Faith and Doubt in the Victorian Age - Henry Bowler, The Doubt, Can These Dry Bones Live? (1855) women contemplating skull, doubting religion. Symbolism - trying to answer doubt (name - faithful), 'resergan' - resurrection.Butterfly-nature,rebirth,newlife,spring,renewal. - Growth of non-anglican religious groups, industrialisation, urbanisation, introduction of Darwinism. - Secularisation - Religion ceases to be the central or dominant reference point of a soci- ety/culture/political order. Victorian period - began to occur, religious belief begun to de- cline. - Historians have challenged this thesis - Callum Brown, doesn't dispute, but argues secu- larisation doesn't occur in the Victorian period, states it later (1960's) rates of church at- tendance plummet. - Growth of welfare state takes away educational, institutional power of the Church. - Modernity - enlightenment, new philosophical ideas from Europe, rapid social and eco- nomic change (urbanisation), new leisure ideas displacing religious customs. - Overwhelming challenge by scientif i c discovery, science and evolution signif i cantly chal- lenges Christianity (rational, cohesive belief), geology, biology, zoology, poses unprece- dented challenges idea that knowledge and truth can be derived form scriptural author- ity. Darwin's thesis, descent of man, challenging idea of a miracle. - Hard to overstate religious census in March 1851 (only time organised by state - church and sin day school attendance) - estimated that half hadn't attended a place of worship. Of half, nearly half didn't attend the Anglican Church (Catholic or non-conformist) - Beginning of period - 4 established Churches - by 1920 down to 2 - Catholic Church and Church of Scotland. Anglican bishops appointed by Crown, could sit in House of Lords, CoE needs parliamentary consent to change constitution. - MP Charles Bradlaw (atheist) 1880 - elected in Northampton but couldn't take sit be- cause refused to take Christian oath of allegiance to Church and Queen, only in 1886 - allowed to take his seat. - Industrialisation caused problems for established Church - Church must ef f ective in small parish villages that are tightly-knit. Parish system breaks down - Church faces challenges (non-conformity - methodism 1901 - 600,000, Quakers, Unitarians - rejects the trinity, baptists). Non-conformity popular among lower middle-class and skilled classes - attracted by lack of hierarchy, not def i ned by rank or status. - Feeling of grievance against monopolies and privileges of established churches - pay ties (Church rates) motivated by civic and religious equality. - Become driving force behind Victorian liberalism. - Catholics only receive right to vote and civic equality in 1829 - 1850 - Pope Pious VIIII creates new set of Catholic bishops, led by Archbishop of West- minster. - 1901 - 2 million practising Catholics. - 60,000 Jews by 1880 - 250,000. - Received with suspicion, gradually received rights - 1858 - Jewish Emancipation Act - sit in parliament. - Strengthening of Jewish Community. - Sikh Temples and Islam Mosques - Christian country but growth of other religious com- munities.
- 18302/40s - Oxford Movement - Cardinal John-Henry Newman (leader) - tractarians - rejected 18th century ideas