AChristian state is a country that recognizes a form ofChristianity as itsofficial religion and often has astate church (also called anestablished church),[1] which is aChristian denomination that supports the government and is supported by the government.[2]
Historically, the nations ofArmenia,[3][4]Aksum,Makuria, and theHoly Roman Empire have declared themselves as Christian states, as well as theRoman Empire and its continuation theByzantine Empire, theRussian Empire, theSpanish Empire, theBritish Empire, thePortuguese Empire, and theFrankish Empire, theBelgian colonial empire, theFrench empire.[5][6]
Today, several nations officially identify themselves as Christian states or have state churches. These countries includeArgentina,Armenia,Costa Rica,El Salvador,[7]Denmark (incl.Greenland and theFaroes),[8]England,[9]Dominican Republic,[10]Georgia,[11]Greece,[12]Hungary,[13]Iceland,[14]Liechtenstein,[15]Malta,[16]Monaco,[17]Norway,[18]Samoa,[19]Serbia,[20]Tonga,[21]Tuvalu,[22]Vatican City,[23] andZambia.[24] The laws of various Christian countries, such as those of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden require their monarch to be a Christian (usually of a particular denomination, such asEvangelical Lutheranism).[25][26][27] A Christian state stands in contrast to asecular state,[28] anatheist state,[29] or another religious state, such as aJewish state,[30] or anIslamic state.[31]
TheArmenian Apostolic Church traces its origins to the apostolic era, assertingapostolic succession from the apostlesBartholomew[32] andThaddeus (Jude).[33][34][35] The formal establishment of Christianity as the state religion of Armenia is traditionally dated to 301 AD, during the reign ofTiridates III, following his conversion byGregory the Illuminator. This makes Armenia the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, although the exact date has been subject to scholarly debate.[36] In 380, three Roman emperors issued theEdict of Thessalonica (Cunctos populos), making the Roman Empire a Christian state,[5] and establishingNicene Christianity, in the form of itsState Church, as its official religion.[37]
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century, theEastern Roman Empire under the emperorJustinian (reigned 527–565), became the world's predominant Christian state, based on Roman law, Greek culture, and the Greek language."[6][38][39] In this Christian state, in which nearly all of its subjects upheld faith in Jesus, an "enormous amount of artistic talent was poured into the construction of churches, church ceremonies, and church decoration".[38] John Binns describes this era, writing that:[40]
A new stage in the history of the Church began when not just localised communities but nations became Christian. The stage is associated with the conversion of Constantine and the beginnings of a Christian Empire, but the Byzantine Emperor was not the first ruler to lead his people into Christianity, thus setting up the first Christian state. That honour traditionally goes to the church of Armenia.[40]
— John Binns, An Introduction to the Christian Orthodox Churches
As a Christian state, Armenia "embraced Christianity as the religion of the King, the nobles, and the people".[3] In 326, according to official tradition of the Georgian Orthodox Church, following theconversion ofMirian andNana, the country ofGeorgia became a Christian state, the Emperor Constantine the Great sending clerics for baptising people. In the 4th century, in theKingdom of Aksum, afterEzana's conversion to the faith, this empire also became a Christian state.[4][41]
In theMiddle Ages, efforts were made in order to establish aPan-Christianity state by uniting the countries withinChristendom.[42][43]Christian nationalism played a role in this era in which Christians felt the impulse to also recover those territories in which Christianity historically flourished, such as theHoly Land and North Africa.[44]
TheFirst Great Awakening,American Revolution, andSecond Great Awakening caused two rounds of disestablishment among the states of the new United States, from 1776 to 1833.[45]
Article 2 of theConstitution of Argentina explicitly states that "the Federal Government supports the Roman Catholic Apostolic Faith" and Article 14 guaranteesfreedom of religion.[46][47][48] Although it enforces neither an official nor a state faith,[49] it givesCatholic Christianity a preferential status.[50][51][52] Before its1994 amendment, the Constitution stated that thePresident of the Republic must be a Roman Catholic.
InArmeniaChristianity is thestate religion and theArmenian Apostolic Church is thenational church.Armenia is the first country which recognised Christianity as a state religion.
