Freedom and Order

2011 marked the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James' Bible and saw a great deal of celebration and comment about the impact of the Bible on British culture. Much of the story is well-known, such as the Bible's seminal influence on British language and literature, but one aspect - the influence of the Bible on English politics - is largely unknown or ignored. Moreover, when it is not ignored, the Bible's influence on politics is treated as that from which we have escaped, in order that we may enjoy our current freedoms, rather than something that contributed positively to political thought or history.This is misleading. FREEDOM AND ORDER seeks to inform people of the Bible's critical and positive influence on politics in Britain throughout modern history.

ISBN	0340996242	Pages	384
ISBN13	9780340996249 (What's this?)	Weight (grammes)	260
Publisher	Hodder & Stoughton General Division	Published in	London
Imprint	Hodder Paperback	Height (mm)	25
Format	Paperback	Width (mm)	129
Publication date	10 May 2012	Spine width (mm)	197
DEWEY	322.10941	Academic level	General
DEWEY edition	DC23

Nick Spencer ranges stylishly over English history from Saint Augustine's landing in Kent to Saint Tony Blair and beyond, richly documenting how this realm of England was a biblically based culture even before the realm of England was invented. Clarity and learning lightly worn make this book stand out from the herd in this year celebrating King James's contribution to biblical translation. -- Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford For anyone freshly curious to understand that jagged and sometimes bloodstained terrain between religion and politics, Church and State in these islands, this is the book for you. Nick Spencer is an ace historical cartographer of that landscape; a guide of fluency and judgement for those who wish to cross it from the seventh century to the present day. -- Lord Peter Hennessy, Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary, University of London. In a book that somehow manages to be both sweeping and concise, Nick Spencer demonstrates just how much the political culture of Britain owes to that massive seedbed of ideas, the Bible. -- Tom Holland, historian and author of Rubicon

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History, Politics and the English Bible