Democracy's Christian roots ... a very short introduction

The English civil war opened the way for Anabaptists to propose freedom of religion

The Anabaptists spread their message across Europe. They held from the bible that

• The church consists only of believers who follow Jesus as Lord;
• A person may be baptised only when ready to decide that she or he wishes to make this public commitment;
• The state has no authority in matters of religion, and
• The local gathering of true believers is the only body with authority to manage its own business including admitting members and appointing teachers and leaders

Anabaptists challenged the prevailing idea that, to keep order,  the state must decide on the religion to be followed by all subjects. Persecuted, exiled and killed in large number, Anabaptists laid the foundations both for the modern independent church and modern democracy.

This article, published in Anabaptism Today in 2019, looks at how this played out in England. My research uses material not previously studied in connection with Anabaptist studies. 

The first modern democracy was based on unlimited freedom of religion

The form of government established … is Democratical, that is to say, a government held by the free and voluntary consent of all, or the greater part of the free inhabitants’

- code of laws adopted by Providence Plantations, 1647

The American colony known as Rhode Island was formed to protect full freedom of religion. It was a haven for those persecuted by the government of Massachusetts, including Anabaptists and Quakers. Its founder, Roger Williams, got clearance from England’s Parliament to form the new colony, with its own government, in 1644.

Before leaving England to return to Providence with this ‘patent’, Roger Williams released The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience.

Roger Williams' key arguments became the foundation for the Rhode Island democracy and were a vital influence on developments in the English civil war:

• the state’s legitimacy comes not from God’s approval but from the consent of the citizens.

• God wills complete freedom for all – including ‘Paganish, Jewish, Turkish or anti-Christian consciences and worships’.

• There should be a ‘wall or hedge of separation’ between church and state.

In his own day, Williams's ideas were considered wild. Later, after the Revolution and the foundation of the United States, religious freedom and the separation of church and state became basic principles of the new land's democracy. Williams reached a peak of popularity in the USA in the nineteenth century. The painting (above, left)  imagining Williams returning to Providence with his patent is from this period.

But Roger Williams was a devoted Puritan Christian. This was an embarrassment to the ‘progressives’ of the twentieth century. Some even claimed he was an agnostic!

Now the religious right prefers to ignore his contribution, admiring instead the Theocrats who wanted America to be a ‘new Israel’ and threw Williams (who strongly disagreed) out of Massachusetts.

Today Christians are rediscovering Williams. Mostyn Roberts’ biography is the first by a Brit and maybe the first by an evangelical (Mostyn is Pastor of Welwyn evangelical church in Hertfordshire, England)

What does the bible say?

In the Old Testament book of Judges (9:10-17) Jotham tells an ancient fable. The trees decide to choose a king to rule over them. They invite the olive, the fig and then the vine to take the role. Each refuses, on the grounds that it is more valuable for them to produce the crop that gives such pleasure to humanity. Finally they ask the bramble, who accepts but issues the warning:

If in truth you anoint me as king over you
Then come and take shelter in my shade;
But if not, let fire come out of the bramble
And devour the cedars of Lebanon!

The context for the fable is that Jotham’s father, Gideon (also known as Jerubbaal), is invited to become the first king of Israel (Judges 8.22). He refuses, but instead sets up a government in the form of a theocracy (‘God shall rule over you’). After Gideon’s death, one of his many sons organises a coup d’etat with the support of his mother’s clan. The other sons are brought together for a mass execution. Jotham hides, survives and speaks his fable before disappearing. The triumphant son, Abimelech (‘son of the king’), then rules for three years before his clan gets greedy and starts a campaign of violent robbery. Abimelech tries to reassert order but is killed in the fighting. The monarchy collapses. Israel become a 'failed state'.

In this article, published in Anabaptism today in 2020, I reflect on what the bible tells us about the state and politics.