Anglican Political Theology

Abstract

This essay develops a constructive account of the ways Anglicans have addressed political questions. The first section outlines the characteristic political rationality of Anglican political theology (APT). This provides a backdrop to a consideration of the relationship between three distinct yet interrelated phenomena—church, nation, and state—and how they were understood as together constituting a polity. The second half situates APT in the context of how Anglicanism, from its origins, is in part a response to processes of modernization, particularly as these emerged in the Atlantic world from the fifteenth century onwards. It then outlines how key concerns of APT emphasize a way of imagining the role of church and nation within history, with providence as an important doctrinal point of reference. The essay closes with some critical reflections on how APT can and should develop going forward.