Welcome to The Christian Institute - Frequently Asked Questions
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This section of our web site, attempts to answer many of the most common questions put to us, so that you may gain more of an understanding of what the Christian Institute is, and what we stand for. To find your way around the questions, simply click on the relevant one, on the left, and you will be taken to the correct place. If you have any further comments or questions, simply click 'Contact Us' on the menu, or click here |
- Strategic briefings based on careful research;
- Conferences, tapes and books;
- Comment in the media;
- Influencing public policy;
- Assisting individuals facing discrimination because of their faith.
2 What subjects does The Christian Institute campaign on?
- Marriage and the Family
- Child Protection
- Pro-life issues
- Drugs
- Religious Liberties
- Education
- Christianity and the constitution
3 When was The Christian Institute set up?
The Christian Institute was set up in 1990 by a group of church leaders and Christian professionals. They were concerned about the lack of a Christian voice to respond to major ethical debates.
The Christian Institute holds to historic Biblical Christianity. We have a mainstream evangelical basis of faith. We are non-denominational.
We are committed to defending the institution of marriage, and believe in the sanctity of human life from conception. We believe that the rule of law is the basis of order and civilisation, but our national life needs Christian underpinning.
We recognise that there are many who are not Christians who share our concerns on moral and ethical issues.
5 What about Christian political involvement?
Christians should participate fully in our democracy. Whilst individual Christians should join political parties, the Church can never be identified with any one political party.
We believe in speaking out publicly and we have a reputation for doing so robustly and accurately. All our publications are rigorously researched.
Because we have low overheads we are able to devote more resources to our research and campaigning work.
7 Is there duplication amongst Christian organisations working in public policy?
No. The reality is that there are very few Christians able to work full time in the area of public policy. There are many opportunities and challenges which are currently not being tackled.
There are organisations with a special focus which we do not seek to duplicate. For example on the issue of Sunday Trading, Keep Sunday Special and the Lord’s Day Observance Society are such specialist organisations.
8 How do you decide what issues to tackle?
We focus on moral and ethical issues where we believe the Bible's teaching is plain.
Whilst the Bible's basic moral teaching is clear, on other matters, for example transport or taxation policy, we recognise that Christians seeking to apply Biblical principles can legitimately come to different conclusions.
9 How does the work of the Institute tie in with the work of the local church?
The Christian Institute seeks to help individual Christians and local churches to take a stand for biblical truth. We provide key information on strategic Christian issues to enable Church Leaders and individuals to speak out more effectively.
10 How is the Institute funded?
We entirely depend on donations to fund our work.
We do not receive any Government funding. Since we object to the National Lottery we cannot apply for funding from the Lotteries Board.
11 What information is available on this Website?
You are able to download most of our research publications in portable document format (pdf) from our website. All you will need is a copy of Adobe Acrobat, which you can download for free by clicking here. You can also get our press releases, briefing papers (on key moral issues) and buy our tapes on-line.