Introducing: The New Albion

Rhys Laverty's new weekly newsletter.

The world is changed.

Being a Western Christian in 2023 is incomparably different to 1923. At least, it is if you still hold to the core beliefs of Christianity.

At whiplash-inducing speed, we have gone from a broadly Christian society (in whatever sense) to one in which Christians are vilified.

There are a few reasons for this. One is familiar to evangelicals such as myself: people’s opposition to the Gospel. Our sinful world will be forever scandalised by the reality of grace.

Yet opposition to gospel grace goes back a long way—it’s what drove Abraham to father Ishmael, unable to believe that one day, true to his word, God would give him Isaac.

So what’s new? Why do Christians find themselves so much on the back foot today? We might suggest a couple of reasons.

Mainly, it is because we are supposedly intolerant.

For a while, the charge of “intolerance” was made because of Christian beliefs about salvation. Believing that only Christians can be saved (a clear biblical teaching in places like Acts 4:12) has, for a while, been a controversial thing to believe in an increasingly multicultural Britain.

Over the last decade or so, however, the charge of “intolerance” has had more to do with the issue of sexuality and LGBT identities. And the LGBT movement—in part because it is an organised movement—has a far more merciless internal logic than the loose “multiculturalism” that prevailed in the UK in the late 90s and early 00s. Put simply: nothing is ever enough for the Rainbow Flag. Those who fly it are forever unhappy if they know that someone, somewhere, isn’t yet flying its endlessly multiplying colours in their heart.

The hot topic of LGBT issues, however, is ultimately merely a symptom of something deeper: in ways unique in human history, our modern culture hates not just grace, but nature too.

You see, it’s one thing to reject the Gospel—God’s plans to save his creation. It’s quite another to want to reject his creation altogether.

But that is where we find ourselves. And a rejection of nature is at the root of countless confusing issues which press in on Christians at the moment. The LGBT side of that is fairly obvious. But a rejection of God’s design for the world is behind other massive issues which we neglect even more.

Chiefly, you see this in our relationship to technology—we don’t know how to think about this very well. And our relationship to technology governs almost everything else in our lives now, from the time we waste on our smartphone, to the way that politicians talk about global warming, to how we feel about a shortage of salad vegetables in Lidl.

And aside from the pressing issues of sexuality and technology, thorny conversations about racism, poverty, Brexit, political sleaze, the death throes of a Tory Government, and more press in on Christians in the UK. And it’s difficult for anybody, let alone Christians, to have sensible conversations about these things—in large part because the shared moral fabric of the UK, which Christianity basically created, has splintered apart. We are none of us singing from the same hymn sheet.

Welcome to the Negative World

There are, thankfully, some strong voices helping Christians to make sense of all this, and to work out how we move forward as wisely as serpents and as innocently as doves.

One popular way of understanding our cultural moment has been suggested by Aaron Renn, an American evangelical writer. He calls it “the Three Worlds of Evangelicalism”.

Put simply, Renn says you can divide the history of evangelical Christians and their status in American society into three periods:

• Positive World (pre-1994): Christianity is regarded as basically a good thing; active Christian faith can enhance one’s social standing; Christian moral norms are recognised to be basically a good thing.

• Neutral World (1994-2014): Christianity is one valid option within a religiously neutral public square, neither a social advantage nor disadvantage.

• Negative World (post-2014): Christianity is a social negative, especially among society’s elites; Christian faith will hinder one’s social status; Christian moral norms are seen as bad for society.

A lot has been said about Renn’s big idea, but it’s always struck me as basically right. It’s a helpful starting point, at least, for discussing how Christians should think about the society they live in. A lot of Christians have started to ask “how should we live in the Negative World?”

However, here’s my problem: what about the UK?

Most conversation about life in the Negative World has been about Christians in America, Now, that makes sense—Renn’s talking about specifically about America!

But I am a Briton and an Englishman (and I imagine most of you reading are, too). Now, despite the distance across the Atlantic, Renn’s idea seems to have obvious resonance in the UK—and yet few British evangelicals talk much about what a specifically British Negative World looks like, and how British Christians should be navigating it.

When we do discuss it, the focus is usually on how we evangelise in that kind of world—a very important thing to discuss, no doubt. But what about how we disciple ourselves in the Negative World? We talk about that far, far less.

And what’s the point of evangelising people if you’re not ready to disciple them once they’re converted?

This is surprising. It’s often noted that, being a more post-Christian place than the US, UK evangelicals are supposedly better prepared for life in the post-Christian West. But I simply do not find this to be true—certainly not when it comes to how we understand our culture, and how prepared we are for this strange new world.

The New Albion

That, as you may have guessed, is why this article exists. I have grumbled to friends too often about all this. Now, the time has come to put my money where my mouth is.

And so: welcome to The New Albion—my new weekly newsletter providing Christian commentary for a changed Britain.

I’m publishing this via Substack. If Substack is new to you, it’s great: if you sign up, new posts come directly into your inbox.

I’m a Protestant, Reformed, conservative evangelical, and so that will direct my perspective here in many ways. Those few British voices who are thinking hard about the Negative World in the UK largely seem to come from other church traditions—Anglo-Catholic, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox. I am very glad of these thinkers and writers, who I’ve found a huge help here in the trenches. I’m hoping I can add the voice of my own tribe to the mix.

As for the name: “Albion” is an old name for Great Britain. It reminds me of the long, unique, complex history of these islands. Although that history is unfolding in bizarre and worrying ways, it remains part of an ongoing story that has been unfolding on these islands for millenia.

British Christians are part of something that still includes the Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Normans, Tudors, Stuarts, Georgians, Victorians, and all those from Africa, Asia, and Europe who have been woven into the fabric of the nation, whether through the legacy of empire or some other means.

All this is Albion. But we are in a new, and strange, version of it—and Christians need to face that.

Also, I’m a sucker for a good pub name, and “The New Albion” sounds like a hospitable watering hole—the kind of place where one might find something filling and fortifying before heading out again into the weather. Hopefully that’s what this might provide.

Subscriptions

I love writing. And you, dear reader, probably enjoy reading.

Good writing takes thought, time, and effort. I have tried, over the last several years, to make a habit of paying for the writing which I most enjoy and from which I most benefit.

Whilst I plan to write occasional free, public posts, The New Albion will largely be a paid-subscription newsletter. If you think what I write is worth a few quid a month, and that charting a course through the Negative World UK is a worthwhile endeavour, then why not support me to keep writing?

You all have the chance to try before you buy though:

• This intro post lands on Wednesday 1st March.

• My first proper post will be out on Friday 3rd March—this will be free and public.

• Free posts will follow for the next 3 weeks—10th, 17th, 24th March.

• From 31st March, things will move to being for paid subscribers only.

If, at that point, you think it’s worth the price of admission, then you can take out a subscription for access to all future posts.

Or, if you’re a daring, investment-minded type, you might decide to pay up now. Good on you, sir or madam.

Subscription plans are £5 per month, or £50 for the year.

So: if The New Albion sounds to your liking, then you can hit “subscribe” below.

Also, if you think this may of interest to others then do share this post with others.

My first proper post will be this Friday, 3rd March.

To whet your appetite, we’ll be kicking off with this question: why don’t the British (or at least the English) take anything seriously?

*Image Credit: White Cliffs of Dover, Unsplash