Aims

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christianity has played a crucial role in the development of England and of the English people, although is now in serious decline amongst the indigenous English even as it grows elsewhere. Some will mourn this and others will welcome it. What is clear, though, is that for better or worse, England will not be the same without it.

 

 

English Christianity, especially in its Anglican form, has been and still is a major part of our religious and cultural identity for longer than England has existed as a unified kingdom. The King James Bible, Book of Common Prayer, traditional organ music, hymns and Christmas carols form a key part of our culture. Churches define our countryside, our villages, towns and cities. They are a crucial part of what makes England look and feel like England. Inside, they have a certain feel and smell to them, which although usually the result of damp, nevertheless makes them special and familiar places. Most people feel a sense of calm and maybe a connection with all that has gone before in that building and even the space around and beneath it.

 

 

There are several reasons why people are turning away from the Church. Some have what they think are better, more interesting things to do. Some dislike what they see as a stuffy, hierarchical institution, out of touch with the modern world. Others are turned off by the way it seems to have rejected its own morality and traditions or by an ‘un-English’ exuberance in worship styles. Many people who think more deeply about core doctrines find they cannot accept them or at least accept all of them. People today are better educated and informed than our ancestors with access to academic scrutiny of the faith proclaimed by the Church and to alternative world views. Most younger people have not been brought up in Church-going families and so have no connection or familiarity with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christianity is not the original or native ‘folk’ religion of the English people. Our original pre-Christian beliefs, whilst having some influence on the development of English Christianity, were all but eradicated more than a thousand years ago. Yet we have never entirely let go of these beliefs and traditions. They remain deeply entrenched within our national psyche or folk soul. Over recent decades, there has been an awakening of our indigenous pre-Christian religion, whether called Odinism, Asatru, Fyrnsidu, Germanic Heathenry or some other name. This is a faith of the old Germanic gods and goddesses; Odin, Tyr, Thor, Yng Frey, Frig, Freya and more. These are the ancestral gods and goddesses of our people; they formed us in their own image just as other gods and goddesses of different pantheons formed other folk. It is related to other pre-Christian religions of northern Europe, such as Druidry and the Slavic religions, which all descend in part from the ancient Vedic religion of the Indo-Europeans. It is a religion governed by fate and destiny, or Wyrd as our ancestors called it, and of the fundamental natural law known as Orlog which we are called to live in harmony with. It is a religion that teaches honour and loyalty, being productive for the good of the tribe and strong in the face of adversity. It is an animistic religion that sees spirit in all things and recognises the symbiotic relationship between different peoples, their folk gods and goddesses who shaped them, the natural world of their homelands, the ancestors who came before them and those yet to come.  

 

 

From its beginnings, English Christianity was influenced by this Saxon ‘heroic’ culture and led to what is sometimes called Saxon Christianity, although this was not always a  happy marriage. The Church was keen to discard anything from the old religion that might contradict its own teachings and, in particular, banned or literally demonized the old gods and goddesses as well as the spirits of the land. Ideas central to the old religion were often misunderstood or deliberately mis-represented. It led to an overemphasis on the consequences of sin, an extreme view of hell and a suspicion of women that was misogynistic. It replaced any proper understanding of fate (or Wyrd as it was called) with the rather crude doctrines of Original Sin. On the other hand, it inherited traits from the old religion that we would not these days consider to be positive. It could be deeply superstitious and fatalistic, leading to a rather melancholic culture.

 

 

What I would like to achieve with this web site, then, is to explore a more positive fusion of formal Christianity, with our pre-Christian beliefs, mysticism and heroic culture that could together be seen as a form of English Folk Christianity or even a modern form of Saxon Christianity. I see this as being less dogmatic than mainstream ‘orthodox’ Christianity, allowing a greater degree of flexibility over how core doctrines are understood and focussing more on ‘right living’ and community. These issues are already being explored by some of the groups seeking to revive our ancient pre-Christian religions, most notably amongst some Druids. However, I am from an Anglo Saxon and Scandinavian heritage and so look to those traditions rather than the Celtic. Here, the idea of seeking some sort of fusion between the two is far less developed and more controversial. But this is where I am drawn and I do so in good faith and frith.

 

 

This form of folk faith could be practiced by individuals or small groups within the mainstream denominations or could in time grow into a denomination in its own right. What is practiced in public within a denominational Church would need to be limited to what is likely to be found acceptable amongst those congregants. Some folk customs are well integrated into English Church life. Other beliefs and customs are likely to have to remain private until larger groups of practioners emerge. But in any event, any expression of this folk faith needs to be more than just ancient ritual and superstitions. It needs to be fit for the modern world where far more people than it the past are well educated. So, when I refer to ‘Folk Christianity’, I do not simply mean those quaint, but archaic beliefs and practices that may or may not stretch back to pre-Christian times, but also to a philosophical, moral and mystical framework that underpins the fusion of Christian and pre-Christian ideas.    

 

 

I call this project ‘English Folk Church’. It is intended to provide the basis of an English folk religion that engages with the modern revival of our ancient pre-Christian religion, but which does ‘throw the baby out with the bath water’. English folk religion has existed side by side with mainstream Christianity since the very beginning, as it has with other folk groups. Christ’s message is essentially good, even if difficult to understand at times. Many of our most loved religious folk traditions are actually from this Christian era and far fewer of them reach back to the pre-Christian religion than many people think. Christianity is still a major part of our cultural identity and heritage and needs to adapt to remain relevant to the modern world.

 

 

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