Religion in England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Religion in England is an important influence on the lives of many people and several religions have established a presence in England, though it is generally seen as a secular society. The Church of England as the official state church has a special constitutional position in the country. After Christianity, those religions with the most adherents are various forms of Islam and Hinduism. Other minority faiths include Sikhism, Judaism, Buddhism, the Bahá'í Faith, Rastafarianism and Neopaganism. There are also organizations which promote irreligion, humanism, and secularism.
In history, various other religions (usually "pagan") have been predominant in the country, namely Celtic polytheism, Anglo-Saxon paganism and Norse paganism.
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[edit] Christianity
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Other
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- Further information: Early Insular Christianity, Anglo-Saxon Christianity, and History of the Church of England
Christianity was first introduced through the Romans (English mythology links the introduction of Christianity to England to the Glastonbury legend of Joseph of Arimathea; see also the legend of Saint Lucius). Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The Romano-British population after the withdrawal of the Roman legions was mostly Christian.
The arrival of the Anglo-Saxons introduced Anglo-Saxon polytheism which had been to what is now England.
Christianity was re-introduced into England through missionaries from Scotland and from Continental Europe; the era of St. Augustine (the first Archbishop of Canterbury) and the Celtic Christian missionaries in the north (notably St. Aidan and St. Cuthbert). The Synod of Whitby in 664 ultimately led to the English Church being fully part of Roman Catholicism. Early English Christian documents surviving from this time include the 7th-century illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels and the historical accounts written by the Venerable Bede.
Norman nobles and bishops had influence before the Norman Conquest of 1066, and Norman influences affected late Anglo-Saxon architecture. Edward the Confessor was brought up in Normandy, and in 1042 brought masons to work on Westminster Abbey, the first Romanesque building in England. The cruciform churches of Norman architecture often had deep chancels and a square crossing tower which has remained a feature of English ecclesiastical architecture. Hundreds of parish churches were built and the first great English cathedrals. England has many early cathedrals, most notably York Minster (1080), Durham Cathedral (1093) and Salisbury Cathedral (1220). After a fire damaged Canterbury Cathedral in 1174 Norman masons introduced the new Gothic architecture. Around 1191 Wells Cathedral and Lincoln Cathedral brought in the English Gothic style.
Pope Innocent III placed the kingdom of England under an interdict for seven years between 1208 and 1215 after King John refused to accept the pope's appointee as Archbishop of Canterbury.
[edit] Saints
Saint Alban is venerated by some as the first Christian martyr in England. Saint George is generally recognised as the patron saint of England - the flag of England consists of the cross of St George.
[edit] Anglicanism
In 1536, the Church was split from Rome over the issue of the divorce of King Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon. The split led to the emergence of a separate ecclesiastical authority, and later the influence of the Reformation, resulting in the Church of England and Anglicanism. For more detail of this period see the following articles:
- Act of Supremacy (1534): declared that Henry VIII was 'the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England' and required the nobility to swear an oath recognising Henry's supremacy.
- Six Articles (1539): although the organisation of the church in England was reformed, the articles reaffirmed Catholic doctrine.
- Book of Common Prayer and Book of Common Order
- Prayer Book Rebellion
- Marian Persecutions and Marian exiles: during the re-establishment of Roman Catholicism in England under Mary I, some Protestants were persecuted and some upheld their faith in exile.
- Elizabethan Religious Settlement: under Elizabeth I political and religious stability was maintained by means of a compromise in both doctrine and practice between the Anglicanism of Henry VIII and that of Edward VI
- Act of Supremacy 1559: restored religious affairs in England to the state at the death of Edward VI, and imposed the Oath of Supremacy on those holding office.
- Thirty-Nine Articles (1563): the defining statements of Anglican doctrine were made a legal requirement in England in 1571 and were imposed by the Test Act of 1673 (until 1824)
- Regnans in Excelsis
- Priest hole: wealthy Roman Catholics constructed hiding places in their houses for priests.
- James I of England and religious issues
- Gunpowder Plot: in 1605 an attempt to assassinate King James VI and I and the Protestant establishment entrenched anti-Catholic sentiment.
- The Vicar of Bray: the changes of political and religious régime required office holders to show flexibility in their declared convictions, as satirised in the popular song The Vicar of Bray.
- Westminster Assembly (1643): appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England, drew up the Westminster Confession of Faith (which became, and remains, the 'subordinate standard' of doctrine in the Church of Scotland and has been influential within Presbyterian churches worldwide.)
- 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith: written by Calvinistic Baptists in England to give a formal expression of the Reformed and Protestant Christian faith with an obvious Baptist perspective.
- Royal Declaration of Indulgence (1672): Charles II attempted to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists in his realms.
- Declaration of Indulgence (1687-1688): James II attempted to establish freedom of religion in England.
- Seven Bishops: bishops of the Church of England who petitioned James II against the Declaration of Indulgence were imprisoned.
- Popish Plot (1678–1681): a conspiracy to discredit Catholics in England accused Catholics of plotting.
