1 Peter show the resect Christians should pay to temporal authority. Te theme continued: theBook of Common Prayer exhorts us to pray for ‘Christian kings, princes and governors’; Pope Pius XI responded to the age of dictators by instituting the Feast of Christ the King in 1925.
Patrons and protectors With the coming of Christianity, the Church became the
principal intercessor between the people and God but kings gained a new role as protectors of the Church and the Christian faith. As Christianity spread, kings were generally the first converts, oſten through the influence of a Christian wife. St Columba, of Irish royal stock, ordained kings in Ireland, Scotland and Northumbria. Te arrival of St Augustine in 597 at the behest of Pope Gregory the Great led to the conversion of Anglo-Saxon kings. By the end of the first millennium the institution of Christian kingship was firmly established throughout the British Isles; monarchs were the principal patrons and protectors of the Church. England atained religious unity before it atained political
unity. Te religious unity of England was achieved by the Council of Whitby in 664. Te political unity of England was achieved under King Athelstan in 924/5. Athelstan’s half- nephew, Edgar, came to the throne in 959. However, he was not crowned until 973; the Archbishop of Canterbury, St Dunstan, delayed the coronation until Edgar had amended his way of life. St Dunstan had devised the rite for the coronation service from European models. Te Coronation Rite used today is, in essence, still the one developed by St Dunstan. Anglicans regard States, not as necessary evils that must be
borne as a consequence of living in a fallen world, but as part of the natural order, ordained by God for the well-being of his peoples: ‘Gratia non tollit naturam sed perficit’; ‘Grace does not abolish nature but perfects it.’
Secular bodies All States need an independent authority prepared to
comment on the morality of their acions. Certainly from the days of King David and Nathan the Prophet this has been provided by a religious body. In recent history there have been moves to install a secular body with power not only to comment on the morality of government acions but to veto them: in the USA there is the Supreme Court and in Europe we have the European Court of Human Rights. Tese bodies replace moral judgements to which governments may conform if they choose with legal judgements enforced on governments which are not necessarily in accordance with natural law. In my opinion it is for beter for parliaments to be able to pass unjust laws that future parliaments may change than for parliaments to be restrained from passing certain laws by a supreme court using criteria that are not necessarily moral.
Moral guidance An established Church benefits both Church and State. Te Church provides the State with moral guidance and influences
natural culture. Te State provides the Church with opportunities for pastoral and teaching roles. Establishment today operates with the established Churches in England and Scotland working with other Christian Churches and non- Christian religious bodies to offer moral judgements on government acions. Tere is a prevalent opinion that the disestablishment of the
Church of England would not change things all that much; I believe that this opinion is mistaken. Te Church of Ireland was disestablished, as was the Church of Wales; both were Anglican and thus in communion with the Church of England. Te differing establishment of the Church of Scotland could well survive the disestablishment of the Church of England. Nevertheless, England is different; it is the establishment of the Church of England that is the cornerstone of the British Constitution. Would it be possible to have the Eucharist as the central point of the Coronation Service without an established Church?
Probable results Some may think that disestablishment would simply put the
it would be a salutary exercise to list all the institutions and
activities that could be swept away
Church of England on an equal footing with the other Churches in this country, but the effects would be more far- reaching than simply the removal of the Bishops from the House of Lords. Te more probable result would be the abolition of any public role for Christianity and, possibly, the sidelining of all religions. It would be a salutary exercise to
list all the institutions and acivities that could be swept away: ‘Ca ira!’
with a vengeance! Civic services could become a thing of the past. Certain colleges at Oxford and Cambridge could come under pressure to change their names to avoid giving offence to non-Christians: Trinity, Jesus, Christ’s, Christ Church, Emmanuel, Corpus Christi, and All Souls, let alone those with ‘St’ in their names. Magdalen(e), Keble, and Selwyn might escape as the religious roots of their names are less obvious.
The monarchy Te highest institution at risk from disestablishment is, of
course, the monarchy. Would our coins continue to proclaim: ‘ELIZABETH II DG REG FD’ (DEI GRATIA + REGINA + FIDEI DEFENSOR)’: Elizabeth II, Queen by the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith? Indeed, would the Queen’s head remain on our coins? Te old slogan could be revived in a modified form: ‘No Bishops, No Queen!’ For Christians, avoiding the dualism that sees religion and
politics as separate and independent acivities, a Christian monarch, anointed according to the rites of an established church, and ruling with the consent of his people, provides the best form of government that men have yet found. Not for the first time, atacks on the establishment of the Church of England play for sleeping traditionalists the role of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Let us be prepared to act while we are still free to call it Christmas.
ND June 2014 ■ newdirections ■ 5
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