Category: Religion

The originally Persian religion of Zoroastrianism does not easily take converts, so it has one of the smallest congregations in the UK, at just 4,000 souls. Indeed, Mumbai in India probably has the largest proportion of the Zoroastrian community across the world. It is said to be an ancient religion which influenced Judaism, Christianity and Islam, with its ideas of judgement and good deeds, not riches, being important.

Zoroastrianism is named after its prophet, Zarathustra/Zoroaster, who had a vision of Ahura Mazda (God) and six lesser beings after wandering around Persia and despairing of the wickedness he had witnessed.

He subsequently proclaimed that: “Happiness comes to those who bring happiness to others” and “Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds”, undeniably splendid guidance for life. ‘Asha’ is the good, honest, lawful way and ‘Druj’ is the opposite, to be avoided if one does not want to suffer the consequences in the after-life.

In the UK we had a famous, well-loved and highly talented Zoroastrian on the pop-rock music scene, namely Queen‘s Freddie Mercury (1946-91), whose birth name was Farrokh Bulsara. His ancestors were ‘Parsi’ ~ Persian Zoroastrians who fled to India from persecution by the spread of Islam between the 7th and 10th centuries.

(Image of Zoroastrians in the West Midlands: Paresh Solanki at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

One result of establishing the Church of England was the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England and Wales, over 800 of them in total, during 1536-40. This included all types and sizes of building where monks or nuns lived communally and practised daily Catholic worship. They were places of learning, employment, hospitality and nursing, but corruption had also set in to some extent, funded by paid requests for prayers and pilgrims’ donations.

In 1535 an audit of monastic possessions and property ~ Valor Ecclesiasticus ~ was carried out along with reporting of the inmates’ behaviour, e.g. drunkenness, and this gave King Henry VIII (1491-1547) and his adviser, Lord Cromwell of Wimbledon (c.1485-1540) both financial and moral reasons to proceed with closing them all down, starting with the smallest and continuing up the scale.

Henry needed money for war with France and the monasteries owned 20% of the land, which was sold off in a move which was largely welcomed. The buildings were either repurposed as manor-houses, colleges, CofE parish churches and cathedrals, such as Chester, Gloucester and Bristol, or they were demolished and the masonry and metalwork reused in Henry’s other projects. Thousands of abbots, monks and nuns were paid off, but some rebelled and were executed.

(Images LtoR: the cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral by Eirian Evans at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0, Thomas Cromwell / Public domain)

Nottinghamshire-born Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) enrolled at Cambridge University aged 14 and remained there for more than two decades, taking holy orders in 1520 and obtaining his Doctorate of Divinity in 1526. His first marriage, to Joan, cost him his Fellowship at Jesus College but when she died in childbirth he was reinstated. It was on a break from Cambridge in 1529 that he first met King Henry VIII (1491-1547).

Thus began his pivotal role in the establishment of the monarch as supreme head of the English Church instead of the Pope, and the introduction of Protestantism. He made the most progress in drawing up new Articles for the Church of England during the reign of young Edward VI (1537-53), as Henry had not really been interested in any religious reform and had appointed Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury (1533-56) in order for him to pronounce Henry’s various marriages successively invalid and valid..

Cranmer’s involvement was not without its dangers (he sent his second wife, Margarete, and their children abroad for their safety) and Henry gave him his ring as proof of royal backing against anyone who came to arrest him. His luck finally ran out with the accession of Catholic Queen ‘Bloody’ Mary (1516-58), Henry’s first deligitimised daughter, and he was burnt at the stake for supposed treason.

(Images LtoR: first official Bible in English distributed by Cranmer to all parish churches, by University of Glasgow Library at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, and Thomas Cranmer / Public domain)

The monastic movement came to the British Isles in the 6th century. The remote settings of monasteries, such as the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, were indicative of the monks’ desire for solitude, but the subsequent trail of pilgrims and gifts of money and land in exchange for favourable prayers, led to monasteries becoming very wealthy and powerful.

Each monastery (variously known as an abbey, priory, friary or, for the nuns, a nunnery or convent), had rules based on a particular ‘Order’, such as the Benedictine, Cistercian or Trappist. Personal possessions were few and all inmates lived communally, wore the same habits, were obedient to the Scripture and were celibate. One monastic rule was to give hospitality whenever requested, so there would be large kitchens, bakeries, breweries, ‘warming’ rooms and guest rooms, and monks would even build inns and farms on their estates.

