Religion in Britain

Protestant Reformation

The Church of England

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

What is an established church?

English Reformation Timeline

Overview

English Reformation

A religious, political, intellectual

and cultural movement

• 1517: Martin Luther’s “95 Theses” in Germany

History

- The Bible is the central religious authority, not the Pope

- Practice of selling indulgences

Henry Tudor (1491-1547):

King Henry VIII

The main instigator of the English Reformation

• Founded in 597 by St Augustine

Anglicanism

- The largest Christian denomination in Britain

Definition:

A state religion (also called an established religion, state church, established church, or official religion) is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. A state with an official religion, while not secular, is not necessarily a theocracy [...] State religions are official or government-sanctioned establishments of a religion, but neither does the state need to be under the control of the church (as in a theocracy), nor is the state-sanctioned church necessarily under the control of the state. (WIKIPEDIA, 2015)

• 1520: To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation

• 1509 - Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon;

• 1516 - Princess Mary, the only surviving child of the couple, was born;

• 1527 - Henry VIII decided to divorce Catherine of Aragon and asked Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage, but the Pope refused.

A distinct Christian tradition that includes features of both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism

Churches under Papal authority

X

1. Protestant Reformation

1.1 English Protestant Reformation

2. The Church of England

3. Is Britain a Secular State?

Protestant Churches

1521: declared Defender of the Faith by Pope Leo X

- Defence of the Seven Sacraments

1509

Monarchs

1547

1553

• multi-faith;
• secular state;
• post-Christian;
• non-religious society.

1558

- Outlined the doctrine of the Priesthood of all believers

- Denied the authority of the Pope to interpret, or confirm interpretation of the Bible.

1567

- The Mother Church of the Anglican Communion

Richard Hooker (1554–1600), one of the most influential figures in shaping Anglican theology and self-identity.

English

Reformation

Catherine of Aragon

Protestantism

Beliefs and worship

Pope Gregory I

4. Religious Freedom

5. The decline of Christianity and

the growth of minority religions

6. Bibliography

“Located on every continent, Anglicans speak many languages and come from different races and cultures. Although the churches are autonomous, they are also uniquely unified through their history, their theology, their worship and their relationship to the ancient See of Canterbury.” (CHURCHOFENGLAND.ORG)

• The bible contains the core of all Christian faith and thought

• Loyalty to a way of worship and life set out in the book of common prayer

• Celebration of the sacraments ordained by Jesus: baptism and Eucharist or holy communion

• A way of Christian thinking that involves scripture, tradition and reason held together in creative tension.

Provinces of the Anglican Communion (Blue)

Establishment of a secure Church of England

Elizabeth I

Elizabethan Religious Settlement

1559 - Act of Supremacy

• The Church of England’s independence

reaffirmed

1559 - Act of Uniformity

English Reformation Timeline

• The 1552 Book of Common Prayer

re-established

Reforms on the Church of England

1563 - Thirty-Nine Articles

• A definite doctrine to the

Church of England

King Edward VI

• The Church performs

a number of official functions

1547 - Dissolution of the Chantries

1549 - Priests allowed to marry

“Henry VIII founded a Church separate from Rome, without monastic communities, but true to Rome’s doctrine.”

(MUSEEPROTESTANT.ORG)

• Lords Spiritual: bishops and Archbishops in the House of Lords

The political nation was, for the most part, obediently compliant rather than enthusiastic. There is no evidence of any great hostility towards the church and its institutions before the Reformation; on the contrary, both the English episcopate and parish clergy seem to have been, by the standards of other European lands, both well-trained and living without scandal. [...] On the other hand, few were prepared to defy the King to defend the threatened institutions of the old church. Many benefited from the windfall of church property that followed the confiscation of monastic lands.

(BBC.CO.UK, 2011)

1552 - A new Prayer Book introduced:

• Altars were abolished and replaced by simple tables.
• Priests were not to wear elaborate vestments
• The Mass was abolished and replaced with Holy Communion
• It was not possible to buy a place in heaven

Elizabeth II

• 1533 - Henry VIII breaks with Rome and marries Anne Boleyn;

• 1533 - Princess Elizabeth birth;

Evensong at the Cathedral York Minster.

:

SUPREME GOVERNOR OF

Henry VIII - Mini Biography

http://www.biography.com/people/henry-viii-9335322

English Reformation Timeline

• 1536 - 1541: Dissolution of the Catholic Monasteries

Canterbury Cathedral

• 1534 - Act of Supremacy

Anne Boleyn

- Reap its wealth

- Suppress political opposition

- The king as "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England";

- Legal sovereignty of the civil laws over the laws of the Church in England;

- Total independence of the Church of England.

The Largest Christian Denominations:

The ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, dissolved in 1539

• Approve the appointment of archbishops, bishops and deans

• Formally open each new session of the General Synod

• Promise to maintain the Church in his or her coronation oath.

Smaller religions

• Anglicanism
• Roman Catholicism
• Presbyterianism
• Methodism

• Islam
• Hinduism
• Judaism
• Buddhism

Religion in Britain

Is Britain a Secular State?

Religious Freedom

The decline of Christianity and the growth of smaller religions

Church and State are linked

Secularism

• England has an established Church

• Inconsistent Religious Character
• The privileges of the Church of England

• The British Monarch is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England

“Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion?”

1 - Strict separation of the state from religious institutions

2 - People of different religions and beliefs are equal before the law

• Christianity: decrease of 17%
• Growth of other religions: 6%
• Non-religion: increase of 24%

• Members of the Church in the House of Lords

• Yes - 43%

Archbishop of Canterbury and the Queen

• Parliament is opened with prayers
• The monarch promises to uphold Christianity

Everybody in the United Kingdom has the right to religious freedom

"How religious, if at all, would you say you are?"

(National Secular Society)

• Very/fairly

religious - 23%

Acts from the seventeenth century

throughout history

Should Britain become a secular state?

Symon Hill

“The right to Freedom of religion in the United Kingdom is provided for in all three constituent legal systems, by devolved, national, European, and international law and treaty”

(WIKIPEDIA, 2014)

A left-wing Christian writer, blogger

- Britain it is not a secular state

• Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act 1677: heresy ceased to be a legal offence.

• Toleration Act 1688: granted freedom of worship to Protestant minority groups.

• Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829: Roman Catholics gained political rights

• Jewish Relief Act 1858: enabled Jews to become Members of Parliament

Myriam Francois-Cerrah

Writer, academic and Muslim

- Britain is already a deeply secular country

The United Kingdom is a largely post-Christian society, non-religious and multi-faith country at the same time