The constitution ofCosta Rica states that "The Catholic and Apostolic Religion is the religion of the State".[7] As such, Catholic Christianholy days are recognized by the government and "public schools providereligious education", although parents are able to opt-out their children if they choose to do so.[53]
As early as the 11th century AD, "Denmark was considered to be a Christian state",[54][55] with theChurch of Denmark, a member of theLutheran World Federation, being the state church.[56] Prof. Wasif Shadid, ofLeiden University, writes that:
The Lutheran established church is a department of the state. Church affairs are governed by a central government ministry, while clergy are government employees. The registration of births, deaths and marriages falls under this ministry of church affairs, and normally speaking the local Lutheran pastor is also the official registrar.[8]
— W. A. R. Shadid, Religious Freedom and the Position of Islam in Western Europe, page 11
Over 82% of the population of Denmark are members of theEvangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark, which is "officially headed by the queen of Denmark".[57] TheAct of Succession specifies that monarch "shall be a member of the Evangelical Church."[25] Furthermore, clergy "in the Church of Denmark are civil servants employed by the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs" and the "economic base of the Church of Denmark is state-collected church taxes combined with a direct state subsidiary (12%), which symbolically covers the expenses of the Church of Denmark to run the civil registration and the burial system for all citizens."[57]
Barbara Yorke writes that the "Carolingian Renaissance heightened appreciation within England of the role of king and church in a Christian state."[58] As such,
Since the1701 Act of Establishment, England's official state church has been theChurch of England, the monarch being itssupreme governor and 'defender of the faith'.He, together with Parliament, has a say in appointingbishops, twenty-six of whom have ex officio seats in theHouse of Lords. In characteristically British fashion, where the state is representative of civil society, it was Parliament that determined, in the Act of Establishment, that the monarch had to beAnglican.[9]
— Christian Joppke, page 1
Christianreligious education is taught to children in primary and secondary schools in the United Kingdom.[59]English schools have a legal requirement for a daily act of collective worship "of a broadly Christian character"[60] that is widely flouted.[61]
TheDominican Republic is a Christian state, with Catholic Christianity being the official religion.[10] In view of the same, the government of the Dominican Republic extends special privileges to theCatholic Church.[10] National holidays include holy days of Christianity, such as theEpiphany (January 6),Good Friday,Corpus Christi, andChristmas Day. In the Dominican Republic,religious education classes must be of either a Catholic or evangelical Protestant basis and are required be taught in all elementary and secondary public schools.[10]
TheChurch of the Faroe Islands is the state church ofFaroe Islands.[62]
Georgia is one of the oldest Christian states. Article 8 of Georgian Constitution andthe Concordat of 2002 grantsthe Georgian Orthodox Church special privileges, which include legal immunity tothe Patriarch of Georgia. The Orthodox Church is the most trusted institution in the country[63][64] and its head, PatriarchIlia II, the most trusted person.[65][66]
Greece is a Christian state,[12][67] with theChurch of Greece playing "a dominant role in the life of the country".[68]
Mount Athos and most of the Athos peninsula are governed as anautonomous region in Greece by themonastic community of Mount Athos, which is ecclesiastically under the direct jurisdiction of theEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
Being an autonomousconstituent country within theKingdom of Denmark, theChurch of Denmark is theestablished church ofGreenland through theConstitution of Denmark:
The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the Established Church of Denmark, and, as such, it shall be supported by the State.
— Section IV ofConstitution of Denmark[69]
This applies toof the Kingdom of Denmark, except for theFaroe Islands, as theChurch of the Faroe Islands became independent in 2007.
