EDINBURGH TODAY: THE 21st CENTURY

Today’s Edinburgh would be a shock to previous generations of Christians who laboured for Christ and gave their blood for Scotland’s freedom. The current spiritual climate is either atheistic and secular, or increasingly pagan. Humanistic evolution has crippled the life of the Church, and those who are spiritually searching are mostly looking for answers in New Age ideas.

The old Celtic gods have returned and about 12,000 people annually go up to Calton Hill to celebrate Beltane, Europe’s biggest pagan festival, and another pagan festival, Samhuinn (Samhain) is celebrated on the Royal Mile. At least seven ghost and witchcraft tours exist on the Royal Mile, attracting many thousands of people every year. There is even now an annual Ghost Festival.

Indeed, there is a concerted effort to turn Edinburgh into ‘The Paranormal Capital of Europe’, and others boast that Edinburgh is the most haunted city in the world. No doubt this is being fuelled by the fact that the present street of the Royal Mile lies on top of an underground ‘city’, which had been sealed up in the seventeenth century to prevent the plague from spreading. But the witches also have their martyrs in Scotland from the ‘Burning Times’, in which thousands of them were killed, although most were just ordinary people, even Christians.

Edinburgh has a long, adventurous and mystical past which has inspired many authors, such as J. M. Barrie (Peter Pan), the spiritualist, Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes books), and Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde). The supernatural is now a big business, with J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books making her one of the world’s richest women, and Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, which features Rosslyn Chapel outside Edinburgh, making him a multi-millionaire.

Now Edinburgh is a world centre for the Arts and Science. It is a city on the pulse of a world paradigm shift. In the heart of this amazing city stands St Giles’ Cathedral, a symbol of the resurrection power of Christ. The Church has been this way before, and just when people have written it off, God breathes his resurrection power into it to transform our culture. And none more so in history than Edinburgh. There is hope. Something is stirring once more, like a dormant volcano coming back to life.

Today God is just as real to many people here in Edinburgh. Let’s hear from some of the locals about what God has done in their lives:

Church has been this

‘I was a chronic alcoholic and was homeless… then I asked Jesus into my life. He has changed my life beyond measure. I have been sober for 17 years, married for 18 years, and now I’m working as Director of Residential Support Services with Bethany Christian Trust, helping homeless and vulnerable people. I am now able to pass on the love of Christ to others in a very practical outworking of my faith,and have experienced the joy of seeing others set free through his love.’

(John Rodgers, Director of Residential Support Services)

‘Before I became a Christian I felt that something was missing, as though I had a big hole inside me. I had a good life, good job, good husband and no particular problems but everything seemed empty and meaningless. I can truthfully say that since I became a Christian I feel fulfilled, secure and loved. Over the years I have had many answers to prayer that have astounded me, and I know that God loves me and is concerned about everything and everyone I am concerned about.’

(Sylvia Rebus, Personal Assistant)

‘When I was very young I went to church, but I thought God was just a human invention to make kids behave. As I grew up I believed in Evolution and the Big Bang. Whilst at university I argued with my Christian flatmates, all of whom were scientists. I was convinced that the Bible had been disproved through science, but they showed me the unfounded assumptions my science was based on. After reading the New Testament I knew God was real and that I had broken his laws and was not fit for heaven and that if I died he would rightly send me to hell. I asked for his forgiveness, knowing that Jesus had died on the cross so I could receive this, and I believed that he had risen from the dead. I now know that when I die I will be in heaven; this is a supernatural assurance and it frees me to live the rest of my life without worrying about the future. Living in the light of heaven has transformed my life on earth.’

(Phil Holden, Freelance Web Designer)