Description
Book SynopsisBringing together researchers in modern British religious, political, intellectual and social history, this volume considers the persistence of the Church's public significance, despite its falling membership. During the twentieth century, the relationship between the Church of England and the British state was transformed. The character and dynamics of the connections shifted as politics became more democratic and society more secular,as the role of the Crown and parliament in Church government was curtailed, and as the Christian foundations of secular law were weakened. Yet the increasing formal separation of Church and state was not accompanied by ecclesiastical disengagement from politics and government. Despite its falling membership, the Church of England continued - and continues - to wield influence on political life in Britain. This volume of essays brings together researchers in modern British religious, political, intellectual and social history to consider the persistence of the Church's public significance. The introduction reviews the developing literature on the relationships between the Church, the state and politics from 1900 to recent times. The essays which follow consider aspects of these complex intersections: in parliament, party politics and the parish; on the nature of the Church establishment and conceptions of national identity; in religious and sexual education; on colonial and foreign policies; on race and the multi-faith society. In these various ways, the volume shows that pronouncements on a modern demise of ecclesiastical influence in political life have been premature.
Trade ReviewDoes what all good academic history should do in drawing out nuances that get lost in the familiar picture. * THE SPECTATOR *
The Church of England and British Politics since 1900 challenges overextended reliance on secularization theory now in vogue while inviting historians of modern Britain to break the distinct silos of church and political history to spur ". . . further development of a still inchoate historical field" (4). * ANGLICAN & EPISCOPAL HISTORY *
This book will be of value to every student of the period, giving new insights from primary sources and guiding the general reader to a mass of important secondary literature about the historical forces which have shaped the Church of England in the twentieth century. -- Mark Dorsett * Modern Believing *
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: The Church of England, the British state and British politics during the twentieth century - Matthew Grimley Introduction: The Church of England, the British state and British politics during the twentieth century - Philip A Williamson The Politics of Church defense: Archbishop Davidson, the national church, and the 'national interest', c. 1900-1920 - Tom Rodger Archbishops and the monarchy: leadership in British religion, 1900-2012 - Philip A Williamson Ecclesiastical conservatism: Hensley Henson and Lord Hugh Cecil on Church, state and nation, c. 1900-1940 - Julia Stapleton Hensley Henson, the Prayer Book controversy and the conservative case for disestablishment - S J D Green Assembling an Anglican view of self-governing sexual citizenship, 1918-45 - Laura Ramsay Politics in the parish: Joseph Needham at Thaxted, c. 1925-85 - Arthur Burns Anglicans, reconstruction and democracy: the Cripps circle, 1939-52 - Matthew Grimley Parliament and the law of the Church of England, 1945-74 - Peter Webster The Church of England and religious education during the twentieth century - Stephen G. Parker and Rob Freathy Spiritual authority in a 'secular age': the Lords Spiritual, c. 1950-80 - Tom Rodger 'A sort of official duty to reconcile': Archbishop Fisher, the Church of England and the politics of British decolonisation in East and Central Africa - Sarah Stockwell A 'baffling task': Archbishop Fisher and the Suez Crisis - Andrew Connell John Collins, Martin Luther King, Jr., and transnational networks of protest and resistance in the Church of England during the 1960s - Hannah Elias The Church of England, minority religions and the making of communal pluralism - Daniel Loss