The preamble to theHungarian Constitution of 2011 describes Hungary as "part of Christian Europe" and acknowledges "the role of Christianity in preserving nationhood", while Article VII provides that "the State shall cooperate with the Churches for community goals". However, the constitution also guarantees freedom of religion and separation of church and state.[13]
Around AD 1000,Iceland became a Christian state.[70] TheEncyclopedia of Protestantism states that:
The majority of Icelanders are members of the state church. Almost all children arebaptized asLutheran and more than 90 percent are subsequentlyconfirmed. The church conducts 75 percent of all marriages and 99 percent of all funerals. TheEvangelical Lutheran Church in Iceland is a member of theLutheran World Federation and theWorld Council of Churches.[14]
— J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedia of Protestantism, page 283
All public schools have mandatory education inChristianity, although an exemption may be considered by the Minister of Education.[71]
Liechtenstein's constitution designates theCatholic Church as being the state Church of that country.[15] In public schools, per article 16 of theConstitution of Liechtenstein, religious education is given by Church authorities.[15]
Section Two of theConstitution of Malta specifies the state's religion as being the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion.[72][16] It holds that the "authorities of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church have the duty to teach which principles are right and which are wrong" and that "religious teaching of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Faith shall be provided in all State schools as part of compulsory education".[72]
Article 9 of theConstitution of Monaco describes "La religion catholique, apostolique et romaine [the catholic,apostolic and Roman religion]" as the religion of the state.[17]
Cole Durham and Tore Sam Lindholm, writing in 2013, stated that "For a period of one thousand years Norway has been a kingdom with a Christianstate church" and that a decree went out in 1739 ordering that "Elementary schooling for all Norwegian children became mandatory, so that all Norwegians should be able to read the Bible and theLutheran Catechism firsthand."[73] The modernConstitution of Norway stipulates that "The Church of Norway, an Evangelical-Lutheran church, will remain the Established Church of Norway and will as such be supported by the State."[74] As such, the "Norwegian constitution decrees thatLutheranism is the official religion of the State and that the King is the supreme temporal head of the Church."[75][76] The administration of the Church "is shared between the Ministry for Church, Education and Research centrally and municipal authorities locally",[75] and the Church of Norway "depends on state and local taxes".[77] The Church of Norway is responsible for the "maintenance of church buildings and cemeteries".[78] In the mid-20th century, the vast majority of Norwegians participated in the Lutheran Church. According to a 1957 description, "[o]ver 90 percent of the population are married by state church clergymen, have their childrenbaptized andconfirmed, and finally areburied with a church service."[79] However, current membership in the Evangelical LutheranChurch of Norway is lower, standing at 65% of the population in 2021.[80]
In 2017, the Church of Norway was made self-governing, with the identity of the denomination shifting from a state church to anational church.[81] The Church of Noway continues to be supported by public funding.[81] Succession rules governing theMonarchy of Norway require that the monarch be anEvangelical Lutheran holding membership in the Church of Norway.[26] Those who marry into the royal family of Norway are expected to be or become Evangelical Lutherans.[26]
Samoa became a Christian state in 2017. Article 1 of the Samoan Constitution states that “Samoa is a Christian nation founded of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”.[19]
Serbia as a territory became a Christian state during the time ofConstantine the Great inChristianization ofEastern Roman Empire, according to the research and discoveries of artifacts left by theIllyrians,Triballi and other kindred tribes. More research has since been made that perhaps prove the existence ofSerbs living in the Balkans during Roman times inIlyria. In the centuries that followed from the 4th to the 12th century, whenCatholic Church was in a battleground between Serbia due theEastern Orthodox Church, Serbia prevailed asOrthodox Christian state under hisjurisdiction throughSaint Sava.[82]
Serbia as modern state, defines in itsconstitution as asecular state with guaranteedreligious freedom.[83] However, Orthodox Christians with 6,079,396 adherents comprise 84.5% of the country's population. TheSerbian Orthodox Church is the largest traditional church of the country, adherents of which are overwhelminglySerbs. The SOC directly or indirectly hascultural influence on both thedecisions and positions of the state.[84][85][86]
Under the reign ofGustav Vasa, Sweden became anEvangelical-Lutheran Christian country.[87] The Protestant Reformation in Sweden was led by the Evangelical-Lutheran divinesOlaus Petri andLaurentius Petri.[87] Laurentius Petri was consecrated in theapostolic succession that, according to theSwedish Church Ordinance 1571 "must remain in the future, so long as the world lasts."[87] In 1544, the Parliament in Västerås declared Sweden to be an Evangelical-Lutheran kingdom.[87] TheKyrkogångsplikt was the legal obligation for Swedish citizens to attendMass everyLord's Day in the Evangelical Lutheran church. The Evangelical-LutheranChurch of Sweden historically served as the state church, though in 2000, this relationship was loosened; "the Church of Sweden is still legally regulated by the state, and the monarch must be a member and assent to its theology."[88] TheSwedish Act of Succession requires monarchs to "profess the pure evangelical faith".[27]
