{"id":38073,"date":"2024-09-03T06:00:08","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T13:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38073"},"modified":"2024-09-01T13:55:05","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T20:55:05","slug":"pov-eyewitness-to-coronation-of-king-charles-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/pov-eyewitness-to-coronation-of-king-charles-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"POV: Eyewitness to Coronation of King Charles III"},"content":{"rendered":"

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King Charles III’s coronation took place on May 6, 2023, at Westminster Abbey in London. The ceremony was rich in tradition and deeply rooted in the bible. Central to the service was the anointing with holy oil, symbolising divine approval and consecration, echoing the anointing of kings in the Bible, such as King Solomon. The monarch was presented with the Bible (I am holding the actual Bible above), regarded as the “rule for the whole life and government of Christian princes,” highlighting the spiritual and moral responsibilities of the sovereign. The coronation emphasised the intertwining of faith and monarchy, underscoring the sacred duty of the king. I was there.<\/p>\n

At Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s funeral, I sat centre circle, 10ft from the new King and Queen and 10 ft from the Queen’s coffin. The passing of our late Queen brought great sorrow to many, and, as many would expect, the funeral service in a church was filled with the Bible, hope for eternity and, of course, the triumph over death by Jesus Christ. This, of course, was to be expected; after all, it was a funeral, it was in a church (Westminster Abbey), the Queen was the head of the Church of England, and she had publicly professed a personal faith in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

The King\u2019s Coronation, however, created a ripple effect of intrigue and, at times, outrage by critics of Christianity. \u201cWhy was it so Christian?\u201d T S Elliot\u2019s quote supports the raising of eyebrows surrounding the Christian content at the King’s Coronation, \u201cto identify any particular form of government with Christianity is a dangerous error for it confounds the permanent with the transitory, the absolute with the contingent.\u201d[1]<\/a> Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of the Coronation was that our then Hindu Prime Minister read an extract from Colossians 1:12-17 which is one of the most Christological passages in the Bible. Watching first-hand the very Christian Coronation with attendance from our Hindu PM, Muslim Mayor of London and First Minister of Scotland, and atheist Opposition leader (Keir Starmer, now PM of Great Britain) was indeed an experience. While I expected them to play roles like characters in a movie (after all, we are a \u201cChristian Country\u201d), I, along with many, was intrigued. At times, I was emotional with the amazing proclamation of Christ during that service. But how do we correlate the dichotomy of what happened at the Coronation, political influence, the church and the way society is currently heading?<\/p>\n

Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em>[2]<\/a> by N.T. Wright and Michael F. Bird provide an exploration into how Christians should\/could engage with power. Wright principally argues that Jesus’ teaching and example provide a framework for understanding how Christians should navigate this dichotomy. The framework for understanding the King\u2019s Coronation and Christianity, Politics, Monarchy and power may be divided into two facets.<\/p>\n

Firstly, and controversially, the book emphasises that Jesus\u2019 mission was inherently political (see Chapter 1), as it challenged the prevailing powers of the time, both Roman imperial authority and the Jewish leaders who collaborated with it. In essence, the Kingdom of God is not about withdrawing from political engagement but about engaging in a way that reflects the values of God’s justice, peace, and mercy. Christians, therefore, are called to embody these values in all spheres of life, including politics, without becoming subservient to or indistinguishable from worldly powers.[3]<\/a> \u00a0Christians should be involved in government and society, influencing it according to Kingdom principles, but they must remain distinct from the corrupting influence of power.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the book does not argue for total separation from state power but rather for a transformed engagement. Christians are to participate in politics, advocating for justice and the common good, but they must do so in a way that resists the idolatrous tendencies of state power\u2014such as the pursuit of domination, violence, and self-interest. This means working within the system while also challenging it when it contradicts the values of the Kingdom of God. Wright and Bird state, \u201cThe people who change history must make history,\u201d[4]<\/a> furthering, and probably alluding to the musical Hamilton, \u201cYou need to be in the room where it happens.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Many other theologians and scholars have similarly expressed views that align with Wright\u2019s understanding of the power dichotomy and the church.<\/p>\n

In the book Resident Aliens,<\/em>[6]<\/a> Hauerwas and Willimon argue that the church is called to be a \u201ccolony of heaven\u201d[7]<\/a> on earth, embodying an alternative to the politics of the world. Hauerwas agrees with Wright that Christians must be politically engaged but insists that their primary allegiance is to the Kingdom of God, which often puts them at odds with the state. Similarly, Richard Mouw, in his book Politics and the Biblical Drama<\/em>,[8]<\/a> explores the role of Christians in political life, arguing that they should be actively involved in governance while maintaining a prophetic distance. Like Wright, Mouw believes that Christians can participate in politics without compromising their distinct identity as followers of Christ.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0The Desire of the Nations<\/em>,[9]<\/a> Oliver O’Donovan provides a theological account of political authority, suggesting that Christian political involvement is legitimate and necessary and, in agreement with Wright, should be guided by the gospel’s vision of justice and peace.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was in tears at what occurred at the very beginning of the Coronation. A young boy representing the children of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries received the King and Queen after they had proceeded down the na\u00efve of the Abbey. In front of Billions watching on TV, and a tearful me, standing just feet from this moment, the boy said, “Your Majesty, as children of the kingdom of God, we welcome you in the name of the King of Kings.” King Charles III responded with gratitude and acknowledged the importance of the moment by saying, “In His name, and after His example, I come not to be served but to serve.” Perhaps in this we see the answer to all and any challenges with Jesus, Power and the Church?<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Elliott, T.S. 1939. The idea of Christian society<\/em>. London, Faber and Faber. 57<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Wright, N.T., and Bird, M.F. 2024. Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em>. London: SPCK.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, 78.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid, 37.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Hauerwas, Stanley, and Will Willimon. 1989. \u00a0Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony<\/em>. Abingdon Press.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid, 11.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Mouw, Richard J. 1976. \u00a0Politics and the Biblical Drama<\/em>. Eerdmans.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> O’Donovan, Oliver. 1999. The Desire of the Nations: Rediscovering the Roots of Political Theology<\/em>. Cambridge University Press.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

King Charles III’s coronation took place on May 6, 2023, at Westminster Abbey in London. The ceremony was rich in tradition and deeply rooted in the bible. Central to the service was the anointing with holy oil, symbolising divine approval and consecration, echoing the anointing of kings in the Bible, such as King Solomon. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3245,3191,3244,2967,758],"class_list":["post-38073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-coronation","tag-powers","tag-wrightbird","tag-dlgp03","tag-politics","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38073"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38075,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38073\/revisions\/38075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}