Protecting human life all-important

The Rev Trevor Gribben, clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, has had to endure much criticism from unionists for his suggestion that they should reach a power-sharing agreement before October 21 — in order to prevent Westminster from forcing an extreme abortion law on Northern Ireland.

If the price for this is to agree with Sinn Féin that an Irish language act should be introduced, he believes that this is acceptable.

As an evangelical Protestant, I fully agree with him that the protection of innocent human life is far more important than most other political issues.

After all, true Protestants must be loyal, first and foremost, to the commandments of God and to other clear teachings of Scripture. The killing of the unborn is plainly contrary to God’s Word; the use of Irish is not.

From Genesis to Revelation, it is clear that no language should be considered “non-kosher”.

To take only three examples: in Genesis 11, we are told that all languages on earth are God-given.

In the Gospels and Acts, Christians are repeatedly commanded to preach the Gospel to all peoples and make them Christ’s disciples, which is an impossible goal if Christians refuse to learn certain languages; and twice in the Book of Revelation (5:9 and 7:9) we are told that people of all nations and languages will be in Heaven.

R. Seathrún Mac Éin, Dublin 4