Christianity and Freedom - Institutions and Individuals

The Institution

The Church of England is what's known as the established church in England. This means that the church has a formal and officially recognised relationship to the State and her government. This works itself out in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways. For instance the official 'head' of the Church of England is the Queen and Bishops are entitled to a seat and a say in the House of Lords. And when it comes to appointing Bishops to their Bishoprics (those parts of the country they oversee), the Prime Minister has the final word. Those in the church have long argued about whether this link to the State is good or bad. If you're against, then you'll hold disestablishment opinions. The arguments put forward by this group centre on a distinction between spiritual and temporal (earthly, political) power. The church needs to be detached from the State, they say, so it can freely criticise what the State gets up to - like going to war in the Middle East. Apart from the power of Bishops in the Lords (which is considerable) the ties between Church and State are mostly ceremonial today. Most Christians I know favour disestablishment. At the other end of the spectrum from Bishops in the House of Lords lie groups and networks of Christian anarchists. One particular group of anarchists - from the US - can be accessed here. Christian anarchists believe that nothing or no one deserves their allegiance other than Jesus. The State, which presumes to speak on behalf of or represent its people, is to be shunned and avoided as much as possible.

Though it's not anarchist in outlook the British 'think-tank' Ekklesia is a progressive network of Christians in favour of the church's detachment from the State. Their work consists of supporting Christians to participate in the dirty world of politics without all the entanglements of power tripping them up. Their website is here.

The Individual

The German theologian Martin Luther more or less created Protestantism (Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists etc.) when he challenged the power of the Roman Catholic Church in the middle of the16th century. For Luther becoming a Christian sets one free - it's all about liberty. But this is not the freedom to do whatever you feel like; it's the liberty of knowing that one is loved by God and that trying to be perfect isn't important. Luther wrote about these beliefs in his work Concerning Christian Liberty:

Thus the believing soul, by the pledge of its faith in Christ, becomes free from all sin, fearless of death, safe from hell, and endowed with the eternal righteousness, life, and salvation of its husband Christ. Thus he presents to himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word; that is, by faith in the word of life, righteousness, and salvation.

You can read more here

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If you want further info on freedom and authority in religion - and Christianity in particular - take a look at the following weblinks:

The Human Rights Act Article 9 - freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and religious discrimination/the right to equal treatment: here and here

The Spanish Inquisition: No-one did issues of freedom and authority like these guys! Read more here

Terry Waite lost his freedom for 5 years when he was kidnapped during a peace mission to Lebanon. CNN look back at the story of the C of E envoy held hostage for 5 years - story here