Introduction
George Bell was the first Anglican of stature to pose direct moral questions to the state, to demonstrate that an established church can protest against the establishment; and he therefore holds a special place for us as we consider our place in the political sphere in a world of religious pluralism and ethical indifference. Of course, there have been great religious protests against secular and religious policy in England since the Reformation but: the founding of Massachusetts was an act of protest against the established church by Puritans; slavery and prison reform were Quaker inspired; socio-economic reform in the early 19th Century was largely led by Unitarians and newly crystallised Methodism; and, in the late 19th Century, it was largely the Chapel tendency which provided an anti Marxist pillar for the emerging Trade Union movement and the Labour Party. Meanwhile, the main body of the Church of England was a pale but discernible isomorphism of the Constantinian settlement, never far from Erastianism, and it is perhaps the disturbance of that settled state by Dr. Williams in his recent lecture [i] that accounts in part of its hostile reception. The Church of England by Law established should, it is widely and paradoxically held, distance itself from public moral debate and ensure that religion is securely privatised. Caught between its over-arching unifying function (which might include speaking for non Christians and people of no religion) and its need to preserve ethical integrity, saddled with a massive heritage obligation with niggardly Treasury support, "Establishment" is a monumental paradox as cynical as any designed by an elected dictatorship.
The problems bell addressed, other than those connected with the waging of war, were different from the issues we now face, largely centred on developments in medicine, new perspectives on gender and the mass movement of peoples, but the context in which the arguments take place is remarkably similar. In spite of the creation of the General Synod, the Church of England is still so unsure of itself that a substantial minority is frightened by the Prime Minister's voluntary renunciation of Episcopal patronage.
Before addressing some of the fundamental questions of the relationship between church and state, let us very briefly survey the history of Western Christianity and civil power.[i] http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1581