Christianity
Christianity, derived from Judaism to become the dominant religion of western Europe, has underpinned much of Britain's cultural heritage for fourteen centuries. Urban Christianity was sufficiently vibrant to send three bishops (London, York, Colchester) to the Council of Arles (314). Paganism, despite a brief revival 360–80, was in decline as the century ended, when historical figures such as Ninian and Patrick began to emerge. On the arrival of Anglo-Saxon invaders with their gods Woden and Thor, British Christianity was virtually extinguished except for the western Celtic fringes. Monasticism had reached the Celts at a formative stage in their Christianity, and monks rather than bishops led the church. Patrick (c.390–461) evangelized Ireland, Ninian (c.360–c.432) the Picts of Galloway, and Kentigern (d. 612) Strathclyde; Illtud (d. c.540) and David (c.530–c.589) worked in Wales, Columba settled in Iona (c.563), whence Aidan brought Christianity to Lindisfarne (635). When Roman missionaries under Augustine arrived in Kent (597), divergences between the two strands arising from differences in organization and disagreement about the date of Easter led to clashes unresolved until the Synod of Whitby (664), when Roman customs prevailed. Conversion had sometimes been slow, though helped when a ruler embraced the new faith ( Æthelbert of Kent, Edwin of Northumbria), but a brief golden age followed statesman-archbishop Theodore's reorganization of dioceses, which produced scholars such as Bede, and missionaries like Boniface of Crediton. Attacks from Viking raiders during the 9th cent. destroyed religious houses but did not totally destroy the church.
For two centuries after about 1050, sustained attempts were made to apply gospel principles and canon law to society generally, through Gregorian reform, clergy discipline, and then modification of lay life. The Norman Conquest, which joined England politically and ecclesiastically with Europe's main states, led to a revival of religious life. Edward the Confessor had already rebuilt the abbey church at Westminster, but ecclesiastical administration was reorganized, cathedrals commenced, and the cathedral school at Oxford grew into a university. Monasticism again flourished, but with changed structure: diverging from the original Benedictines were Cluniacs, Cistercians, and Augustinians. A redemptive religion, one of Christianity's attractions was its promise of an afterlife. Since the prospect of punishment was more dramatic than that of paradise, the threat of eternal damnation was used to enforce ethics. By the 15th cent. explorers, merchants, and colonizers had started to spread Christianity beyond Europe. Empire-building not only involved colonization and trade, but active and purposeful extension of religion; the cross followed the flag, sometimes vice versa. Nevertheless, with late 20th-cent. decolonization, Christianity, far from dying in these newly independent territories, has become more vigorous, especially in Africa.
The principal sacraments (or ‘mysteries’) recognized by all Christians, except quakers, are the eucharist and baptism. Other sacraments, not universally acknowledged, are confirmation, marriage, ordination, confession, and anointing of the sick. The Bible is an important primary written source for most Christians, taken literally by some, but regarded as no more than a history book by others. The greatest challenges to Christianity have been the doctrinal upheavals that led to the Reformation (and the English church's rupture from Rome) and secularism. The Census Report on Religious Worship (1851–3) caused alarm by its revelation that nearly 40 per cent of the population were unwilling or unable to attend a place of worship. While Christianity remained Britain's established religion at the end of the 20th cent., the challenge from secularism has increased, compounded by the ethnic mix from immigrants with their own religions, and a growing interest in cults.
A Dictionary of British History. Ed. John Cannon. Oxford University Press, 2001.
For two centuries after about 1050, sustained attempts were made to apply gospel principles and canon law to society generally, through Gregorian reform, clergy discipline, and then modification of lay life. The Norman Conquest, which joined England politically and ecclesiastically with Europe's main states, led to a revival of religious life. Edward the Confessor had already rebuilt the abbey church at Westminster, but ecclesiastical administration was reorganized, cathedrals commenced, and the cathedral school at Oxford grew into a university. Monasticism again flourished, but with changed structure: diverging from the original Benedictines were Cluniacs, Cistercians, and Augustinians. A redemptive religion, one of Christianity's attractions was its promise of an afterlife. Since the prospect of punishment was more dramatic than that of paradise, the threat of eternal damnation was used to enforce ethics. By the 15th cent. explorers, merchants, and colonizers had started to spread Christianity beyond Europe. Empire-building not only involved colonization and trade, but active and purposeful extension of religion; the cross followed the flag, sometimes vice versa. Nevertheless, with late 20th-cent. decolonization, Christianity, far from dying in these newly independent territories, has become more vigorous, especially in Africa.
The principal sacraments (or ‘mysteries’) recognized by all Christians, except quakers, are the eucharist and baptism. Other sacraments, not universally acknowledged, are confirmation, marriage, ordination, confession, and anointing of the sick. The Bible is an important primary written source for most Christians, taken literally by some, but regarded as no more than a history book by others. The greatest challenges to Christianity have been the doctrinal upheavals that led to the Reformation (and the English church's rupture from Rome) and secularism. The Census Report on Religious Worship (1851–3) caused alarm by its revelation that nearly 40 per cent of the population were unwilling or unable to attend a place of worship. While Christianity remained Britain's established religion at the end of the 20th cent., the challenge from secularism has increased, compounded by the ethnic mix from immigrants with their own religions, and a growing interest in cults.
A Dictionary of British History. Ed. John Cannon. Oxford University Press, 2001.
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