A Swedish Bishop, of that nation’s majority Lutheran Church, has proposed that crosses inside churches be removed, so as not to cause offence to persons of Islamic faith.
Seemingly without a sense of irony, and without any knowledge whatsoever of the contents of the Bible, the Bishop confessed that she feared the cross of Christ was offensive. Despite being a senior leader of the Christian church in her nation, it is possible the Bishop is wholly unaware that, centuries earlier, St Paul had already proclaimed the cross so to be, in his First Letter to the Corinthians (1.18-23). Offensive, that is, to “those who are perishing.”
When asked about this, the Bishop denied taking the Bible literally. It would seem self evident, nonetheless, that both Sweden as a nation, and Swedish Christianity of the Lutheran variety, are certainly perishing.