In Old English, a monastery was a ‘mynster’, hence the profusion of British place names beginning or ending in ‘minster’. God-fearing monarchs actively encourged the establishment of hundreds of monasteries until the 10th/11th centuries when parish churches began to be built, although monasteries continued to be centres for learning, with huge libraries, and to carry out charitable works.

(Image of Whitby Abbey ruins: Christopher Hilton at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Amidst the inclination for reform prevalent in the 1830s, some Oxford scholars of theology reacted strongly to the government taking steps to lift restrictions on other religions in Protestant Britain. The ‘Oxford Movement’, as it became known, sought to rejuvenate and re-emphasise the Church of England‘s standing by introducing aspects of Catholicism, a strategy painted as a return to its roots, or a ‘High Church’ revival.

Although this did not stop further religious deregulation, it did leave its mark and the CofE adopted a ‘middle way’ between Protestantism and Catholicism, as proposed by one of the Movement’s leaders, John Henry Newman (1801-90) of London. Previously unadorned churches were now awash with candles, imagery, open pews, robes, rituals and a new hymnody.

During the Movement’s heyday (1833-45), many supporters of this transition actually went so far as to convert to Roman Catholicism, including Newman himself, who was made a saint in 2019! Other key figures included John Keble (1792-1866) from Gloucestershire and Professor Edward Bouverie-Pusey (1800-82) from Berkshire. They argued that the CofE was a truly ‘catholic’ ~ lowercase c ~ church. The Movement published 90 Tracts explaining both how the CofE could be improved and in what respects it should revert to ‘tradition’ as they saw it.

(Images LtoR: John Henry Newman by Martin Beek & richly decorated Oxford Movement church in London by Nick Garrod, both at Flickr.com / both CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The exquisite workmanship seen in the structure of Ely Cathedral exhibits the now rare manual skills that were once employed to elevate church architecture symbolically towards a higher realm. Among the oldest of the UK’s cathedrals, it is set on what was a lofty island which was joined by reclamation drainage works to the Cambridgeshire mainland in the 1600s, vastly improving access for the many pilgrims drawn to it.

The Saxon princess St. Etheldreda (or Ethelthryth, c.636-79) who first had a wooden abbey built in this spot in 673, obviously desired almost complete isolation ~ not only was the island surrounded by marshland but she personally took a vow of chastity, maintained throughout her two marriages!

Today’s huge building complex, which has earned the nickname ‘Ship of the Fens’, is the result of several reconstructions and renovations, including replacement with a stone Romanesque cathedral and monastery soon after the Norman Conquest. The nave, at 246 feet, is one of the longest in Britain and the Cathedral has a classical octagonal tower, completed in 1342, which may reference the number eight’s association with eternity to ensure that, at the very least, the tower does not collapse like its predecessor did early one winter’s morning in 1322.

(Image: Steve Knight at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

Durham Castle and Durham Cathedral sit side-by-side on a peninsula off the River Wear that looks tailor-made for these sandstone landmarks. From this fortified spot, the new Norman rulers could ward off Scottish incursions and display their Church+State superiority against Northumbrian rebels brutally and spitefully suppressed in what became known as ‘The Harrying of the North’.

The Cathedral, in particular, would have been a stupendous sight for approaching aggressors, but it also served to draw awestruck adoration from Christian pilgrims. Completed in 1133, it measures 216ft high, making it Britain’s tallest building for a while. With its side extensions it had enough space for monks, multiple altars, copies of the 1216, 1225 and 1300 versions of Magna Carta and the shrines of the Venerable Bede and of St. Cuthbert (c.635-87), whose body eventually arrived after having left Lindisfarne many years before. Bearing a reputation for miracles, Cuthbert’s relics were a lucrative attraction.

Although most of its treasures were confiscated in the Reformation, the Cathedral’s architecture remains untouched and is a testament to the skill of hundreds of stonemasons who worked on creating its ribbed vaulting and Romanesque ornate columns. Uniquely, its bishops were called ‘prince-bishops’ until 1836 and had as much power as a monarch.

(Image: Andrew Tryon at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Two Northumbrian clergymen, Wilfrid (634-709/10) and Benedict (c.628-90), adopted the European idea of having stained glass church windows for their monasteries (home to the Venerable Bede, who described the event). The practice spread throughout the country, although examples only exist from the 12th century onwards, e.g. at Canterbury Cathedral, due to deliberate destruction.

