Abstract
Redefining Christian Britain, with its array of editors and wide-ranging panel of contributors, is an innovating, challenging and stimulating volume which offers a unique account of the place of religion in Britain since 1945. While the subject has previously been discussed within rather limited frameworks, this volume embraces a far wider range of themes and perspectives. Contributors from the disciplines of economics, history, philosophy, sociology and theology are all well represented.
The general tendency of earlier volumes on the subject of religion in Britain has been that of focusing on dimensions and indexes of secularisation, not least of all through the measurement of formal religious commitments. Redefining Christian Britain marks a challenge in that the various contributors emphasise the more diffuse, hidden and dynamic influence of religion in both private and public life. In this sense the volume establishes new areas of inquiry. In doing so, it follows three different conceptual frameworks that claim to comprehend the transformative nature of Christianity in Britain over the last six decades: authenticity, generation and virtue.
Redefining Christian Britain contains eighteen chapters divided over six parts exploring the central themes of authenticity, generation and virtues.
‘Authenticity’ incorporates the ‘experience’ of Christianity and is detailed through changes in liturgical language (Allana Harris), worship (Ian Jones with Peter Webster) and the neglected area of congregational dynamics (Mathew Guest). Authenticity is further explored through ‘performance’. The wide ranging themes here include the priesthood and gay sexuality (William Whyte), theology in the public arena (Mark Chapman), and the papal funeral of John Paul II (Grace Davie).
‘Generation’ takes the volume into the areas of popular music and literature (William Whyte), the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Holger Nehring) and Christianity in the internet generation (Jane Garnett). The theme of generation also delves into the vicinities of art and religion (George Pattison), children's literature (Bernice Martin) and architectural expressions of belief (William Whyte). ‘Virtue’ is explored through its ambivalence (Harriet Harris), religious education (Ashley Rogers Berner), Christianity and economics (Rufus Black), liberalism and the public sphere (Raymond Plant), intellectuals and the media (Matthew Grimley), and religious identity in Ireland (Robert Tobin).
The rationale behind Redefining Christian Britain is clearly to dispel some of the alleged ‘myths’ in respect of the level of secularity in Britain. Hence, Christianity is viewed as undergoing a transformation rather than decline. On this premise the editors maintain that levels and expressions of authenticity, generation and virtue undermine the traditional secularisation thesis as articulated by Berger, Wilson, Martin, Bruce et al. Collectively, their works are interpreted as a ‘master narrative’ that has considerable flaws. The volume, then, is largely in line with ‘revisionist’ interpretations of the essence and function of religion in contemporary society – an endeavour that seeks out largely unseen and more discursive aspects of the Christian faith given that some 70 percent of the British population, according to the 2001 national census, still identify themselves as Christian.
It follows that ‘authenticity’ erodes the acceptance of the ‘subjective turn’ from collective identities towards a privatised individualism and all that entails for matters of faith. Rather, some people have rejected traditional expressions of Christianity, while others have engaged in debates regarding its merit and may seek more expressive and meaningful articulations of religiosity. ‘Generation’ points towards ‘chains of religious memory’ and the matter of the transmission of religious ideas and identities over the generations. Hence, the volume's concern with the way in which religious ideas, formations and information circulate beyond the purely literary, textual and theological and find expression through architecture, art and children's literature. Thus, the volume attempts to show how Christian language and grammars have been transformed in post-war Britain. ‘Virtue’, especially through language, seemingly has not disappeared altogether. Collectively, according to the editors, aspects of authenticity, generation and virtue indicate that Christian Britain has not ceased to exist. The volume concludes by pointing towards the potential of a re-imagined Christian community, while finding an inherently and historically relational dialogue between Christianity and its surrounding culture.
Redefining Christian Britain is a compelling book and constitutes an informed counterpoint to conventional accounts of secularity, not least of all in relation to the British environment. In that respect it is a compulsory read for those interested in contemporary debates on the subject. That said, I am not personally convinced of the general thrust of the volume, although its enterprise is commendable. The Introduction of the volume substantiates the ‘promiscuous flexibility’ (p. 3) of the secularisation thesis in its remarkable propensity to absorb objections and repair itself in the face of contrary evidence. As much may be said of the ‘revisionist’ standpoint. A great deal is exemplified by the volume's opening observance of the high percentage of Britons claiming to be Christian. However, surely diffuse and hidden aspects of authenticity, generation and virtue cannot wholly and ultimately account for this statistic when only some 6 percent outwardly express their Christian identity in church attendance. Indeed, the erstwhile search for the diffuse and the hidden suggests that such vague identity remains little more than a faint cultural remnant rather than the potential of an imagined community.