The influence of Christianity in Victorian England
The centrality of Christian observance
Outward signs of religion were more obvious in Hardy's time than today. Churches were built in the new industrial cities and about half the population attended regularly. In villages and older towns and cities, parishes continued to be centres of the life of the community, as they had been for centuries. Moreover, even those who were not Christians or did not hold traditional beliefs would have recognised the Christian origins of the moral and ethical standards of the day.
The language of church
Whether deeply religious or not, most Victorian authors would have been strongly influenced by the King James Version of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. Hearing readings and sermons week by week in church, they would have absorbed the language and rhythms of the Bible. Hardy himself started as a Christian believer but eventually became an agnostic. However, he still used the Bible, which he knew very well, as a source for references and allusions.
Area with its own church, served by a priest who has the spiritual care of all those living within it.
Name originally given to disciples of Jesus by outsiders and gradually adopted by the Early Church.
1. Devout, involved in religious practice
2. Member of a religious order, a monk or nun.
The translation of the Bible in English which was produced in 1611 by a group of scholars appointed by King James I. It is the origin of many common phrases and sayings in the English language.
The Christian Bible consists of the Old Testament scriptures inherited from Judaism, together with the New Testament, drawn from writings produced from c.40-125CE, which describe the life of Jesus and the establishment of the Christian church.
The book of prayers and church services first put together by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury in the time of King Edward VI (1547-53) for common (ie. general) use in English churches.
1. Term for a worshipping community of Christians.
2. The building in which Christians traditionally meet for worship.
3. The worldwide community of Christian believers.
A person who believes that nothing is known - or can be known - of the existence of God.
