Table Of ContentGod and the EU
The current political, economic, and financial crises facing the EU reveal a deeper cultural,
indeed spiritual, malaise – a crisis in ‘the soul of Europe’. Many observers are concluding that
the EU cannot be restored to health without a new appreciation of the contribution of religion
to its past and future, and especially that of its hugely important but widely neglected Christian
heritage, which is alive today even amidst advancing European secularization.
God and the EU offers a fresh, constructive, and critical understanding of Christian
contributions to the origin and development of the EU from a variety of theological, national,
and political perspectives. It explains the Christian origins of the EU; documents the various
ways in which it has been both affirmed and critiqued from diverse theological perspectives;
offers expert, theologically informed assessments of four illustrative policy areas of the EU
(religion, finance, environment, science); and also reports on the place of religion in the EU,
including how religious freedom is framed and how contemporary religious actors relate to EU
institutions and vice versa.
This book fills a major gap in the current debate about the future of the European project and
will be of interest to students and scholars of religion, politics, and European studies.
Jonathan Chaplin is Director of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, Cambridge and
member of the Divinity faculty, Cambridge University, UK.
Gary Wilton is Programme Director of Faith and International Affairs, Wilton Park-Executive
Agency of FCO, and former Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the European
Union.
Routledge Studies in Religion and Politics
This series aims to publish high quality works on the topic of the resurgence of political forms
of religion in both national and international contexts. This trend has been especially
noticeable in the post-cold war era (that is, since the late 1980s). It has affected all the ‘world
religions’ (including, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism) in various parts
of the world (such as, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, South and
Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa).
The series welcomes books that use a variety of approaches to the subject, drawing on
scholarship from political science, international relations, security studies, and contemporary
history.
Books in the series explore these religions, regions and topics both within and beyond the
conventional domain of ‘church-state’ relations to include the impact of religion on politics,
conflict and development, including the late Samuel Huntington’s controversial – yet influential
– thesis about ‘clashing civilisations’.
In sum, the overall purpose of the book series is to provide a comprehensive survey of what
is currently happening in relation to the interaction of religion and politics, both domestically
and internationally, in relation to a variety of issues.
Politics and the Religious Imagination
Edited by John Dyck, Paul Rowe and Jens Zimmermann
Christianity and Party Politics
Keeping the faith
Martin H. M. Steven
Religion, Politics and International Relations
Selected essays
Jeffrey Haynes
Religion and Democracy
A worldwide comparison
Carsten Anckar
Religious Actors in the Public Sphere
Means, objects and effects
Edited by Jeffrey Haynes and Anja Hennig
Politics and Religion in the United Kingdom
Steve Bruce
Politics, Religion and Gender
Framing and regulating the veil
Edited by Sigelinde Rosenberger and Birgit Sauer
Representing Religion in the European Union
Does God matter?
Edited by Lucian N. Leustean
An Introduction to Religion and Politics
Theory and practice
Jonathan Fox
Religion in International Relations Theory
Concepts, tools, debates
Johnathan Fox and Nukhet Sandal
Religion in the Context of Globalization
Essays on concept, form, and political implication
Peter Beyer
Religion and the Realist Tradition
From political theology to International Relations theory and back
Jodok Troy
Cosmopolitanism, Religion and the Public Sphere
Maria Rovisco and Sebastian Kim
Religion, Identity and Human Security
Giorgio Shani
Christians and the Middle East Conflict
Edited by John Rowe, John Dyck and Jens Zimmerman
Conservative Religious Politics in Russia and the United States
Dreaming of a Christian nation
John Anderson
European Culture Wars and the Italian Case
Which side are you on?
Luca Ozzano and Alberta Giorgi
God and the EU
Faith in the European project
Jonathan Chaplin and Gary Wilton
Religious NGOs in International Relations
The construction of ‘the religious’ and ‘the secular’
Karsten Lehmann
God and the EU
Faith in the European project
Edited by
Jonathan Chaplin and Gary Wilton
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 selection and editorial material, Jonathan Chaplin and Gary Wilton; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Jonathan Chaplin and Gary Wilton to be identified as author of the editorial material, and of the individual authors as
authors of their contributions, has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Chaplin, Jonathan, editor.
Title: God and the EU : faith in the European project / edited by Jonathan
Chaplin and Gary Wilton.
Other titles: God and the European Union
Description: 1 [edition]. | New York : Routledge, 2015. | Series: Routledge studies in religion and politics | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015028350|
Subjects: LCSH: Christianity–European Union countries.
Classification: LCC BR735 .G63 2015 | DDC 322/.1094–dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015028350
ISBN: 978-1-138-90863-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-69431-3 (ebk)
Contents
List of tables
Acknowledgments
List of contributors
Preface by Rowan Williams
Introduction
JONATHAN CHAPLIN AND GARY WILTON
PART 1
The EU: Christian inspirations, past and present
1 Christianity at the founding: the legacy of Robert Schuman
GARY WILTON
2 European integration: a Catholic perspective
JOHN LOUGHLIN
3 The EU: Protestant contributions, then and now
SANDER LUITWIELER
4 New worlds and new churches: the Orthodox Church(es) and the European Union
PETER PETKOFF
5 The German social market economy: its theological justification and role in European
integration
WERNER LACHMANN
6 Market-state or commonwealth?: Europe’s Christian heritage and the future of the
European polity
ADRIAN PABST
7 European Union, identity, and place
JOSHUA HORDERN
PART 2
Religion and the policies of the EU
8 European religious freedom and the EU
THOMAS SCHIRRMACHER AND JONATHAN CHAPLIN
9 The representation of religion in the European Union
LUCIAN N. LEUSTEAN
10 God and the Constitution
GUY MILTON
11 Christian economic ethics and the euro: which way to go?
JOHAN GRAAFLAND
12 The greening of the EU? A Christian assessment of the EU’s environmental policies for
biodiversity and nature
JANICE WEATHERLEY-SINGH, TIAGO BRANCO AND MARCIAL FELGUEIRAS
13 A soul for European science: exploring the new renaissance in the European Research
Area
DIANA JANE BEECH
14 Conclusion: Christianity and the ‘souls’ of Europe
JONATHAN CHAPLIN
Index
List of tables
11.1 Economic developments within the eurozone
11.2 OCA criteria for a common currency union
11.3 Development unemployment rate: January 2010 – January 2014 (in per cent)