Tonga became a Christian state underGeorge Tupou I in the 19th century,[21][89] with theFree Wesleyan Church, a member of theWorld Methodist Council, being established as the country's state Church.[90] Under the rule of George Tupou I, there was established a "rigorous constitutional clause regulating observation of theSabbath".[21]
TheChurch of Tuvalu, aCalvinist church in theCongregationalist tradition, is the state church ofTuvalu and was established as such in 1991.[91] TheConstitution of Tuvalu identifies Tuvalu as "an independent State based on Christian principles".[22]
Vatican City is a Christian state, in which the "Pope isex officio simultaneously leader of theCatholic Church as well as Head of State and Head of the Government of the State of the Vatican City; he also possesses (de jure) absolute authority over the legislative, executive and judicial branches."[23]
Jeroen Temperman, a professor of international law atErasmus University Rotterdam writes that:
Zambia is officially a Christian state as well, though the legal ramifications clearly do not compare to the latter state. The Preamble of theConstitution of Zambia establishes Zambia as a Christian state without specifying "Christian" denominationally. It simply proclaims: "We, the people of Zambia...declare the Republic a Christian nation..." As far as state practice is concerned, it may be pointed out that the Government maintains relations with the Zambian Council of Churches and requires Christianity to be taught in the public school curriculum.[92]
— Jeroen Temperman, State-Religion Relationships and Human Rights Law, page 18
After "Zambia declared itself a Christian nation in 1991", "the nation's vice president urged citizens to 'have aChristian orientation in all fields, at all levels'."[24]
| Location | Church | Denomination | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | Church of Denmark | Lutheran | |
| England | Church of England | Anglican | |
| Faroe Islands | Church of the Faroe Islands | Lutheran | Elevated from a diocese of theChurch of Denmark in 2007 (the two remain in close cooperation) |
| Greece | Greek Orthodox Church | Eastern Orthodox[93] | TheChurch of Greece is recognized by the Greek Constitution as the "prevailing religion" in Greece.[93] However, this provision does not give official status to the Church of Greece, while all other religions are recognized as equal and may be practiced freely.[94] |
| Greenland | Church of Denmark | Lutheran | Under discussion to be elevated fromThe Diocese of Greenland in the Church of Denmark to a state church for Greenland, along-the-lines theFaroese Church took in 2007 |
| Iceland | Lutheran Evangelical Church | Lutheran | |
| Liechtenstein | Catholic Church[95] | Catholic | |
| Malta | Catholic Church | Catholic | |
| Monaco | Catholic Church | Catholic | |
| Nicaragua | Catholic Church | Catholic | |
| Tuvalu | Church of Tuvalu | Reformed |
| Location | Church | Denomination | Disestablished |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anhalt | Evangelical State Church of Anhalt | United Protestant | 1918, during theGerman Revolution |
| Armenia | Armenian Apostolic Church | Oriental Orthodox | 1921 |
| Austria | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1918, under theFederal Constitutional Law |
| Baden | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1918, during theGerman Revolution |
| United Evangelical Protestant State Church of Baden | United Protestant | 1918, during theGerman Revolution | |
| Bavaria | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1918, during theGerman Revolution |
| Protestant State Church in the Kingdom of Bavaria right of the Rhine | Lutheran andReformed | 1918, during theGerman Revolution | |
| United Protestant Evangelical Christian Church of the Palatinate | United Protestant | 1918, during theGerman Revolution | |
| Bolivia | Catholic Church | Catholic | 2009, under theConstitution of Bolivia |
| Brazil[note 1] | Roman Catholic Church | Catholic | 1890 |
| Brunswick | Evangelical Lutheran State Church in Brunswick | Lutheran | 1918, during theGerman Revolution |
| Bulgaria | Bulgarian Orthodox Church | Eastern Orthodox | 1946 |
| Chile | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1925 |
| Colombia | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1991[96][97] |
| Connecticut | Congregational Church | Reformed | 1818, under theConstitution of Connecticut |
| Cuba | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1902 |
| Cyprus | Cypriot Orthodox Church | Eastern Orthodox | 1977, with the death of the EthnarchMakarios III |
| Czechoslovakia | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1920, under theCzechoslovak Constitution |
| East Florida | Church of England | Anglican | 1783 |
| Ethiopia | Ethiopian Orthodox Church | Oriental Orthodox | 1974, after the formation of theDerg |
| Finland | Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland | Lutheran | 1869, however the organisation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is regulated by theConstitution of Finland[98] and Church Act of 1993.[99] The state also carries out taxing for the funding of the church on its members.[99] |
| Finnish Orthodox Church | Eastern Orthodox | 1917 | |
| France[note 2] | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1905, under thelaw on the Separation of the Churches and the State |
| Georgia (country) | Georgian Orthodox Church | Eastern Orthodox | 1921 |
| Guatemala | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1871 |
