The Evangelical Alliance, Religious Liberty, and the Evangelical Conscience in Nineteenth‐Century Britain

Abstract

This article explores the difficulties nineteenth‐century British evangelical ecumenists faced as they attempted to develop distinctive practical initiatives that could commend widespread support across the denominational spectrum. In particular, it focuses on the nascent Evangelical Alliance's growing concern to promote religious liberty overseas. By following the debates within the Alliance about the need to pursue religious liberty and attending to the obstacles preventing such a course of action this article suggests the need to distinguish between a qualified agenda committed to securing religious rights (religious liberty) and a broader agenda committed to securing political rights (religious equality). By favouring the former, the Evangelical Alliance succeeded in developing a distinctively pan‐evangelical initiative that commended relatively widespread support. Thus evangelical concern for religious liberty must be distinguished from the distinctively Nonconformist promotion of religious equality.

An ‘anti-Catholicism of free trade?’ Religion and the Anglo-Italian negotiations of 1863

“…Evangelical lobbies, such as the Evangelical Alliance, were at various stages successful in influencing the religious policies of important political figures. 7 The B&FBS was at the forefront of evangelicalism in Italy. Their evangelicalism was not only purely doctrinal, 8 but it also meant a general commitment to freedom of conscience for Protestants.…”

The Collective Action Framing of Conservative Christian Groups in Britain

“…Notwithstanding a number of studies into the historical, sociological and anthropological qualities of conservative forms of Christianity in Britain (e.g. Bebbington, 1989;Wolffe, 1995;Thompson, 2009;Bebbington and Jones, 2013;Strhan, 2015Strhan, , 2016, scholarly research into the political activities of conservative Christian groups has been relatively limited. In addition, the small number of analyses have tended to focus on a select number of issues, typically centring on the debate around an emergent British 'Christian Right' comparable to the movement that developed in the United States from the 1970s (e.g.…”

“…Notable flashpoints have included disputes around free speech, abortion, assisted dying, same-sex marriage, the regulation of medical technologies, religious freedom, and equalities legislation. Notwithstanding a number of studies into the historical, sociological, and anthropological qualities of conservative forms of Christianity in Britain (e.g., Bebbington 1989; Wolffe 1995; Thompson 2009; Bebbington and Jones 2013; Strhan 2015; 2016), scholarly research into the political activities of conservative Christian groups has been relatively limited. In addition, the small number of analyses have tended to focus on a select number of issues, typically centering on the debate around an emergent British “Christian Right” comparable to the movement that developed in the United States from the 1970s (e.g., Walton, Hatcher, and Spencer 2013), and the approach taken by conservative Christian groups to “moral issues” such as homosexuality and abortion (e.g., see Durham 2005; Burack and Wilson 2009; Hunt 2010; 2014).…”