Freedom and order

Liberty’s roots

FREEDOM AND ORDER
History, politics and the English Bible
By Nick Spencer
Hodder & Stoughton. 300 pages. £16.99
ISBN 978 0 340 996 232

Not once, during recent debates in Parliament, did I hear any MP accuse another of retiring ‘into what may be called his political cave of Adullam’.

These words, used by John Bright during the Reform Bill debate in 1866, assumed a level of biblical knowledge which is part of the premise of the book, that the Bible is the single most important text in British political history. Spencer’s central point is that, as much as it is impossible to appreciate or understand English literature without knowing the English Bible, the same is the case with understanding our nation’s politics. He proves his case by taking the reader on a political rollercoaster ride from medieval political thought and Anglo-Saxon political authority, through ideas of tolerance, democracy and equality, to the formation of the welfare state and the speeches of modern prime ministers.

The book is not dewy eyed about the Bible’s influence. Spencer accounts for it being used to justify political repression and legitimise intolerance. He reminds us that, when put into the vernacular, the Bible could not be kept in the hands of the privileged or even the religious. It led to significant social change — such as the abolition of slavery and factory reform; political change — tackling corruption and widening the franchise and economic reform, reducing public expenditure and abuses in administration.

Well argued

My fear for the book is that the style and content may confine itself more readily to a select Christian reader rather than the wider audience which the premise of his book demands. Spencer’s well argued case is that in Britain it is the Bible which has most shaped our politics since the earliest of days and in his words it would be brave or complacent to ignore its shaping of the future.

David Burrowes,
Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate; member of Enfield Evangelical Free Church