15th February 2026
We believe
It's often said that we live in a post-truth society. "My truth", my perspective, my story can often take precedence over "the truth" as defined by others. Despite this, even today, truth still matters. There's a reason why Donald Trump calls his social media site "Truth Social" and denounces any facts that inconveniently get in the way of his message as "fake news". There's a reason why so many want to uncover the truth behind the Epstein files, and understand how and why rich and powerful people have been able to collude for so long in such terrible abuse. Truth must be uncovered for victims to receive justice. For there to be reconciliation and forgiveness where wrong has been done, the truth must be faced.
In a world where competing versions of truth vie for our attention, the Christian faith claims that the gospel of Jesus is true and that this truth is good news for the world. The gospel stands and falls on the truth or otherwise of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus - and about whether his claim to be Son of God is true. Tom Holland, the historian, author and podcaster, has noted how extraordinary the claims at the heart of Christianity are. In the Roman world in which Jesus lived and died, a crucified Messiah was no Messiah. Those crucified were slaves, nobodies. Their bodies, normally, would be taken down from the cross and thrown in a pit, for the birds to eat. That faith in Jesus Christ as the one crucified and raised to life and by this proved to be Israel's Messiah should have spread within a generation around the Roman Mediterranean and then, despite vicious persecutions, to have become in 300 years the official religion of the Roman Empire, is, he claims, extraordinary. Our very familiarity with the truths claimed at the heart of our faith have anaesthetised us to how extraordinary they are.
Over time, some of these essential truths were debated, and set down in what we now know as the Nicene Creed. For 1700 years, the Nicene Creed has been said in worship, as believers proclaim the truths of faith week by week. During Lent, we are going to be exploring the truths of the Nicene Creed that unite us, in our sermons at 10.30am and in our home groups. We'd love you to join in - to take up a home group for Lent - and to wonder afresh at the mystery of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, which we will celebrate at Easter.
The final word in this column, I leave to the writer and theologian CS Lewis. "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important."
