Jesus and the Christians.(Letter to the editor)

SIR: The long letter of P.J. Moss (July-August 2006) deserves a fuller reply but I will only make three points. Mr Moss obviously thinks that the horrors committed in the name of Christianity (the Inquisition) or by people living in so-called Christian countries (such as the Mafia, the IRA, and the Loyalist gangs in Northern Ireland) are a respectable intellectual argument against the Christian faith itself. His argument expressed in logical form would go something like this: the (Italian) Mafia are based in Italy, Italy is a Christian country, the Mafia are bad, therefore the Christian faith is bad. The second premise is only partly true and the fallacy in the last step is obvious.

The Christian faith should be judged on the deeds and words of its founder as recorded in the New Testament and those of his true followers. It is not undermined by Jesus' statement that the whole Law would stand until all was fulfilled, because it was when He died on the cross. The infant church promptly abandoned the Jewish sacrificial system and the criminal and civil laws of Moses. It is remarkable that this criticism is still advanced 2000 years later.

There have always been persons in Christian communities whose faith did not extend beyond an answer in a census form. Jesus said that his true followers ...