| Haiti | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1987 |
| Hawaii | Church of Hawaii | Anglican | 1893, after theoverthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom |
| Hesse | Evangelical Church in Hesse | United Protestant | 1918, during theGerman Revolution |
| Hungary[note 3] | Roman Catholic Church | Catholic | 1946 |
| Ireland[note 4] | Church of Ireland | Anglican | 1871 |
| Republic of Ireland[note 5] | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1973 |
| Italy | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1985, seeLateran Treaty § After 1946 |
| Lippe | Church of Lippe | Reformed | 1918 |
| Lithuania | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1940 |
| Lübeck | Evangelical Lutheran Church in the State of Lübeck | Lutheran | 1918 |
| Luxembourg | Catholic Church | Catholic | Not an official state church |
| North Macedonia | Macedonian Orthodox Church | Eastern Orthodox | 1921 |
| Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Lutheran | 1918 |
| Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Mecklenburg-Strelitz State Church | Lutheran | 1918 |
| Mexico | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1857, under theFederal Constitution (reestablished between 1864 and 1867) |
| Netherlands | Dutch Reformed Church | Reformed | 1795 |
| New Netherland | Reformed Church in America | Reformed | 1674 (colony surrendered to English rule) |
| New Brunswick | Church of England | Anglican | 1850 |
| Norway | Church of Norway | Lutheran | 2017, by legislation[106][107] |
| Nova Scotia | Church of England | Anglican | 1850 |
| Oldenburg | Evangelical Lutheran Church of Oldenburg | Lutheran | 1918 |
| Panama | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1904 |
| Paraguay | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1992[108] |
| Peru | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1993, under theConstitution of Peru |
| Philippines[note 6] | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1898 |
| Poland[note 7] | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1947 |
| Portugal | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1911 |
| Prince Edward Island | Church of England | Anglican | 1850 |
| Georgia (US state) | Church of England | Anglican | 1789 |
| Province of Maryland | Church of England | Anglican | 1776 |
| Massachusetts | Congregational Church | Reformed | 1834[109] |
| New Hampshire | Church of England | Anglican | 1877 |
| North Carolina | Church of England | Anglican | 1776 |
| South Carolina | Church of England | Anglican | 1790 |
| Prussia pre-1866 provinces | Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces with nine ecclesiastical provinces | United Protestant | 1918 |
| Prussia Province of Hanover | Evangelical Reformed State Church of the Province of Hanover | Reformed | 1918 |
| Prussia Province of Hanover | Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover | Lutheran | 1918 |
| Prussia Province of Hesse-Nassau (partially) | Evangelical State Church of Frankfurt upon Main | United Protestant | 1918 |
| Prussia Province of Hesse-Nassau (partially) | Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck | United Protestant | 1918 |
| Prussia Province of Hesse-Nassau (partially) | Evangelical State Church in Nassau | United Protestant | 1918 |
| Prussia Province of Schleswig-Holstein | Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schleswig-Holstein | Lutheran | 1918 |
| Quebec | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1960, after theQuiet Revolution |
| Romania | Romanian Orthodox Church | Eastern Orthodox | 1947 |
| Russia | Russian Orthodox Church | Eastern Orthodox | 1917, after theRussian Revolution |
| Taiping Heavenly Kingdom | God Worshipping Society | God Worshipping Society | 1864 |
| Thuringia | church bodies in principalities which merged in Thuringia in 1920 | Lutheran | 1918 |
| Saxony | Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Saxony | Lutheran | 1918 |
| Schaumburg-Lippe | Evangelical State Church of Schaumburg-Lippe | Lutheran | 1918 |
| Scotland[110] | Church of Scotland | Presbyterian | State control disclaimed since 1638. Formally recognised as not an established church in 1921 |
| Serbia | Serbian Orthodox Church | Eastern Orthodox | 1946 |
| Spain | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1978 |
| Sweden | Church of Sweden | Lutheran | 2000 |
| Switzerland | separate Cantonal Churches («Landeskirchen») | Zwinglianism &Calvinism orCatholic | during the 20th century |
| United Province of Canada | Church of England | Anglican | 1854 |
| Uruguay | Catholic Church | Catholic | 1918, (into effect in 1919) |
| Virginia | Church of England | Anglican | 1786 |
| Waldeck | Evangelical State Church of Waldeck and Pyrmont | United Protestant | 1918 |
| Wales[note 8] | Church of England | Anglican | 1920 |
| West Florida | Church of England | Anglican | 1783 |
| Württemberg | Evangelical State Church in Württemberg | Lutheran | 1918 |
A number of countries have anational church which is not established (as the official religion of the nation), but is nonetheless recognised under civil law as being the country's acknowledged religious denomination. Whilst these are not Christian states, the official Christian national church is likely to have certain residual state functions in relation to state occasions and ceremonial. Examples include Scotland (Church of Scotland) and Sweden (Church of Sweden). A national church typically has a monopoly on official state recognition, although unusuallyFinland has two national churches (theEvangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and theFinnish Orthodox Church), both recognised under civil law as joint official churches of the nation.
