The Death of Queen Elizabeth

KEVIN HARRIS: Well, Bill, most Americans, and maybe even people from other countries, are only mildly interested in the recent passing of her majesty Queen Elizabeth. But people in the UK will be mourning for quite some time. You and Jan have connections to that part of the world so you've been watching this with interest I'm sure.

DR. CRAIG: Oh, we really have. I did my doctoral work in England at the University of Birmingham, and Jan and I just fell in love with English people and the culture. My roots are Scottish. So we just follow with great interest what's going on in the UK. Our condolences go out to our British friends and the people in the Commonwealth. This is the end of the second Elizabethan age when you think about it from a historical perspective. So this is an event of great significance. I was deeply moved watching the funeral service for the Queen in Westminster Abbey as well as the service of commitment at St. George's Chapel. These were especially meaningful to us because just a few years ago we had ourselves attended the memorial service for C. S. Lewis at Westminster Abbey where they laid a stone for Lewis in the floor of the Abbey. Then, more recently, on our UK speaking trip we visited Windsor and toured through St. George's Chapel and saw the place where the kings had been interred. So these spots that were shown on television were very personally meaningful to me as well as we watched the services.

KEVIN HARRIS: There are all kinds of prospects for impact in this event, both secular and Christian. Have you been able to determine what this means for the Church of England?

DR. CRAIG: One of the most significant things is that it means there is now a new head of the Church of England because there is a new monarch. Whereas the Queen was very outspoken about her faith in Jesus Christ, I think it remains to be seen exactly where King Charles will come down on this and what sort of a head he will be for the Anglican Church. I know some of our British friends are hoping that this will lead to something of a revival in England. Christianity is in terrible eclipse in the UK. Very few people attend church. The hope is that the Queen's example (which is just unimpeachable, the integrity with which she lived as well as the wonderful Christ-centered service in which they committed her soul to God through her savior Jesus Christ) would call people back to the Christian faith which many had abandoned. I know, for me, anything that I and Reasonable Faith can do to be a part of that is something that I am very concerned to do.

KEVIN HARRIS: Queen Elizabeth and Billy Graham had a long friendship, and she really admired him. She asked him a lot of questions. She had him over quite often; had him speak to the family and had him speak at private retreats. Franklin Graham has given even more details on their friendship.

When asked about King Charles and the role he will play in protecting the Christian faith, [Franklin] Graham said he hopes and prays King Charles “has put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ” like his mother did.^[1]

DR. CRAIG: That's interesting that Graham would say he hopes and prays. That shows a measure of uncertainty as to whether or not Charles will follow the example of his mother. I certainly hope that that's right.

KEVIN HARRIS: Franklin continues. He says,

I’ve heard that he's been very outspoken on many moral issues. And I appreciate that very much about him. I don't know a whole lot about his faith, but I can promise you, he had a lot of influence from his mother.^[2]

Charles will be the head of the church at least in the title.

DR. CRAIG: Yes. That's right. I think we Americans may not understand but need to appreciate that the UK is officially a Christian nation. That is to say, it has a state church. In the United States, we enjoy a separation of church and state, and this has been very healthy for the church in the United States because it hasn't been able to depend upon the support of the state in order to survive. It's had to make it on its own. Disestablishment of state churches has tended to be very healthy for the church, but in the UK you still have a state church – the Church of England, or the Anglican Church – and the monarch is the head of it which is why it's so important that the monarch be a confessing Christian and lead an exemplary life because this person is the head of the church. This gives me the chance to use a word that I learned in high school but have never had occasion to use, and that's “anti-disestablishmentarianism.” That would be being against the disestablishment of the state church. If you are in favor of disestablishing the state church, you would hold to disestablishmentarianism, but anti-disestablishmentarianism is a very long English word rarely used that indicates you're in favor of maintaining the state church.

KEVIN HARRIS: Back to Billy Graham for just a moment. I don't know if you and Jan had an opportunity to see the TV series The Crown. It's very well done overall, and I was kind of dreading how they were going to portray Billy Graham in the series. But I must say they treated him respectfully. The character was respectful. He didn't come across as some wild-eyed preacher or TV evangelist. Very respectful. I was glad to see that.

DR. CRAIG: Yes. I was, too. It's really interesting, historically, the influence of these great American evangelists like D. L. Moody and Billy Graham who conducted crusades in the UK and had tremendous impact in bringing people to faith in Christ. So it was good that in that television series they portrayed him in a respectful way.

