Christianity is booming overseas

IT is perhaps ironic that at a time when all sorts of politicians are praising churches for their caring work during the pandemic, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland suggests that the Kirk may have only 15 years of survival left (“A crisis of faith”, April 4).

The Rt Rev Dr Martin Fair is clearly a parish minister of the highest calibre and also a very perceptive commentator on the religious state of church and nation. He is a man of hope and sees the way forward through the church’s caring work in society. Few would doubt the importance of that. A problem arises when you look at the teaching of Jesus Christ.

In his own day the crowds gathered to see his miracles and listen to him but, at the end of the day, they couldn’t stand him and crucified him. Much of Jesus’s teaching is anathema to our 21st-century society. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) carried much that our society finds too challenging – viz loving enemies, prioritising the poor, attitudes to sexuality, the emptiness of riches, don’t be anxious, trust God, don’t judge others. All these things create an attitude of “taking things too far” in the minds of many in our society and present a barrier to them embracing Christianity.

However, as the church declines in our part of the world, in many others Jesus is building His church and more and more people are following the greatest person who ever lived on Earth. At the latest count a total of more than 30 per cent claim to be associated with his cause.

Bill Wallace (Rev Dr), Banchory.

I WAS interested in Neil Mackay’s interview with the Moderator, and I agree with what Dr Martin Fair says.

I belong to a lay Buddhist practice which has no monks, no nuns, no priests, no temples. Before lockdown, we met in each others’ houses, and when there were too many for a private house, we hired a hall. If, as Dr Fair suggests, the Church of Scotland sells its buildings, which are too big to maintain, it can use the proceeds to work in the community. This is what my Buddhist tradition does. All through lockdown I have had the support of my Buddhist group, either on Zoom or on the phone.

I am not a fan of technology, but I am grateful for the opportunity to use it while we are not able to meet in person. I look forward to being able to meet up with other Buddhists as soon as we can. Margaret Forbes, Kilmacolm.