by George Owers, Anglican Ink
Although talk of a “Quiet Revival” of Christianity in the UK is probably over-egged, there is a clearly an element of truth to it: congregations in some churches do appear to be picking up, especially among the young. What is absolutely clear is that the revival of Christianity among young people is overwhelmingly occurring among those disillusioned with the sterility and emptiness of secular modernity.
What such people are looking for, as James Marriott showed comprehensively in a recent Times piece, is “full-fat faith”, that is, forms of Christianity that unapologetically adhere to the traditional practices and doctrine of their respective denominations, or perhaps are the most sharply counter-cultural and unapologetic in their supernaturalism and rejection of liberal pieties. Such pieties are usually theological but often also political, in the sense of constituting the semi-secularised milk-and-water forms of Christianity which present themselves in terms almost indistinguishable from the beliefs of, say, Oxfam or the average Guardian leader: a “religion” of lanyard class talking points with occasional mentions of God. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the revival is happening most obviously among trad Roman Catholics, assertive evangelical or charismatic sects, and similar.
In this context, it appeared to be a great gift of providence that Justin Welby stepped down as Archbishop of Canterbury just as this revival gathered steam and the cultural moment was changing. New Atheism is cringe; everyone’s read Dominion by Tom Holland; many can see that what has come after Christian hegemony is far worse. People are looking for something different. As Nick Cave said recently, the most countercultural thing you can do is go to church. The time was ripe for a new Archbishop of Canterbury well-placed to exploit this new atmosphere: a theological heavyweight and spiritual big-hitter who could speak a more traditional, uncompromising language, tone down the Church of England’s invariably progressive mood music, and challenge the church’s creeping culture of bland managerialism. No one was expecting a Prayer Book purist who knows the Thirty-Nine Articles by heart, but it wasn’t absurd to hope for a small move in the right direction.