LEAD STORY


Antidisestablishmentarianism I


J. Alan Smith argues that an established Church benefits both Church and State


t was well known at my primary school that the longest word in the English language was ‘Antidisestablishmentarianism’. We did not


actually know what the word meant. Perhaps, in the spirit of William Wordsworth in Yarow Unvisited, it was sufficient to know that the word existed:


We wil not see them, wil not go to-day, nor yet to-morow;


Enough if in our hearts we know Tere’s such a place as Yarow.


It is significant that the word was all States need an


independent authority


prepared to


comment on the morality of their actions


‘Antidisestablishmentarianism’ rather than ‘Establishmentarianism’ for the later would imply a pro-acive defence of the establishment of the Church of England rather than the reality that the former represents: a mere reacion to occasional atacks on the establishment that, unprovoked, lies dormant. Tose who support the establishment must therefore welcome these atacks for the opportunity to put the case for the defence.


Recent debate Two recent events have triggered a debate on


the role of the Church of England in particular and all Churches in general. First there is the remark by David Cameron that we are a Christian country. Second there is the call by Nick Clegg for the Queen no longer to be the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and for Church and State to be separate. Critics of the position of the Church of


England, and Christianity in Britain generally, ignore the dimension of time. If the people of the UK had all arrived yesterday to a previously uninhabited country then the question of whether we are a Christian country would be different, but they didn’t so it isn’t.


British culture Our national culture has developed over


centuries of Christian influence. Our national flag bears the crosses of St George, St Andrew, and St Patrick. Our public holidays are largely derived from the Liturgical Calendar of the Church. Whether we are, in 2014, a Christian country should, perhaps, be leſt to future historians to argue about. Historians give the past a clarity that was not obvious to the people living


4 ■ newdirections ■ June 2014


Appointment of bishops In an introductory story to a performance of


Greensleeves, Michael Flanders said: ‘Henry VIII is denationalizing the monasteries, but don’t buy


one because Bloody Mary is going to nationalize them again.’ Behind this story is the view that, prior to Henry VIII, the Church was a private organization that ran its own affairs, but Henry made it a Department of State and, thenceforth, the government appointed the bishops and other senior clergy. From the time of Constantine, monarchs have


played a role in the appointment of bishops. Far from being an Anglican innovation, papal appointment of bishops was strongly resisted in the Middle Ages, as is shown by the Statutes of Praemunire (1353, 1365 and 1393) which sought to protect rights claimed by the Kings of England against encroachment by the Pope. Nominations of Roman Catholic Bishops in Great Britain and Ireland were being made by James III, the exiled Stuart claimant, until his death in 1766.


Old and New Testaments Christian monarchy has its roots in the Old


Testament, particularly Kings David and Solomon. Israelite kings ruled by divine consent but, unlike their pagan contemporaries, did not claim to be gods or descended from gods. Much of the ceremonial and ritual of the coronation service is rooted in the Old Testament: the anointing of the monarch with holy oil and the anthem Zadok the Priest, used at the crowning of every English sovereign since that of Edgar in 973.


Te theme of kingship is an important


element of the New Testament: Jesus told Pilate: ‘My kingdom is not of this world’; Romans and


at the time concerned. I do not think that, on the day aſter the Batle of Bosworth in 1485, anyone asked: ‘Does this mean that the Middle Ages have come to an end?’ Depending on what happens in the future, in a few centuries time, historians may perhaps assert either, ‘Britain ceased to be a Christian country in the 1960s when the Churches suffered a catastrophic loss of self-confidence’ or else, ‘Despite crises of self- confidence in the era following the 1960s, Britain remained a country with its national culture firmly rooted in Christianity’.


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