The next leader of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland has accused Stephen Fry of "spiritual blindness" after the actor's own attack on on God. He said the actor's words had in fact proved the truth of the Bible.
Rev Ian McNie, elected moderator-designate this week at the age of 64, said: "Until Stephen Fry's spiritual blind eyes are opened he will say what he has said, because he has said what he has said he has only confirmed what the Bible teaches.
"He has been an asset to the church cause, enabling us to know that the Bible is true."
He explained to Christian Today that the reference was to 2 Corinthians 4.4: "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
He said: "The god of this age could be any god. It could be the god of materialism, it could be the god of whatever." He added: "Obviously Stephen Fry is saying that he does not believe in the existence of God. He is blind to that spiritual side of life."
Mr McNie pointed out that God created a "perfect world", not one full of injustice and pain. It was the fall that brought spiritual darkness into the world. He said the question of suffering and evil was a "very big subject". But he added: "We do not know why there is sin or why God permitted it. But He gave a solution in Jesus."
Mr McNie, who will lead around 240,000 people across the island when he takes up office in June, said he pitied Fry. "I felt sorry for the man that his understanding of life is simply confined to the here and now and from his position of atheism there is no hope for the future."
Fry, an atheist, said in an interview with RTÉ One's The Meaning of Life, that if God did exist, he would tell him he was a "capricious, mean-minded, stupid God" and that it was "utterly, utterly evil" to have created a world full of so much misery.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby yesterday defended Fry's right to speak out but declined to comment on the content of what he said.
Mr McNie will succeed the present moderator, Dr Michael Barry. He said: "Throughout my ministry I have sought to preach the Gospel with clarity and conviction, in such a way that people will be moved by the God's Spirit to make a positive response to become Christians.
"With God's help and the prayer support of the Church, I would trust that during my year in office, lives would be impacted with the Gospel."
He will be the 176th Moderator since the election of the Dr Samuel Hanna in 1840.
He said: "As a conservative evangelical, I recognise that we are living in the 21st Century and therefore seek to steer the congregation in such a way that we do not cling to the traditions of the past, but seek to be relevant today. At the same time, I also recognise that the truth of the Gospel has not changed and we should not allow society to pressure us into departing from the core values of the Scriptures."
