Moved By Grief (7 of 10)
Series: Incredible Moments with Christ
Stephen Whitney
John 11:17-44
Some say that life is like the flickering flame of a candle. When the flame is snuffed out, the light is gone forever. They believe
that when we breathe our last breath, we are gone forever - it is
as if we had never existed.
Charles Bradlaugh was a political activist and one of the most famous English atheists during the late 1800's. He not only believed there is no Supreme Being himself, but he became a popular writer for secular and liberal political groups. In 1858 he became president of the London Secular Society and editor of their newspaper called the National Reformer which was prosecuted by the government for blasphemy and sedition.
In 1880 he was elected to Parliament, but because he refused to take the religious Oath of Allegiance he was not allowed to take his seat. The oath was simply: "I do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty . . .
The issued was he refused to acknowledge there was a God that he was accountable to. He was elected four times as the dispute continued about each person having to say the oath in order to take their seat in Parliament.
His funeral on January 30, 1891 was attended by 3,000 mourners,
including Mohandas Gandhi. British writer Arthur Porritt gives this sad description of how atheist Charles Bradlaugh was buried: "No prayer was said at the grave. Indeed, not a single word was uttered. The remains, placed in a light coffin, were lowered into the earth in a quite unceremonious fashion as if carrion (the dead body of an animal) were being hustled out of sight."
Porritt said that he came away "heart-frozen," realizing how the "loss of faith in the continuity of human personality after death gives death an appalling victory."
Death separates us from our loved ones and that causes us sorrow and grief, but for the Christian it doesn't mean that is ...
Series: Incredible Moments with Christ
Stephen Whitney
John 11:17-44
Some say that life is like the flickering flame of a candle. When the flame is snuffed out, the light is gone forever. They believe
that when we breathe our last breath, we are gone forever - it is
as if we had never existed.
Charles Bradlaugh was a political activist and one of the most famous English atheists during the late 1800's. He not only believed there is no Supreme Being himself, but he became a popular writer for secular and liberal political groups. In 1858 he became president of the London Secular Society and editor of their newspaper called the National Reformer which was prosecuted by the government for blasphemy and sedition.
In 1880 he was elected to Parliament, but because he refused to take the religious Oath of Allegiance he was not allowed to take his seat. The oath was simply: "I do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty . . .
The issued was he refused to acknowledge there was a God that he was accountable to. He was elected four times as the dispute continued about each person having to say the oath in order to take their seat in Parliament.
His funeral on January 30, 1891 was attended by 3,000 mourners,
including Mohandas Gandhi. British writer Arthur Porritt gives this sad description of how atheist Charles Bradlaugh was buried: "No prayer was said at the grave. Indeed, not a single word was uttered. The remains, placed in a light coffin, were lowered into the earth in a quite unceremonious fashion as if carrion (the dead body of an animal) were being hustled out of sight."
Porritt said that he came away "heart-frozen," realizing how the "loss of faith in the continuity of human personality after death gives death an appalling victory."
Death separates us from our loved ones and that causes us sorrow and grief, but for the Christian it doesn't mean that is ...
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