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On being the Patient People of God

Martin Davie


In this study I look at the key issue of freedom of religion from a theological, historical and pastoral perspective. I first demonstrate that contrary to the widely held idea that belief in freedom of religion only emerged at the time of the European Enlightenment in the eighteenth century, its origin in fact lies in the teaching of the Bible and in the witness to this teaching borne by an unbroken line of Christian thinkers from the time of the Early Church Fathers Tertullian and Lactantius onwards.


I then show that the Christian belief in freedom of religion has come to be enshrined in international and national law since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, but also that freedom of religion is under attack in today’s world, even in liberal Western democracies in which Christians have now often come to be seen as the ‘bad guys’ because of their opposition to the modern culture of personal and sexual autonomy.


Finally, I explain that in the face of this situation Christians are called to build on the example provided by the Christians of the Early Church by making use the  freedom given to them by God to live lives of patient holiness, involving obedience to God’s will as summarised in the Ten Commandments, and the teaching of the Christian faith to their children and to new Christians, in the belief that God will use their faithful witness to further his good purposes in the world. I also explain that conscientious objection to engaging in forms of behaviour contrary to God’s will is an integral part of his faithful witness. 


I hope that this book will be a helpful resource for all Christians wanting to better understand the origin and nature of freedom of religion and what it should mean in practice for Christian believers today.


To pre-order or purchase the book from Gilead publishing click here. This title will also be available on our website and other booksellers from 1 Feb.

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Martin Davie is a Latimer Trust Research Fellow. He teaches at Wycliffe Hall and is the author of various books, some of them can be found here. He writes regularly on his blog Reflections of an Anglican Theologian.

Views expressed in blogs published by the Latimer Trust are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Latimer Trust. 

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