ATTORNEY-General John Larkin will be one of the keynote speakers at a conference in Belfast today examining the role of the Church in the public square, writes William Scholes.
The timing is apt, with the argument over the staging of the Reduced Shakespeare Company's production of The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged) amid claims it was blasphemous still raging.
The row over the play has, if nothing else, brought to the fore again the question of what role faith should play in public life.
Christians themselves are divided on the question and the organisers note that "not only has the Christian voice become incomprehensible in many ears, but is often hated and opposed".
Mr Larkin pictured, has been asked to address the subject of rights - 'What about rights? Do Christians have rights? Can the competing and opposing rights of individuals and groups be reconciled?'
Dr Stafford Carson, one of the organisers, said the conference was taking place in the context of "the seismic shift that has taken place in terms of morality and ethical standards".
"Whereas it was once the case that a majority of people in our society accepted and ordered their lives according to foundational Christian standards of morality, that is no longer the case," Dr Carson, principal of Union Theological College, said.
"The changing scene has meant that those who hold to a traditional Christian position feel decidedly uncomfortable and marginalised as our society, and increasingly its major institutions, reflect a secular point of view which conflicts with their Christian principles."
Other questions posed by the conference include: 'What should Christians do, and how should they respond to these changes?' and 'What role does the Christian Church have to play in the debates that are taking place on a whole range of issues from education to euthanasia?'
As well as Mr Larkin, keynote speakers include Professor Donald McLeod and Dr Jonathan Chaplin.
Prof McLeod, professor of systematic theology at Free Church College in Edinburgh, will reflect on how and where the Church ought to position itself in ongoing debates.
Dr Chaplin, director of the Kirby-Laing Centre for Christian Ethics in Cambridge, will deal with the challenge that arises when a diversity of religious communities "no longer
accept the privatised role allotted to them by liberal secularism but demand public recognition and public influence".
* The Church in the Public Square will be held in Assembly Buildings, Fisherwick Place, Belfast today.