National church

A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing the question of church and state around 1828 wrote that "a National Church might exist, and has existed, without Christianity, because before the institution of the Christian Church – as [...] the Levitical Church in the Hebrew Constitution, [and] the Druidical in the Celtic, would suffice to prove".Samuel Taylor Coleridge. On the Constitution of the Church and State. Classic Books Company; 2001. . p. 59.

John Wordsworth, Bishop of Salisbury, wrote about the National Church of Sweden in 1911, interpreting the Church of Sweden and the Church of England as national churches of the Swedish and the English peoples, respectively.

The concept of a national church remains alive in the Protestantism of United Kingdom and Scandinavia in particular. While, in a context of England, the national church remains a common denominator for the Church of England, some of the Lutheran "folk churches" of Scandinavia, characterized as national churches in the ethnic sense as opposed to the idea of a state church, emerged in the second half of the 19th century following the lead of Grundtvig.Dag Thorkildsen, "Scandinavia: Lutheranism and national identity" in World Christianities, c. 1815–1914, vol. 8 of The Cambridge history of Christianity, eds. Sheridan Gilley, Brian Stanley, Cambridge University Press, 2006, , pp. 342–358. However, in countries in which the state church (also known as the established church) has the following of the majority of citizens, the state church may also be the national church, and may be declared as such by the government, e.g. Church of Denmark, Church of Greece, and Church of Iceland.

Countries and regions with national churches

Country National church Denomination Percentage Armenian Apostolic Church Oriental Orthodox 95.2% (2022) Bulgarian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 62.7% (2021) Church of Cyprus Eastern Orthodox 89.1% (2011; government-controlled territory) Church of Denmark Lutheran 74.3% (2020)Church membership 1990–2020 Kirkeministeriet Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Oriental Orthodox 43.5% (2007) Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church Oriental Orthodox Church of the Faroe Islands Lutheran 79.7% (2019) Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Orthodox Church of Finland Lutheran Eastern Orthodox 65.2% (2022) 1.02% (2022) Georgian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 83.4% (2014) Protestant Church in Germany Catholic Church Protestant Catholic 23.7% (2021) 26% (2021) Church of Greece Eastern Orthodox 90% (2017) Church of Iceland Lutheran 59% (2022) Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia Lutheran 34.2% (2011) Catholic Church"The Roman Catholic Church is the State Church and as such enjoys the full protection of the State; other confessions shall be entitled to practise their creeds and to hold religious services to the extent consistent with morality and public order." (archived from the original on 2009-03-26). Catholic 75.9% (2010)Catholic ChurchCatholic83% (2019) Serbian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 71.1% (2023) Macedonian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 64.4% (2011) Church of Norway Lutheran 69.91% (2018) Romanian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 81.9% (2011)Romania, The World Factbook Russian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 71% (2017)There is no official census of religion in Russia, and estimates are based on surveys only. In August 2012, ARENA determined that about 46.8% of Russians are Christians (including Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and non-denominational), which is slightly less than an absolute 50%+ majority. However, later that year the Levada Center determined that 76% of Russians are Christians, and in June 2013 the Public Opinion Foundation determined that 65% of Russians are Christians. These findings are in line with Pew's 2010 survey, which determined that 73.3% of Russians are Christians, with VTSIOM's 2010 survey (~77% Christian), and with Ipsos MORI 's 2011 survey (69%). Serbian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 84.59% (2011) Church of Sweden Lutheran 53.9% (2021) Church of Tuvalu Calvinist 91%+ (2012) Ukrainian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 52% (2021) British Protestant Churches Church of England Church of ScotlandProtestant Anglican Calvinist 69% 47.0% (2008; with Wales) 20.4% (2022)

Ethnic groups Country Group National church Denomination Copts Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Oriental OrthodoxGreek Christians Greek Orthodox Church of AlexandriaEastern Orthodox Assyrians Assyrian Church of the East Chaldean Catholic Church

Syriac Catholic Church

Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch Church of the East Eastern Catholic Oriental Orthodox Aramaeans Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch Oriental Orthodox Maronites Maronite Catholic Church Eastern Catholic Armenian Apostolic Church Holy See of Cilicia Oriental Orthodox -- Antiochian Greek Christians Greek Orthodox Church of AntiochDer Kaloustian, V. M. (2010). Genetic disorders in Lebanon. In Genetic disorders among Arab populations (pp. 377–441). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. Eastern Orthodox Levant- Antiochian Greek Christians Melkite Greek Catholic Church Eastern CatholicArmenian Apostolic Church Armenian Patriarchate of ConstantinopleOriental OrthodoxGreek Christians Ecumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleEastern Orthodox Malankara Nasrani Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Oriental OrthodoxSyrian Orthodox ChristianJacobite Syrian Christian ChurchOriental OrthodoxMalankara NasraniMar Thoma Syrian ChurchDonald Anderson McGavran. Ethnic Realities and the Church: Lessons from India . William Carey Library; 1979. . p. 41.S. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India . APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442.Anglican

SyriacBalineseSacred Heart of Jesus Church, PalasariCatholicBalineseHoly Trinity Church, TukaCatholicChinese IndonesiansSanta Maria de Fatima Church, ToasebioCatholicBetawi peopleSt. Servatius ChurchCatholicJavaneseGanjuran ChurchCatholicChinese IndonesiansGereja Kristen Kalam Kudus CalvinistDayak peopleEvangelical Church in KalimantanCalvinistMoluccansProtestant Church of MalukuCalvinistBalineseProtestant Christian Church in BaliCalvinistSundanesePasundan Christian ChurchCalvinistBugisSouth Sulawesi Christian ChurchCalvinistMinahasansChristian Evangelical Church in Minahasa CalvinistJavaneseMadurese East Java Christian ChurchCalvinistJavaneseJavanese Christian ChurchCalvinistTorajan Toraja ChurchCalvinistTorajanToraja Mamasa ChurchCalvinistKaro BatakKaro Batak Protestant ChurchKaro Batak Protestant Church.CalvinistKaro BatakKaro Evangelical Church of IndonesiaEvangelicalAngkola Batak Angkola Protestant Christian ChurchLutheranToba Batak Batak Christian Protestant Church LutheranToba BatakBatak Christian Community ChurchLutheranPakpak BatakPakpak Dairi Christian Protestant ChurchLutheranNiasansProtestant Christian Church of Niasonkp.wordpress.comLutheranSimalungun BatakSimalungun Protestant Christian ChurchLWF Statistics 2009 Lutheran

Criticism Karl Barth denounced as heretical the tendency of "nationalizing" the Christian God, especially in the context of national churches sanctioning warfare against other Christian nations during World War I.Barth, Ethnics, ed. Braun, transl. Bromiley, New York, 1981, p. 305.

National church

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