Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
British Christians Debate “Brexit”

British Christians Debate “Brexit”

Last updated on: June 14, 2016 at 1:01 am by Chris Gehrz

British Christians Debate “Brexit” 2016-06-13T12:22:01-04:00 Chris Gehrz

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

CC BY 2.0 (Jeff Djevdet)

In nine days British voters will determine if their country remains a member of the European Union, as it’s been since 1973. (If you’re not familiar with the details of this referendum, the BBC can bring you up to speed.) Though British Christians are no longer a majority in what prime minister David Cameron insists is a “Christian country,” they may make the difference in a tightly contested campaign that has recently swung in the direction of “Brexit.”

Studying the run-up to the 1975 referendum that ratified British membership in the European Economic Community (67% voted to stay), historian Philip Coupland found that “there was a very definite bias in support of the ‘yes’ campaign among Church elites.” But also, “that in the Churches, as elsewhere in the country, there was a substantial body of opinion that opposed membership or was at least unconvinced but was neither bigoted nor mad” (Britannia, Europa and Christendom, p. 193, 198).

Does that also describe the 2016 Brexit campaign? While many religious leaders again support the pro-Europe position, British Christians — like the larger population — seem more conflicted than they were in 1975.

The leader of the Church of England, archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, has remained neutral on the campaign (“I don’t think there is one correct Christian view, one way or the other”), but his two predecessors have publicly staked out opposing positions.

“Faith is about integration and building bridges, not about isolation and erecting barriers,” wrote Rowan Williams and other Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders in a May 28 letter that argued that poverty, climate change, and other challenges “can only be addressed in a European, and indeed a global, context.”
Two weeks earlier, George Carey had argued that “the relationship with the EU is not a marriage. It is a treaty which can be replaced by a better treaty. So there should be no squeamishness about unity, peace and harmony. Many countries contribute to brotherly fellowship and international peacemaking without surrendering their democratic controls.” Carey even appealed to the story of Exodus: “To leave Egypt and face the unknown consequences was not immediately an attractive option. But the voice of God cried out, ‘Let my people go.'”

Leaders of the Church of Wales and Church of Scotland have come out against Brexit, as has Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the president of the Catholic bishops’ conference for England and Wales: “There is a long tradition in Christianity and Catholicism in particular of believing in holding things together. So the Catholic stance towards an effort such as the EU is largely supportive.” Nichols feared that quitting the EU would only raise “more complex problems”; likewise, Catholic bishops in Northern Ireland warned that Brexit would strain cross-border relations with the Republic of Ireland.

“We believe that the Common Market and the trend toward unification of Europe may well be the beginning of the ten-nation confederacy predicted by Daniel and the Book of Revelation” (The Late Great Planet Earth, p. 94)

Meanwhile, a Protestant church in Belfast made news for its pro-Brexit mural, complete with a reference to the Book of Revelation: “Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and so that you do not share in her plagues” (18:4). The prospect of renewed attempts to link Daniel 7 and Revelation 13-14 to the EU prompted historian Martyn Whittock to respond, “I am old enough to remember Late Great Planet Earth (1970) and to have once been influenced by it… But Hal Lindsey clearly got it wrong, and it’s about time we stopped perpetuating the error.” Instead, Liberal Democrat politician Sal Brinton cited another passage of Revelation — the image of a “great multitude…from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (7:9) — to argue for remaining: “As a Christian I want us to be part of that. Wanting to remain in the EU is saying there are benefits of remaining together.”

But it’s conflicting appeals to the past, not the future, that may be of particular interest to readers of this blog.

Leaders of the right-wing UK Independence Party have long argued that Brexit is necessary to preserve Britain’s “Judaeo-Christian heritage” from the secularity of Brussels. But as part of a larger argument for fulfilling Britain’s historical obligations to the EU, John Sentamu, archbishop of York, appealed to Britain and Europe’s “common Christian heritage and what this means and has created in practice….”

While one Baptist pastor on the Leave side cast the decision as a “purely political matter” having no “overriding theological expedient,” the British general secretary of the European Baptist Federation, Tony Peck, not only invoked the vision of “the Christian founding fathers of the EU” (presumably, he meant Christian democrats like Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer, Alcide de Gasperi, and Joseph Bech) but made explicit appeals to Baptist history:

Our English Baptist roots stress the interdependence of churches, not the rugged independence that in some cases came later. From earliest times we have espoused the notion that as churches we need to help and counsel of one another and that this is a necessary part of being a local church. That in turn stirs within us a more genuinely inclusive attitude of connectedness and belonging that goes beyond our churches to the wider world.

Against “BeLeavers” who worry that European law has opened Britain to growing numbers of non-Christian immigrants, Peck called on Baptists to “look back to 1612 and the ground-breaking conviction of Thomas Helwys for religious rights and freedom for all, including those of other faiths and specifically Muslims.”

Then there’s Giles Fraser’s attempt to connect Brexit to the Protestant Reformation… An Anglican priest who is co-chair of the Christians for Britain movement, Fraser used his Guardian column to locate “the intellectual roots of Euroscepticism” in the Reformation’s “across-the-board protest at the elitist and centralising philosophy of the Roman church.” Noting research that suggests less skepticism of the EU in historically Catholic countries, Fraser contended that

Conversely, in Protestant countries, the EU still feels a little like some semi-secular echo of the Holy Roman empire, a bureaucratic monster that, through the imposition of canon law, swallows up difference and seeks after doctrinal uniformity. This was precisely the sort of centralisation that Luther challenged, and resistance to it is deep in the Protestant consciousness.

Here it’s hard not to hear echoes of an old theme in British Euroscepticism. For a “significant minority” of British Christians in the 1975 referendum, observes Philip Coupland, “the Treaty of Rome symbolised the mounting threat of the Catholic Church to the heritage of the Reformation” (Britannia, Europa and Christendom, p. 197). And Coupland points out that the 1975 version of this argument was much tamer (and ultimately less effective) than the anti-Catholic rhetoric present after World War II, when Britain first flirted with European integration.

In any event, Fraser’s column inspired a rebuke from the author of a widely acclaimed history of the Reformation. Diarmaid MacCulloch found “no idea of little Englandism” in British reformers like Thomas Cranmer, who was inspired by European reformations like the one in Strasbourg, where Martin Bucer and his colleagues “were especially energetic in their efforts to stop Protestants across Europe quarrelling.” MacCulloch positioned the other side in the current debate as the true heirs of Cranmer, Bucer, Luther, et al.:

…it is the Remain camp which represents the European and British Reformations, not Brexiteers. Remainers are the people who resist breaking the natural, wider ties in our continent. True, they know the system needs radical reform – and that was the starting point for many Protestants attacking the old Church, including Luther himself in 1517 – but once the corruption and the mistakes have been remedied, the prospect then as now is to look to a new continent-wide unity, not a muddle of division and weakness.

So which arguments have been most persuasive? A poll conducted in February indicated that practicing Christians would be more likely than any other religious group to vote for Brexit, but we’ll have to wait until the 23rd to know for sure.

You can read more from me at The Pietist Schoolman.

Previous Post

June 13, 2016

The Hierarchy of Presses

Next Post

June 14, 2016 How Can Christians Love Their LGBT Neighbors? Start by Learning Their History

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to Hebrews, who serves as a copy and shadow of what is in heaven?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The priests in the earthly sanctuary The angels The prophets The apostles