CHRISTIANITY IN ENGLAND AND UNITED STATES

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1 CLIL ENGLISH&RELIGION: CHRISTIANITY IN ENGLAND AND UNITED STATES CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning

2 CHRISTIANITY IN ENGLAND: ANGLICANISM

3 ANGLICANISM DEFINITION Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising the Church of England and churches which are historically tied to it. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans. The great majority of Anglicans are members of churches which are part of the international Anglican Communion. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, latin, that means the English Church.

4 EARLY ENGLISH CHURCH

5 ANGLICANISM HISTORY The founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea, according to Anglican legend. The Church in England remained united with Rome until the English Parliament, through the Act of Supremacy (1534), declared the king to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Although now separate from Rome, the English Church, at this point in history, continued to maintain the Roman Catholic theology on many things, such as the sacraments.

6 HENRY VIII

7 ANGLICANISM HISTORY Henry VIII is known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. His disagreements with the Pope led to his separation of the Church of England from papal authority (who would not allow an annulment of Henry's first marriage), with himself, as king, as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury has a precedence of honour over the other primates and is, therefore, recognised as primus inter pares (first amongst equals).

8 CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL

9 ANGLICANISM HISTORY In the time of Henry VIII the nature of Anglicanism was based on political questions rather than theological disagreement. The effort was to create a national church in legal continuity with its (Catholic) traditions, but inclusive of certain doctrinal and liturgical beliefs of the Reformers. In the 17th century Anglicanism wants to represent a kind of middle way (via media) between Reformed Protestantism and Roman Catholicism a perspective that be expressed in the description "Catholic and Reformed".

10 MAYFLOWER

11 ANGLICANISM AND THE NEW WORLD In England, in the early 17th century, the Anglican Church lived a troubled period that led to the foundation of various other Reformed Churches, such as Calvinists and Puritans. Some of those congregations were severely persecuted, most of all the Brownist English Dissenters, so they decided to emigrate to the New World and establish a new colony in North America. They are well-known as Pilgrim Fathers, and the ship which carried the 102 pilgrims from Plymouth to Cape Cod (Massachusetts) was the Mayflower.

12 RELIGIONS IN THE USA

13 RELIGIONS IN THE USA The United States is characterized by a very strong religious sense, but the number of people who do not identify with any organized religion is growing. The majority of Americans identify themselves as Christians, while close to a quarter claim no religious affiliation, with 46.5% professing attendance at a variety of churches that could be considered Protestant, and 20.8% professing Roman Catholic beliefs.

14 RELIGIONS IN THE USA Principal protestant confessions are Calvinists and Episcopalians (correspondents of the Anglican Church). There are also more recent traditions: Baptists and Methodists, Evangelical Churches, Adventist and Pentecostal. Other religions (including Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism) collectively make up about 6% of the population.

15 RELIGIONS IN THE USA NOWADAYS

16 MEDIA-RELIGIONS IN THE USA In a typical week, about one-in-five Americans share their faith online. This is about the same as the number who tune in to religious talk radio, watch religious TV programs or listen to Christian rock music. There is also the phenomenon of TV and Web Churches, the churches without a physical presence but active through television and the web; very often the police discovered serious hidden scams behind these religious activities.

17 RELIGIONS AND SOCIAL ISSUES Religious values are a very important part of American life, especially in election times. So, religion often constitutes the basis of political controversies: racism, capital punishment, bioethic issues, marriage and homosexuality, teaching of the theory of evolution (Darwinism). Religious communities can also be considered as lobbies, which are groups attempting to influence political decisions. Frequency of religious service attendance remains a strong predictor of how people will vote in elections.