, writer, singer, publisher, art lover, amateur scientist and social activist who helped build hospitals, fight cruelty to animals, reform prisons, improve schools and promote better factory working conditions.<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s crucial to realize, said Beltz, that for Wilberforce all of these causes were woven into the fabric of his life and faith. He saw no conflict between his head and his heart, between evangelism and social justice. What he opposed most of all was \u201cnominal,\u201d culturally compromised faith laced with apathy.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cYou have people who believe that if you are born in America and go to church on Sunday then that means that you are a Christian,\u201d said Beltz. \u201cThat is precisely the attitude that William Wilberforce was fighting in the England of his day. He believed that you couldn\u2019t defeat a great evil like slavery with a weak, watered-down faith. You needed the real thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s rare to hear political leaders speak with candor when it comes to religion. Imagine the angry newspaper headlines if a world-famous legislator dared to say: \u201cI fear for the future of authentic faith in our country. We live in a time when the common man \u2026 is thoroughly influenced by the current climate in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[143,277,323,1542,1544,806,927],"class_list":["post-1427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-britian","tag-culture","tag-england","tag-movies","tag-politics","tag-slavery","tag-wilberforce"],"yoast_head":"\n