Prohibits federal and state authorities to intervene on religion, granting freedom of religion.(still in force), instituting the separation of church and state for the first time in Brazilian law.Positivist thinkerDemétrio Nunes Ribeiro urged the new government to adopt this stance. The 1891 Constitution, the first under the Republican system of government, abolished privileges for any specific religion, reaffirming the separation of church and state. This has been the case ever since – the 1988Constitution of Brazil, currently in force, does so in its Nineteenth Article. The Preamble to the Constitution does refer to "God's protection" over the document'spromulgation, but this is not legally taken as endorsement of belief in any deity.
...it is only as an established institution that the Church can fully preserve and promote Christian tradition to the nation. One cannot have a Christian state without a state Church.
Under the established church approach, the government will assist the state church and likewise the church will assist the government. Religious education is mandated by law to be taught in all schools, public or private.
But while Persia fiercely repelled Christianity from its frontier, upon that frontier arose a Christian state. Armenia was the first country which embraced Christianity as the religion of the King, the nobles, and the people.
In the 4th century, King Ezana converted to Christianity and declared Aksum a Christian state—the first Christian state in the history of the world.
In the Edict of Thessalonica (380) he expressed the imperial "desire" that all Roman citizens should become Christians, the emperor adjudging all other madmen and ordering them to be designated as heretics,...condemned as such...to suffer divine punishment, and, therewith, the vengeance of that power, which we, by celestial authority, have assumed. There was thus created the "Christian State."
In contrast, the emperor Justinian (527–565) refashioned the eastern part of the Roman Empire into a strong and dynamic Byzantine Empire, which claimed Dalmatia, among other provinces. The Byzantine Empire became the world's predominant Christian state, based on Roman law, Greek culture, and the Greek language.
Thus the Constitution of Costa Rica, which is considered a model of stable democracy in Latin America, states in Article 75: The Catholic and Apostolic Religion is the religion of the State, which contributes to its maintenance, without preventing the free exercise in the Republic of other forms of worship that are not opposed to universal morality or good customs.
Denmark has declared the Evangelical Lutheran church to be that national church (par. 4 of the Constitution), which corresponds the fact that 91.5% of the population are registered members of this church. This declaration implies that the Danish State does not take a neutral stand in religious matters. Nevertheless, freedom of religion has been incorporated in the Constitution. Nielsen (1992, 77) gives a short description of the position of the minority religious communities in comparison to that of the State Church: The Lutheran established church is a department of the state. Church affairs are government by a central government ministry, and clergy are government employees. The registration of births, deaths and marriages falls under this ministry of church affairs, and normally speaking the local Lutheran pastor is also the official registrar. The other small religious communities, viz. Roman Catholics, Methodists, Baptists and Jews, have the constitutional status of 'recognised communities of faith'. ... Contrary to the minority religious communities, the Lutheran Church is fully financed by the Danish State.
A 1954 concordat with the Holy See designates Catholicism as the official state religion and extends special privileges to the Catholic Church not granted to other religious groups. These include the special protection of the state in the exercise of Catholic ministry, exemption of Catholic clergy from military service, permission to provide Catholic instruction in public orphanages, public funding to underwrite some church expenses, and exemption from customs duties. Nationally recognized holidays also include days that are traditionally only observed by Catholics.
