God Is an Englishman
Christianity and the Creation of England
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God Is an Englishman
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Seslendiren:
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Bijan Omrani
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Yazan:
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Bijan Omrani
'Allows us to understand the profound, and often profoundly beneficial, impact of Christianity' Anthony Seldon
'Superb ... Lively and erudite' The Telegraph
Christianity in England is in decline. Congregations are dwindling and ever fewer young people believe. Should we merely shrug our shoulders and accept this as inevitable and even healthy, or is something important being lost?
Bijan Omrani argues that this decline is the most momentous change to occur in English history. He shows how a religion that has been part of our national story for over 1700 years was instrumental in the creation and development of the English nation, its codes of law and morality, and its structures of government and kingship. He demonstrates its profound cultural impact, in areas ranging from architecture and literature to our very landscape and the structure of our everyday life and language. Its influence, he contends, has been enormous, largely benign, and shouldn't be lightly abandoned.
Ending with a rousing call to retain Christianity, rightly understood, as a way of dealing with both the eternal questions of the human condition, as well as the malaises of modernity, this is an erudite and tender tribute to our Christian history and heritage.
Hugely enjoyable
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a great listen
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Omrani argues convincingly that Christianity was foundational to England’s political and cultural development. The conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, the organisation of the Church, the intellectual world of the monasteries, and the shared rhythms of worship all helped knit together what might otherwise have remained a loose collection of competing kingdoms. The Church was not a decorative feature of early England; it was structural.
What makes the book particularly effective is its accessibility. This is narrative history at its best, clear, elegant, and engaging without being dense or overly academic. Omrani doesn’t bog the reader down in historiographical battles. In fact, he doesn’t engage modern secular scholarship in a particularly confrontational way at all. Instead, he simply tells the story in a way that makes the Christian foundations of England feel obvious again.
The chapters on Bede are especially strong. Omrani shows how Bede didn’t just record England’s early story — he helped shape it. His Ecclesiastical History gave the disparate Anglo-Saxon kingdoms a sense of shared identity and destiny. The treatment of the Reformation is also convincing, presented less as a clean break from the past and more as part of a long and continuous Christian story.
If I have one reservation, it’s that Omrani’s sympathy toward Christianity is clear throughout. That conviction gives the book coherence and warmth, but at times it feels like a deliberate correction of contemporary secular narratives, perhaps even a slight overcorrection. That said, it never descends into polemic.
The thesis itself isn’t especially surprising and perhaps that’s the point. Omrani isn’t trying to shock; he’s trying to restore perspective. In that, he succeeds. For anyone interested in how religion shaped national identity, or in understanding England before modern secular assumptions took hold, this is a thoughtful and rewarding read.
England Was Built on the Altar
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Good overview of Christianity in England
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A call to turn and appreciate our heritage
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