Is Scottish Independence a theological matter?

Here and there, now and then, I have raised concerns that within my own Church grouping (convictional community) both at a national (Baptist Union of Scotland) and at a local Church level the subject of Scottish Independence is being given little attention in our theological deliberations.

Generally I have found responses to this cool if not frosty.

Why So?

For some it seems to be because it is potentially a divisive issue.

For some it is because it is to do specifically with politics.

For some it is because the Bible says nothing explicitly about the issue even though it may be conceded that general matters of governance and nationhood are prevalent throughout the Scriptures.

For some it is the combination of the above: why discuss something of secondary importance to the Scriptures when it is likely to be divisive and we won’t have anything specific to say on it anyway?

 I hear the objections. On the one hand I am not convinced that any of them stand in their own right and on the other hand we do not apply the above censuring restrictions to other topics.

Furthermore these objections do not address the question of whether Scottish Independence is a theological issue.

According to baptist theologian James Wm McLendon Jr. theology is:

the discovery, understanding or interpretation, and transformation of the convictions of a convictional community, including the discovery and critical revision of their relation to one another and to whatever else there is.

This definition requires its own detailed exposition and I will return to it in other posts. For the purpose of this post, however, I am simply interested in the ‘whatever else there is’.

This phrase reminds us at least that theology and theological thinking does not take place in a vacuum but is constantly contextual.

Part of theological thinking in a Scottish context is Scottish Nationalism and a future vote which will take place on whether Scotland for purposes of democratic governance should become an independent country. Indeed as I was reminded recently while attending a conference (down South) the Scottish question is a British question because an independent Scotland will indeed change the complexion of what we know as Britain.

If for no other reason the matter of Scottish Independence and the surrounding debates is a theological issue because it is a ‘whatever else there is’ and a pretty significant one at that.

Comments

[Rob]

I think Scottish Independence is a theological issue but more in how it is affected by McClendon's, '...critical revision of their relations to one another' understanding of theology. In this sense I believe the issue isn't so much about how it will affect Christian unity within the Scottish context; which I think will be remarkably unaffected by Independence. I believe the effect will be felt more in our British context. The effect of Independence, I believe, will be felt more on issues that, until Independence, have been taken for granted, that, I think, may surprise some of us. I think the major effect of Independence will be felt in what we haven't anticipated, or planned for. 1 Kings demonstrates that once a nation divides, the rift widens with age, causing God's people, that were once united under one cause (God), to become enemies on political, economic and social levels.

I think our Christian unity that we enjoy with England, Ireland and Wales could come under pressure if we are at odds on political, economic or social grounds.

Much of what occurred as the old Yugoslavia disaggregated shocked and surprised the whole of Europe; latent hatred disguised as social cleansing, government corruption disguised as patriotism.

So I would say that Independence is a theological issue that we need to be prayerfully reflecting and thoughtfully discussing on the grounds that it may impact our life experience as Christians in Scotland. The 'auld enemy' become an 'new enemy'! In our living memory we have never been independent before, so can't possibly anticipate the future, we can only imagine! I pray we do that theologically.

[May]

Rob's argument that because a nation, in this case, Scotland, might choose a path which it believes will better provide for its people and allow it to be in control of its own affairs, will somehow kick itself out of the family of God is just so foolish. Has Rob ever travelled abroad? Has he joined to worship with other Christians and found himself immediately drawn into the church there, simply because we love and follow the same Lord Jesus. Regardless of who governs our lands, Scottish and English Christians will always be part of the same family, as with Christians worldwide.