Going ‘part of the way together’: Christian intellectuals, modernity and the secular in 1930s and 1940s Britain

This essay argues that essentialist models of modernity are always ideological, and that Britain's dominant ideology of modernity was transformed from the mid-1950s, with revolutionary consequences for British Christianity and secularisation. Before the mid-1950s 'Christian civilisation' was commonly considered more advanced than secularity, which was associated with Stalin's Soviet Union. The mid-1950s global crisis, however, created widespread belief in an unprecedented new 'modern world'. This perception rapidly legitimated the further belief, promoted by radical Christians, that 'the modern world' is inherently 'secular'. Once accepted by the national media, these ideological beliefs about modernity made possible the 1960s 'secular revolution'.

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Introduction: Christian modernities in Britain and Ireland in the twentieth century

Wood

2020

Contemporary British History

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This introductory article contextualises relevant historiography and explores definitions of 'modernity', 'modernisation' and 'secularisation'. The twentieth century posed distinct challenges to efforts to relate faith to the social order: accelerating industrialisation, urbanisation and functional differentiation as well as the growing impact of technology and predominance of science. The subjective perspectives of Church leaders and lay Christian intellectuals as they sought to understand and respond to these conditions are historically important. This issue explores these themes in Britain and Ireland, taking into account a range of Christian reactions to transforming societies, stressing how Christians developed innovative strategies for meeting new challenges.

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Going ‘part of the way together’: Christian intellectuals, modernity and the secular in 1930s and 1940s Britain

Cited by 3 publications

References 25 publications

‘The Relation of the Sexes’: towards a Christian view of sex and citizenship in interwar Britain

‘The Relation of the Sexes’: towards a Christian view of sex and citizenship in interwar Britain

‘Christian civilisation’, ‘modern secularisation’, and the revolutionary re-imagination of British modernity, 1954-1965

Introduction: Christian modernities in Britain and Ireland in the twentieth century

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