A new religion for the English?

Christianity is the traditional religion of the English. Some believe our national problems are caused simply by our abandonment of this religion, and could be solved if we took it up again.

However others question whether there is something inherent in Christianity which makes it fall short of what we might expect of an ideal religion.

They might complain:

• Christianity sees its foundations in the experiences of a tribe in the ancient middle-east which don't seem to relate to the other cultural and ethnic roots of the English and European peoples.
• Christianity tells a story which many find impossible to marry with their sense of reason.
• As Nietzsche argued Christianity seems to be naturally antagonistic to the spirit of self-assertion which is an essential aspect of life.

To reform English and European religion we have been looking at religious traditions other than Christianity to see if they can be of use to us. We have found two traditions of especial interest - these are the Zoroastrian and Germanic pagan traditions.

With this help we have come up with two possible ways forward for English people. These are Zorochristian Mithraism and Tiewism.

Zorochristian Mithraism

Zorochristian Mithraism is an offshoot of the traditional Zoroastrian religion. We believe that Zoroaster was the true founder of Christianity as he was the first to describe the activity of the world in terms of a battle between Good and Evil. Zorochristians recognize a Holy Trinity similar to the Abramochristian one, and three 'High Saints': Zoroaster, Jesus and St.George. The senior Archangel is Mithras, the Angel of Good Social Order and imagined as the Heavenly Father. His servant angel is Tiew, the Ward Angel of the Saxon English. Zorochristians consider that Yahweh is a tribal deity of the Jews and not a universal god that we should worship. By contrast Mithras is concerned for all peoples. Zorochristianity is aimed at people who have sympathy with Christianity but are looking for something with a more overtly rational foundation which is also culturally rooted in their own Irano-European culture. Zorochristians will be interested in the Bible and the teachings of the church fathers and the Christian culture of Europe. However we don't see the origin of our religion in the Bible, but rather in the teachings of Zoroaster, who has a role somewhere between Abraham and John the Baptist for us.

Tiewism

Tiewism marries aspects of the pre-Christian religion of the Anglo-Saxons and Germanic peoples ('Odinism' in shorthand) with themes from the Zoroastrian tradition. Tiewists venerate a family of seven divine beings as a starting point to making sense of the world. These include Tiew and Frigga who are regarded as the Heavenly Father and Mother. Their three divine children represent three basic ways that humans can orientate themselves in the world. Their names are Athel the Noble, Balder the Servant and Loki the Lawless. Athel lives according to Heathen noble values, Balder according to Christian values and Loki according to purely self-serving values. Tiewists look up to Athel and Balder as models of good behaviour, generally picking one or the other to concentrate on. Loki the Lawless is not usually to be emulated, but his presence must be acknowledged.

Anglochristianity

Anglochristianity is not a full religion by itself, but a movement for a revival of good values and morality among the English under the patronage of Saint Alfred the Great. Anglochristians are concerned for the good government and society of England as a whole. Anglochristians will normally have an interest in at least one of Tiewism, Mithraism or traditional Christianity.

This project for a new religion is still at an early stage and much work is still to be done, but we hope that the work done so far will provide a helpful foundation for the future.

Osred Alfredson - July 2025