Apart from the practical advantages of keeping out birds, intruders, distractions and the weather, the windows were a visual aid for Biblical instruction, memorials to wealthy patrons and a means of creating an awe-inspiring atmosphere conveying Christ’s “I am the Light of the World” message.

The early colours of blue, red and purple, which took on symbolic meanings, were produced by the addition of elements, including gold and silver, to the glass-making recipe. Later, when this became too expensive and more artistic detail was desired, vitreous paint in black, brown or dark red was brushed on. From the 1500s to the 1800s this was the main method used and windows became artists’ canvases, with the lead strips that hold the glass pieces together (called ‘cames’) being morphed into the design. From the mid-1800s, however, the use of coloured glass was revived and the techniques were combined in new ways.

(Images LtoR: Julian P Guffogg & Stephen McKay, both at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Most people know the joy of communal singing and a church, with its acoustic qualities, provides an ideal setting. Like a classic pop song a good hymn has a strong melody and rousing lyrics, with enough repetition for it to be memorable and easy to learn. The Church of England was quite late in embracing hymnody (the singing of hymns), with their first hymnal (book of hymns) only being approved and published in 1820. Choir and organ eventually replaced the minstrel band of old and led the congregation’s efforts.

Anglican hymnody became so widespread that every school assembly, public meeting, military ceremony and family gathering reverberated to the sound of (mostly) tuneful voices. The solemn hymn ‘Abide With Me’ (1847 lyrics: Lyte, 1861 tune: Monk) is even sung with gusto at major football and rugby matches.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) from Hampshire began the 200-year golden age of hymn-writing in English and Charles Wesley (1707-88) from Lincolnshire (brother of Methodist founder, John) made a vast contribution too, with around 6,500 poems. Some lyricists wrote their own music but many hymns are set to folk melodies or later compositions, e.g. ‘To Be A Pilgrim’ (1684 lyrics: Bunyan, 1906 tune: Vaughan Williams). Here it is sung by folk artiste Maddy Prior:-

(Image: Peter Burka at Flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The first Christian monks would ring handbells to summon converts to prayer and by the 7th century the abbeys had larger bells incorporated into the building. A few centuries later, almost every church had a tall steeple to house either a static or swinging bell in a belfry. Its height allowed the metallic clangs to be heard over the hurly-burly of city or farm. The art of bell-ringing (campanology) developed with the addition of more bells and better control mechanisms.

The bells, which were deemed sacred and often had names, were sometimes attributed with supernatural powers. They were rung several times daily, on special dates and for notable events. Unfortunately, some bell-ringers regarded the bell-towers as drinking havens but in the 1600s there began to be societies which provided properly trained bell-ringers, e.g. the Company of Ringers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, established in 1612 and still operating today. Fabian Stedman (1640-1713) from Herefordshire ~ the ‘Father of Bell-Ringing’ ~ wrote two instruction manuals, in 1668 and 1677.

The use of church bells greatly reduced after the World Wars, but there has been a resurgence of interest in bell-ringing in recent decades, both as a leisure pursuit that promotes teamwork and as physical exercise.

(Top image of church bells in Staffordshire dating from 1200 and 1400: Geoff Pick at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

With so many different religions bumping along together on these islands, the concept of facilitating better understanding and co-operation between them was perhaps inevitable and certainly admirable. The Inter Faith Network for the United Kingdom (IFN) is a charity that was founded in 1987 after extensive preparations and research by John Brian Pearce (1935-) beginning in 1984.

Pearce later became an IFN Director. The first co-Chairs were Rabbi Hugo Gryn and Bishop Jim Thompson, supported by co-Vice Chairs Dr. Indarjit Singh, Dr. Mughram Al-Ghamdi and Om Prakash Sharma.

The IFN offers membership to various types of multi- and single faith groups around the country (currently numbering 176) and arranges seminars, joint initiatives, consultation and information services, including a directory. It encourages inter-faith sports and social activities and has contributed to the school curriculum for Religious Education. It has also worked with the Commission on Racial Equality.

Though its aims may seem idealistic and even unthinkable for some, the IFN’s shared Act of Commitment voices a hope that is entirely in keeping with the British psyche, that:-

“We commit ourselves,
As people of many faiths,
To work together for the common good,
Uniting to build a better society,
Grounded in values and ideals we share…”

(Image: Catholic Church England & Wales at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)