Tag Archives: Tony Blair

When world leaders pray (part II): Charlemagne through Elizabeth I

Posted on February 3, 2010 | 2 comments

To be clear, the events that triggered this pair of posted articles, and the articles themselves, emerged back in 2003. But the shelf-life of the historical material in these posts is, hopefully, still not exceeded:

When World Leaders Pray, Part II
Tony Blair’s spin-doctors worried when he recently “outed” himself as a Christian. But what impact has Christianity really had on our leaders?
Chris Armstrong

Several weeks ago, British Prime Minister Tony Blair stated he would be judged on the Iraq war by “my Maker.” This gave some of his closest advisors fits. But the record shows that some of the West’s greatest leaders have been praying people—and that this has not necessarily been a bad thing.

In the last post, we looked at the Roman emperors Constantine, Theodosius I, and Justinian I. This week, we jump forward in time to three pious European leaders: the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, the French King Louis IX, and England’s Elizabeth I. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

When world leaders pray (part I): the record of Constantine and a couple of other “Christian Roman Emperors”

Posted on February 2, 2010 | 5 comments

My students and I have been talking a lot lately about the role of secular leaders vis-a-vis the church–especially the early church. A while back some words of British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched me into some research and reflections on this same topic–and a brief survey of the records of emperors Constantine, Theodosius I, and Justinian I. The results follow:

(Then, not content with putting together one article on this, I went on to look at some later leaders–so this post will be followed by a “part II“):

When World Leaders Pray
Some observers are upset with Tony Blair’s recent public avowal of faith. But what impact has Christianity really had on our leaders?
Chris Armstrong

“Humility, conscience, and responsibility.” These are the traits London Times writer Michael Gove believes political leaders learn when they submit themselves to God.

Gove made this statement last week after Tony Blair publicly stated that he would be judged on the Iraq war by “my Maker.” Blair’s closest advisors flinched—believing such an admission of faith by a Prime Minister “plays badly.” These are the same advisors who insisted the PM not end his Iraq war broadcast with “God bless you,” because “people don’t want chaplains pushing stuff down their throats.”

Sadly, the British spin-doctors are probably right to worry. After all, ever since the European public found out about the Bible study classes being held at the White House, many have been convinced Bush is “a fundamentalist crazy.” “To listen to the European reaction,” says Gove, “one might have thought they were bringing back witch trials in Massachusetts.” Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,