Christianity and Democracy: Friend and Foe

The stories told about the relationship between Christianity and democracy usually fall into one of two well-worn types.

The first is the claim that all our democratic freedoms are owed to Christianity, in general, and Protestant Christianity specifically. This argument is both sociological and historical. It invites us to look at those nations with the longest standing traditions of democratic freedom; then to look at those with little or no tradition of democratic freedoms; and then to look at those which have made the tradition between the two. This argument then invites us to trace the common and unifying themes.

The stories told about the relationship between Christianity and democracy usually fall into one of two well-worn types. The first is the claim that all our democratic freedoms are owed to Christianity, in general, and Protestant Christianity specifically. This argument is both sociological and historical. It invites us to look at those nations with the longest standing traditions of democratic freedom; then to look at those with little or no tradition of democratic freedoms; and then to look at those which have made the tradition between the two. This argument then invites us to trace the common and unifying themes.