The new Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Rev Dr Harry Uprichard last night "unashamedly" proclaimed a "Back to the Bible campaign".
He was speaking after his installation at the opening session of the church's General Assembly in Belfast, before a congregation of 1,300 delegates and invited guests. The General Assembly continues until Friday.
"In a post-modern world where everything spiritual and moral is a murky shade of grey, not black and white, it is good to turn to the absolute principles and clear parameters of God's word in scripture," he said.
"Today, in Christianity in general and in Presbyterianism in particular, the authority of scripture is accepted. What needs to be rediscovered, alongside that authority, is the sufficiency of scripture, scripture alone, scriptura sola, for all things within the church and outside it," he said.
In his last address as Moderator, Rev Dr Ken Newell had said earlier that "we have a sacred duty as Christians to assist in framing a vision for the future of our country, both socially, economically and politically."
He continued that "mention 'hope' and some seasoned cynics will tell you that it has emigrated from the emotions of our people. They see two great icebergs of divergent and determined political conviction moving relentlessly closer. They anticipate that they will crunch into each other for decades to come, repeating the conflicts of the past.
"I don't share that cynicism. Indeed the two great icebergs do seem on a collision course, but the ocean is warming up, for there are people working at every level of society, in church, on councils, in business, in government, in the community, in our schools, and, thank God, in politics to create a warmer and more inclusive future."
Two things needed to happen soon, Dr Newell said. "Paramilitary organisations need to recognise that their day is over: our communities don't need them and don't want them." Secondly, "all who have been returned recently to positions of political responsibility, at council level or at Westminster, need to help us move forward. They need to create a climate of co-operation and distance themselves from raw confrontations that deepen the mistrusts of the past."
