Christianity In Britain

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1 Beginning of Christianity in Britain

We cannot know how or when Christianity first reached Britain, but it was certainly well before the 4th century when Christianity was accepted by Constantine (the Roman Emperor). It became firmly established across Britain, both in Roman-controlled areas and beyond, also in the Celtic areas.

In 57 Pope Gregory the Great sent a monk, Augustine, to re-establish Christianity in England. He was very successful in ruling (elite) circles but it was the Celtic Church which brought Christianity to the ordinary people of Britain. The Celtic bishops went from village to village teaching Christianity. As we can see, in the beginning there were two churches already but the Celtic Church retreated and the Roman Church became dominant.

England became Christian very quickly and Saxon kings helped the Church to grow, but the Church also increased the power of kings.




Struggle between Church and state

A long struggle began between Church and state in 1066 when William didn’t want to accept the pope as his feudal Lord. The Church wanted the King to accept its authority over both spiritual and earthly affairs, and the King wanted to gain authority over the Church.

The crisis came when Henry II’s friend Thomas Becket was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 116. Henry hoped that Thomas would help him bring the Church more under his control. But Becket refused and resisted the King. Henry was very angry and four knights went to Canterbury to murder Becket. They killed him in he holiest place in the cathedral, on the altar steps. All Christian Europe was shocked, and Thomas Becket became a saint of the Church. Henry was forced to ask the pope’s forgiveness ((and the pope used the event to take back some of the Church’s privileges)).

Christianity in the villages

However, the Church at local village level was significantly different from the politically powerful organisation. At the time of William I the ordinary village priest could hardly read at all, and he was usually one of the peasant community. His church belonged to the local lord. Almost all priests were married but the Church tried to prevent them from marrying. The attempt was pretty successful. At this time a lot of men and women entered the local monastery or nunnery because it was very difficult during this period to live on the land, and the monasteries were centres of wealth and education.

((The 1th century brought a new movement, the „brotherhood” of friars. These friars were wandering preachers. They were interested not in Church power and splendour, but in the souls of ordinary men and women. They lived with the poor and tried to bring the comfort of Christianity to them. They lived in contrast with the wealth and power of the monasteries and cathedrals, the local centres of the Church.))

4 Threats to the Church

In the 14th century discontent with the Church grew. The greed of the Church was one obvious reason for its unpopularity. The Church was a feudal power, and often treated people with as much cruelty as the nobles did.

Another threat to the Church during the 14th century was the spread of religious writings, which allowed people to pray and think independently of Church control and people felt encouraged to challenge the authority of the Church.

These writings were condemned as heresy . One of the religious leaders was John Wycliffe, an Oxford professor. He believed that everyone should read the Bible in English, so he translated it from Latin, finishing the work in 16. He was not allowed to publish his new Bible in England, and was forced to leave Oxford.

5 The beginning of the Anglican Church

Henry VIII

Until 154 Britain was a Roman Catholic country, but it changed during the reign of King Henry VIII. In 155 Henry decided to divorce his queen, Catherine of Aragon, but the Pope forbade it. Henry was so angry with the Pope that he ended all contact between England and Rome, divorced Catherine of Aragon without the Pope’s permission and married Anne Boleyn.

In 154 the Parliament named Henry head of the Church of England. This was the beginning of the Anglican Church. Henry’s break with Rome was purely political. He did not consider himself as a Protestant, he still believed in the Catholic faith executed Protestants who refused to accept it. He did not approve of the new ideas of Reformation (Martin Luther and John Calvin). So England became a Protestant country, even though the popular religion was still Catholic.

Mary and Elizabeth

In 155 Mary became Queen of England. (She was Henry’s daughter by Catherine of Aragon.) Because she was a Roman Catholic, the country re-entered the Roman Church. While Mary was Queen, many Protestants were burned at the stake for their beliefs. She also put her non-Roman Catholic sister, Elizabeth into prison in the tower of London. (She was the daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn.) Because of Mary’s cruelty, Roman Catholicism became feared and hated in the country. Many people were glad when Mary died in 1558 and Elizabeth became Queen. Elizabeth also became head of the Anglican Church, like her father, and Roman Catholicism was never again the established (official) religion in England.

6 Puritanism

After Elizabeth became Queen, a group of Protestants wanted to ‘purify’ the Church of England of all Roman Catholic influence. These people were called Puritans - they were the English Protestants. They dressed very simply and believed that all pleasures, such as fine clothes and the theatre, were wicked. Under the rule of James I and Charles I the Puritans were often put in prison and sometimes even killed. Some of them decided to leave England to find freedom in a new country - in America. The Court was unpopular because it was suspected of being the centre of Roman Catholicism. This religious split between the puritans and the Court was one cause of the outbreak of civil war in 168 ((and the eventual execution of Charles I. Following this, from 164 to 1660, Britain was a republic for a short while.))

7 Nonconformist sects

The influence of Puritanism increased greatly during the 17th century. They persuaded James I to permit a new official („authorised”) translation of the Bible. It was published in 1611. This beautiful translation was a great work of English literature, and it encouraged Bible reading among all those who could read. Some of them understood the Bible in a new and revolutionary way. As a result, a number of new religious groups, or (Nonconformist) sects were formed, among them the two most important the Baptists and the Quakers. Both sects have survived and have had an important effect on the life of the nation. The Quakers became particularly famous for their reforming social work. These sects brought hope to many of the poor and the powerless.

It is interesting that thee revolution in religious thinking was happening at the same time as a revolution in scientific thinking.

18 The years of revolution - Society and religion

In the 18th century, in the time of the industrial revolution a new religious movement came. It was led by John Wesley. He was an Anglican priest, who travelled around the country preaching and teaching. In 178 Wesley had had a mystical experience. „I felt my heart strangely warmed”, he wrote afterwards, „I felt that I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation; and an assurance was given that he had taken my sins, even mine, and saves me from sin and death.” He travelled on horseback and preached in every village he came to. Very soon others joined in his work. But the Church was nervous of this powerful new movement, which it could not control, and in the end Wesley was forced to leave the Church of England and he started the Methodist Church. He certainly brought many people back to Christianity.

The Methodists were not alone. Other Christians also joined what became known as „the evangelical revival”, which was a return to simple faith based on the Bible. It was almost a reawakening of Puritanism, but this time with a social involvement rather than a political involvement.

There was a small group of Christians who were the first to act against slavery, while another group tried to limit the cruelty of employers who forced children to work long hours. The influence of these 18th-century movements continued.

1 The end of an age - Social and economic improvements

In the 1th century the authority of the Church was weakened. In the country, the village priest no longer had the power he had had a century earlier. Churches were now half empty, because so many people had gone to live in the towns, where they stopped going to church. This remains true today, when under 10 percent are regular churchgoers.

Spotlight Religion today

The Church of England - or the Anglican Church - is still the established church in England, and the British king or queen is still head of the Church.

I haven’t talked about Christianity in Scotland. In Scotland the Presbyterian Church (called the kirk) is the established church and it is completely separate from the Church of England. The Presbyterian Church is based on a strict form of Protestantism. It was taught by the French reformer, Calvin, and was brought to Scotland by John Knox.

Although there is complete religious freedom in Britain today, there is still tension between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, where religion is still caught up with politics.



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