The decline of the spirit

In celebration of the feast of Easter, we’ve dug out this profound leader from March 1975, which looks at the ever-evolving relationship of church and state. 

The Church, the State and the decline of the spirit, The Spectator, 29 March 1975


Spring is a time of rebirth; yet it is also the time of the death of Christ. It is the time when “Jesus knew that his hour would come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end” (John 13.i). In the Spring and Easter of 1975 there is much evidence of the death and of the departure of the spirit of Christ, but precious little evidence of rebirth or revival, whether in religious affairs or in the affairs of the state.

The affairs of the Church of England, despite the enthronement of a new Archbishop of Canterbury — one who gave some indication of being sounder in mind and doctrine than his predecessor — have deteriorated in the last year.