National Apostasy Considered in a Sermon Preached in St. Mary's Church, Oxford Before His Majesty's Judges of Assize on Sunday July 14th 1833

In this stirring early‑19th‑century sermon, a learned Oxford professor confronts the unsettling alliance between Parliament and the Church of England. He frames the recent legislative acts as a crisis of “national apostasy,” arguing that the state’s encroachment threatens the very spiritual authority that believers have long trusted. Drawing on biblical precedent and the weight of history, he asks how faithful Christians might preserve their communion with a church now forced to bow to secular law.

The address weaves scholarly exegesis with urgent pastoral concern, inviting listeners to consider the delicate balance between civic order and divine fidelity. Its eloquent appeal to Scripture and reason makes the work a vivid snapshot of a pivotal moment when religious identity and national politics collided, offering modern readers insight into the enduring tension between church autonomy and governmental power.