- Exclusion Bill: sought to exclude the Charles II's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the throne of England because he was Catholic.
- Penal law: a specific series of laws that sought to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics, by imposing various forfeitures, civil penalties, and civil disabilities upon these dissenters.
- Test Act: required a religious test of officials to ensure conformity with the established church.
- Act of Uniformity 1662: required the use of all the rites and ceremonies in the Book of Common Prayer in Church of England services, and episcopal ordination for all ministers.
- Conventicle Act 1664: forbade religious assemblies of more than five people outside the auspices of the Church of England.
- Five Mile Act 1665: forbade clergymen from living within five miles (8 km) of a parish from which they had been banned
- Nonjuring schism: the Anglican Church split in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, over whether William of Orange could legally be recognized as King of England.
Today, the Church of England is the established church in England. It regards itself as in continuity with the pre-Reformation state Catholic church, but has been a distinct Anglican church since the settlement under Elizabeth I (with some disruption during the 17th-century Commonwealth period). The British Monarch is formally Supreme Governor of the Church of England, but its spiritual leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is regarded by convention as the head of the worldwide communion of Anglican Churches (see Anglican Communion). In practice the Church of England is governed by the General Synod, under the authority of Parliament.
[edit] Roman Catholicism
Roman Catholicism in England is administered territorially as the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
[edit] Methodism
A strong tradition of Methodism developed from the 18th century onwards. The Methodist revival was started in England by a group of men including John Wesley and his younger brother Charles as a movement within the Church of England, but developed as a separate denomination after John Wesley's death.
[edit] Islam
- Further information: Islam in England
Although Islam is generally thought of as being a recent arrival to the country, there has been contact with Muslims for many centuries. An early example would be the decision of Offa, the eighth-century King of Mercia (one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms existing at that time), to have coins minted with an Islamic inscription on them - copies of coins issued by the near-contemporary Muslim ruler Al-Mansur. It is thought that they were minted to facilitate trade with the expanding Islamic empire in Spain.[1]
Muslim scholarship was well-known among the learned in England by 1386, when Chaucer was writing. In the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, there is among the pilgrims wending their way to Canterbury, a 'Doctour of Phisyk' whose learning included Razi, Avicenna (Ibn Sina, Arabic ابن سينا) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd, Arabic ابن رشد). Ibn Sina's canon of medicine was a standard text for medical students well into the 17th century.
Islam is the second largest religion in England. Notable mosques include; the London Central Mosque, Al-Rahma mosque, Birmingham Central Mosque, East London Mosque, Finsbury Park Mosque, London Central Mosque, London Markaz and Markazi mosque.
[edit] Judaism
- Further information: History of the Jews in England
Until the 20th century Judaism was the only noticeable non-Christian religion having first appeared in historical records during the Norman Conquest of 1066. In fact, from 1290 to 1656, Judaism did not officially exist in England due to an outright expulsion in 1290 and official restrictions that were not lifted until 1656 (though historical records show that some Jews did come back to England during the early part of the 17th century prior to the lifting of the restriction).
[edit] Hinduism
- Further information: Hinduism in England
Early Hindus in England were mostly students during the 19th century. There have been three waves of migration of Hindus to England since then.
Before India's Independence in 1947, Hindu migration was minuscule and largely temporary. The second wave of Hindu migration occurred in the 1970s after the expulsion of Gujarati Hindus from Uganda. Initially, Hindu immigration was limited to Punjabi and Gujarati Hindus, but, by 2000, small Hindu communities of every ethnicity could be found in England. England is also host to a large immigrant community of Sri Lankan Hindus who are mostly Tamils. The last wave of migration of Hindus has been taking place since the 1990s with refugees from Sri Lanka and professionals from India.
[edit] Sikhism
- Further information: Sikhism in England
The first Sikh Gurdwara (temple) was not established until 1911, at Putney in London.
The first Sikh migration came in the 1950s. It was mostly of men from the Punjab seeking work in industries like foundries and textiles. These new arrivals mostly settled in London, Birmingham and West Yorkshire. Thousands of Sikhs from East Africa followed.
[edit] Buddhism
- Further information: Buddhism in England
The earliest Buddhist influence on England came through the UK's imperial connections with South East Asia, and as a result the early connections were with the Theravada traditions of Burma, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. The tradition of study resulted in the foundation of the Pali Text Society, which undertook the task of translating the Pali Canon of Buddhist texts into English.
In 1924 London’s Buddhist Society was founded, and in 1926 the Theravadin London Buddhist Vihara. The rate of growth was slow but steady through the century, and the 1950s saw the development of interest in Zen Buddhism.
[edit] No Religion
England has a large and growing atheist and agnostic population.
[edit] See also
- Religion in Birmingham
- Religion in London
- Religion in Europe
- Religion in the European Union
- Greenbelt festival
- Muslim Council of Britain
- Muslims in Western Europe
- Religion in present-day nations and states
- Spring Harvest
- Islam by country
- Christianity by country
- Islam in London
[edit] References
- ^ Gold imitation dinar of Offa, British Museum
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