Religious thought of Edmund Burke

[3] He linked the conservation of a state religion with the preservation of citizens’ constitutional liberties and highlighted Christianity’s benefits not only to the believer’s soul but also to political arrangements.

[18] A religion connected with the state was essential to making people realize that "they are to account for their conduct [...] to the one great Master, Author and Founder of society".

[18] Although Burke was a forceful defender of the Church of England, his view that a revealed religion was indispensable to a society’s progress was not limited to Christianity.

[23] He argued that because the Church was "built up with the strong and stable matter of the gospel of liberty", it had nothing to fear from allowing other Christian groups to worship as they wished.

Burke asserted that the Church of England’s "security of her own doctrines" made it possible to establish legal acceptance for Protestants and Catholics.

[24] Burke advocated allowing English dissenters to practice Christianity the way they saw fit, but he briskly opposed efforts to subvert church authorities.

[25] Burke’s criticisms of the French Revolution reiterated his longstanding view that revealed religion is an integral part of a civilized society.

[26] As the Revolution turned more radical and entered its international phrase, Burke thought of it "as no mere exercise in extending French rule, but instead as a crusade to destroy Christianity in Europe".

[11] For Burke, the French Revolution was a vivid example of the catastrophic consequences of deism which he had ridiculed in A Vindication of Natural Society more than thirty years before.

According to Burke, only institutional churches can effectively uphold these sublime principles and enable the fulfillment of man's obligations both to his neighbors and to God.