Westminster Abbey

Professor Alister McGrath addresses the subject of Lewis’s nonfiction Christian apologetics. In works such as Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain and Miracles, Lewis gave defences of Christianity using reason, logic, and philosophy. This lecture assesses the value of such approaches in the 21st century.

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester attended a Service to Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the National Churches Trust at Westminster Abbey on Thursday 28th November 2013.

A charity supported by voluntary contributions and which receives no financial support from government, the National Churches Trust has, over the last sixty years, allocated grants and loans worth £85 million to help repair and modernise Christian places of worship.

Audio includes: C S Lewis in the sole surviving recording of his broadcasts for BBC Radio, Douglas Gresham, younger stepson of C S Lewis reading from The Last Battle and the Address given by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, the Right Reverend and Right Honourable The Lord Williams of Oystermouth.

Drawing on findings from the £12m Religion and Society research programme, Professor Linda Woodhead demonstrated how significantly religious identity has changed in Britain since the 1980s, explaining why new, fluid forms of identity now exist alongside stricter ‘mono-identities,’ and discussing the broader significance of these developments for politics and public life.

John Izbicki, Lilian Levy and Victor Greenberg

Rabbi The Baroness Neuberger DBE, Senior Rabbi, West London Synagogue

As we remember the terror, the death and destruction, the loss of parents, family and friends, let us use today, Jews and Christians together, to remember that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Today we remember with love and thanksgiving those who have died; a solemn and communal remembrance. We ask God in his great mercy to forgive them their sins and to give them a place of light and peace and happiness in his presence.

The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster. Today, All Saints’ Day, the Church remembers and celebrates countless acts of heroism and heroic lives. The stories of the saints remind us of people without number willing to dedicate their lives to the service of God and of their fellow human beings.

Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated on March 24th 1980. His statue stands on the facade of Westminster Abbey, in recognition of this modern martyr. The disturbing truth of his words was rooted in a deep attention to the Word of God and a proximity to the poorest of his country. Timothy Radcliffe will discuss how our Churches can witness such a courageous truth in contemporary Britain.

The debate was part of the Institute’s inaugural events season, Telling the Truth. Speakers Wendy Cope, Sir Max Hastings, the Right Honourable Jack Straw MP and Lord Winston addressed the joys, limits and liabilities of truthfulness, in a discussion chaired by the Institute’s Director, Claire Foster-Gilbert.