KEVIN HARRIS: Premier magazine in the UK just published ten things the queen said about her faith.^[3] Most of these statements pretty much speak for themselves, so we'll just look at a few of them. Perhaps you can comment on these and apply them to your own life. At any rate, these statements will show our listeners the depth of the Queen's faith. Here's one of the statements. She says,

I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong. But I shall not have strength to carry out this resolution alone unless you join it with me, as I now invite you to do: I know that your support will be unfailingly given. God help me to make good my vow, and God bless all of you who are willing to share it.

That's her 21st birthday radio address in 1947.

DR. CRAIG: Yes. Before she was even queen she made this remarkable statement in which she vowed before God to devote her entire life to the service of the British people and the Commonwealth countries. Everyone agrees that she carried out faithfully the vow that she made as a young 21-year old. As I listened to her make this vow and have seen the films of it, it occurred to me this is the same sort of vow that Jan and I took to serve the Lord Jesus Christ when we became Christians as a young man and young woman. We, too, decided that our entire lives would be devoted to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. I very much resonate with Queen Elizabeth's sense of calling and devotion to a life of service. To her it was service to her country and to a people; for Jan and me, it’s service to our Lord. But it is an all-consuming passion.

KEVIN HARRIS: Another quote from her. She says,

I know just how much I rely on my faith to guide me through the good times and the bad. Each day is a new beginning. I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God! (2002)

DR. CRAIG: Here she speaks generically of God and of faith, but as we'll see in other statements she's made she is talking explicitly about Christian faith and her faith in Jesus Christ, that it guides her through the good times and the bad. I like what she says. Every day is a new beginning, an opportunity to put the past behind us and to embrace the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

KEVIN HARRIS: I like this one, too. She says,

Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general (important though they are) – but a Saviour, with the power to forgive. (2011)

DR. CRAIG: Isn't this a remarkable statement? Because here she recognizes our sinfulness, our need of redemption, and she identifies Jesus Christ not simply as a teacher or an example to follow but as a forgiving Savior which shows a proper understanding of Christ and the Gospel.

KEVIN HARRIS: A couple more statements. She said,

Christ not only revealed to us the truth in his teachings. He lived by what he believed and gave us the strength to try to do the same - and, finally, on the cross, he showed the supreme example of physical and moral courage. (1981)

DR. CRAIG: Here she does speak of Christ as a teacher and as an example, and certainly he is that. But Christ is much more than a teacher and an example. He is a Savior. He is the one who died to redeem us from the curse of sin and give us new life. So as important as his teaching and example are, even more important is his role as Savior which the previous quotation recognized.

KEVIN HARRIS: I believe this was a Christmas address. She said,

This is the time of year when we remember that God sent his only son 'to serve, not to be served'. He restored love and service to the centre of our lives in the person of Jesus Christ. (2012)

DR. CRAIG: This is one of those explicit testimonies to her faith in Christ. When I first saw these Christmas messages, I was absolutely astonished. Here was a world leader testifying openly and unashamedly to her faith in Jesus Christ. When you think of U.S presidents and other politicians, these sorts of words almost never come out of their mouths. It’s just inconceivable. And, yet, here was the Queen of England bearing testimony to her faith in Jesus Christ and to the strength that that imparts her for daily living. Really just remarkable.

KEVIN HARRIS: Here's the final quote from her.

The gift I would most value next year is that reconciliation should be found wherever it is needed. A reconciliation which would bring peace and security to families and neighbours at present suffering and torn apart. Remember that good spreads outwards and every little does help. Mighty things from small beginnings grow as indeed they grew from the small child of Bethlehem. (1976)

DR. CRAIG: Yes. That's beautiful. I don't know the historical context of this. It could have been during the strife in Northern Ireland when people were so torn apart and suffering and needed reconciliation so badly. Here she's speaking of reconciliation between people, but she also understood that we need reconciliation with a holy God before whom we stand as sinners condemned and in need of forgiveness. So that reconciliation among peoples is rooted even more fundamentally in our reconciliation with God through our Savior Jesus Christ and the moral transformation that he affords in our lives. The Queen understood that and explicitly stood for it.

KEVIN HARRIS: As we conclude today, perhaps we can make this a matter of prayer all around the world that revival would indeed break out in the UK as a result of her passing as friends of yours and some publications have actually speculated could happen.

DR. CRAIG: Yes. Let's keep the British people and, I think, King Charles in our prayers that he would continue the example of his mother in supporting the Christian faith.^[4]