The features of the state affect the essence of the state, but the key term is that of historical identity, hence this chapter concentrates on historical identity as the essence of the state, though at times some of the other features will also be referred to. For instance, ancient Greece has now become an Orthodox Christian state. Ancient Persia (Iran) has now become a Muslim state, and the ancient Buddhist states of the Silk Route have also become Islamic states.
Liechtenstein's constitution designates the Catholic Church as the state Church and guarantees religious freedom. Article 38 provides protection for the property rights of all religious institutions and states that "the administration of church property in the parishes shall be regulated by a specific law; the agreement of church authorities shall be sought before the law is enacted." Article 16 states that religious instruction in public schools "shall be given by church authorities."
As King George I of Tonga, Tupou created the "modern" Christian state with the Cross dominating its flag, and with the rigorous constitutional clause regulating observation of the Sabbath.
The Constitution of Tuvalu in a similar vein constitutes Tuvalu as "an independent State based on Christian principles...and Tuvaluan custom and tradition"; and also the Constitution of Vanuatu proclaims in its Preamble: "[we] HEREBY proclaim the establishment of the united and free Republic of Vanuatu founded on traditional Melanesian values, faith in God, and Christian principles..."
The Catholic State of Vatican City is, of course, the best contemporary example of a Christian state. The State of Vatican City, originally established by theLateran Pacts of 1929, approximates most faithfully the ideal-typical conception of theocratic Roman Catholic state. The Pope isex officio simultaneously leader of the Catholic Church as well as Head of State and Head of the Government of the State of the Vatican City; he also possesses (de jure) absolute authority over the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Practically all acts and policies of the Vatican City revolve around the interests of the Holy See and, apart from the members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, virtually all inhabitants of the Vatican City are members of the clergy.
According to the article four in the Contitutional Act, "The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the established church of Denmark, and as such shall be supported by the state." In the Danish version of the Constitutional Act, the Danish word for "established church of Denmark" s "Den danske folkekirke." The Central concept is "folkekirke," which means "a church by the people (folk)," which means that it is the Parliament of the people (Folketing) that passes laws for the Lutheran Church, just as lawas are passed to regulate the tax system, the transport industry, or the health system. In other words, the Lutheran Church is part of the parlimentarian process and is regarded as a dimension of the State. Therefore, the Lutheran Church can be characterized as a "state church baed on the political will of the people." The dimension of being a State Church is also clear from article six in the Constitutional Act, which says: "The King shall be a member of the Evangelical Church."
For example, the Lutheran Church of Norway is that country's official church, and the constitution requires that the monarch be a member of the church. Those within the royal family, including those who marry into the family, are expected to claim Lutheranism, a type of Christian religion, as their own.
However, the king (or queen, as the case may be) is required, under the Succession (Constitution) Act of 1810, as amended, to profess the pure evangelical faith.
Yet what is intriguing about this argument is that this modern secular state arises from, or is the simultaneous realisation and negation of, the Christian state.
Indeed, it is not the so-called Christian state, that one that recognizes Christianity as its basis, as the state religion, and thus adopts an exclusive attitude to other religions, that is the perfected Christian state, but rather the atheist state, the ...
The religious group is confronted by a pagan state, a Jewish state, a Christian state, an Islamic state, or a secular state.
Just as Christian just war theory justified the actions of the Christian state, Islamic jihad theory began with the founding of the Islamic state.
Theodosius did so through the 380 CE 'Edict of Thessalonica,' which established Nicene Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire, with the Bishop of Rome as Pope.
The Byzantine Empire was both a Greek and a Christian state. Increasingly, Latin fell into disuse as Greek became both the common and the official language of the empire. The Byzantine Empire was also built on a faith in Jesus that was shared by almost all of its citizens. An enormous amount of artistic talent was poured into the construction of churches, church ceremonies, and church decoration. Spiritual principles deeply permeated Byzantine art.
The Byzantine Empire, stripped of Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, became a compact Orthodox Christian state, upholding its claim to Roman universalism and constructing an Orthodox Christian commonwealth among the Slavs of the Balkans and Russia.
Then, in the early 4th century, Ezana, Aksum's ruler, converted to Christianity and proclaimed Aksum a Christian state.
