Brian Kaylor, Ph.D., is an award-winning author with four books on religion and politics. He also serves as editor & president of Word&Way, and associate director of Churchnet. Learn more at BrianKaylor.com.

Posts By This Author

A Hindu Prime Minister Walks Into a Constitutional Christian Monarchy

by Brian Kaylor, by Beau Underwood 11-16-2022
And other problems when church and state aren't separate.
A black-and-white illustration of crowns, swords, and globus cruciger laid out on a table.

19th-century engraving of the British crown jewels / Queen Victoria: Her Life and Reign / Cannasue / iStock

RISHI SUNAK'S ASCENSION in October as British prime minister sparked celebration among some as he became the United Kingdom’s first nonwhite and non-Christian leader. Yet, this evolution comes with some awkwardness. The Church of England is an “established” church in which both monarchy and government play official roles. Sunak’s religious identity remains irrelevant for leading Parliament, but his status as a practicing Hindu would seem to impinge on his ability to discern which Anglican priests are best suited for leadership roles within the church hierarchy.

Raising this concern is not an argument that all prime ministers must be Christian — the U.K. rightly has no religious test for the role, as Sunak’s elevation demonstrates. But his ascension reveals a problem with not fully separating church and state. The Church of England now finds itself with a non-Christian in the ecclesial hierarchy. The roles of the monarch and prime minister in church affairs are in modern times more ceremonial than substantive, but Sunak reveals the problem with the entanglement both in principle and in practice.

Impeaching King Herod

by Brian Kaylor 12-05-2019

Mysterious people with political connections arrived from a country off in the East. They brought news the ruler did not like. There was a new claim to the throne. An effort was underway to remove him and install another ruler. King Herod wanted to dismiss the claims as “fake news” and a “hoax” — not because the intelligence report was inaccurate, but simply because he didn’t like the news. These Magi, after all, had done their research.

Religious Worship Is Political

by Brian Kaylor 02-24-2016

Image via /Shutterstock.com

Catholic candidates are mistakenly seeking to put politics and economics on one side and religion on the other. Such a dividing point misses the point of their faith. Catholic Mass — and worship services of other Christians — remains grounded in politics. Religious worship is political. The religious and political cannot be separated. To reject the politics or economics of Jesus would be to reject the spiritual teachings of Jesus.