Major religions in the past, especially Christianity, have attempted to include all their adherents in a large union, but they have not been successful. Throughout most of the Middle Ages in Western Europe, attempts were made again and again to unite all the Christian world into a kind of Pan-Christianity, which would combine all Christians in a secular-religious state as a successor to the Roman Empire.
Throughout the better part of the Middle Ages, elaborate attempts were made to create what was, in effect, a Pan-Christianity, an effort to unite "all" the Western Christian world into a successor state of the Roman Empire.
The government as a whole treats religion well and allows missionaries to freely enter and move around the country. Only the Catholic holy days are recognized as holidays, but the state generally allows people time to celebrate their holy days if they are of another religion. The public schools provide religious education, but parents can opt their children out if they choose.
Sweyn brought about Denmark's transition from a tribal civilisation to an early Christian state and furthermore modernised the organisation of the Christian church.
The state church of Denmark is Lutheran and a member of the Lutheran World Federation.
A majority of Danes, 82.1% (as of January 2008), are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark—by Section 4 of the constitution, the state church, officially headed by the queen of Denmark. Pastors in the Church of Denmark are civil servants employed by the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, which also constitutes the head of administration. The economic base of the Church of Denmark is state-collected church taxes combined with a direct state subsidiary (12%), which symbolically covers the expenses of the Church of Denmark to run the civil registration and the burial system for all citizens.
The Carolingian Renaissance heightened appreciation within England of the role of king and church in a Christian state.
In the UK, the state church is the Church of England, a Protestant church. Under the established church approach, the government will assist the state church and likewise the church will assist the government. Religious education is mandated by law to be taught in all schools, public or private.
The requirement that the collective worship be of a broadly Christian character is satisfied '...if it reflects the broad traditions of Christian belief without being distinctive of any particular Christian denomination.' Furthermore, it is expressly provided that not every act of collective worship be of a broadly Christian character: the requirement is satisfied provided that, taking any school term as a whole, the majority of acts of collective worship are broadly Christian in character.
Greece is the only Orthodox country in the EU.
Greece therefore is today the only country where the Orthodox Church remains a state church and plays a dominant role in the life of the country.
In becoming a Christian state, then, Iceland had avoided the chaos that was threatened by the secession of the Christian party from Althing and had cemented her friendship with the mother-country of Norway.
All public schools have mandatory education in Christianity. Formally, only the Minister of Education has the power to exempt students from this but individual schools usually grant informal exemptions.
According to Section 2 of the Maltese Constitution from the year 1964, amended in 1994 and 1996, the state church of Malta is the Roman Catholic Church. According to the same section it is endowed with a legal right to determine moral rights and wrongs and is privileged in public education: 1. The religion of Malta is the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion. 2. The authorities of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church have the duty to teach which principles are right and which are wrong. Religious teaching of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Faith shall be provided in all State schools as part of compulsory education.
The Church of Norway is a majority Lutheran church with close ties to both the state and the people of Norway. Traditionally it has been a state church. Parish ministers have been (and some still remain) civil servants and bishops have been appointed by government minister of church affairs. In 2012 the church-state relationship was reconfigured and the Church of Norway is now defined as a nationalfolk-church. This loosened the formal ties between the church and state, but the close relationship between the church on the one hand and staet and society on the other persists. The Church of Norway continues to receive and rely on public funding and approximately three quarters of the Norwegian population are members of this church.
Tonga, according to its mission friends, exemplified how grace and selfless devotion to the task could transform a feuding array of heathen communities into a unified Christian state.
Nearly all Tongans are Christian, and about 30 percent belong to the Free Wesleyan Church, the official state church.
Recent trends have moved in opposite directions: while the parliament of Tuvalu in 1991 approved legislation establishing the (Congregationalist) Church of Tuvalu as the State Church, at the end of 2007 Nepal's provisional parliamentary assembly voted to abolish the monarchy whose kings were popularly held to be reincarnations of the Hindu god Vishnu.
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Media related toChristian countries at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related toChristian state at Wikiquote| Bible (Scriptures) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundations | |||||||||
| History (timeline) (spread) |
| ||||||||
| Denominations (list,members) |
| ||||||||
| Theology |
| ||||||||
| Philosophy | |||||||||
| Other features |
| ||||||||
