Is Christianity Outlawed in the UK?

By Mark Swarbrick

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Is Christianity outlawed in the United Kingdom? That is not a rhetorical question. It is the unavoidable question raised by recent events, government actions, police arrests, and the steady criminalization of biblical teaching. This article examines whether the free practice of Christianity still exists in Britain, and whether the rights once cherished under the Magna Carta have now been replaced with state-approved speech and government-defined morality. Once we take an honest look, the conclusion becomes difficult to avoid.

The Disappearing Freedom to Speak

Estimates from UK police data and press analysis indicate that roughly 10,000–13,000 people per year are now being arrested in the UK for “speech” or “communications” offenses (online posts, messages, etc.), which works out to about 30–35 arrests per day. There was a time when the United Kingdom stood as a pillar of liberty, a nation where the right to speak freely was considered a birthright, not a privilege. Today, that same nation is arresting citizens for words, policing sermons, and treating basic biblical teaching as a criminal threat. The land that once exported missionaries now exports speech codes. Britain, the birthplace of the Magna Carta, is rapidly becoming a place where the free practice of Christianity is no longer tolerated. This is not an exaggeration — it is the new reality.

Christianity Cannot Be Practiced Without the Freedom to Preach Repentance

Christ commanded His followers to evangelize. Evangelism is not merely “sharing faith”; it includes calling sinners to repentance. And repentance requires defining sin exactly as Scripture defines it.

The New Testament repeatedly condemns various forms of sexual sin. Paul names them openly. Jesus affirmed the moral law. Preaching the Gospel has always included calling people away from sin and toward salvation through Christ.

Yet in the UK, if a preacher speaks publicly against homosexuality or transgenderism, even by directly reading what the Bible says, he risks investigation or arrest. For example, passages such as Genesis 19; Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; 1 Timothy 1:9–10; and Jude 7 are effectively outlawed from being preached from the pulpit in the UK, including plain New Testament statements like “Men committed shameful acts with other men” (Romans 1:27) and “homosexuals… will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9–10).

Street preachers have been handcuffed for quoting Scripture. Citizens have been detained for silent prayer. Pastors are warned that if they speak biblically about LGBT issues, even within their own churches, it may be treated as a hate incident under UK law — a law that allows preachers to be arrested, handcuffed, and taken to jail for such statements. The government in the UK has placed itself above the Bible. When government declares that biblical preaching is forbidden speech, the free practice of Christianity no longer exists.

The New Testament also teaches that preaching the Gospel includes confronting false doctrines and false religions. Paul described ministry as “destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Jesus Himself declared, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Christians therefore proclaim that Christ is the only way to God, and pastors often point out that Muhammad and Buddha remain in their graves, while Jesus Christ alone rose from the dead and offers salvation. Yet in the UK, such statements can be treated as “hate crimes.” A pastor who publicly contrasts Christianity with other religions, or affirms that Jesus is the sole path to salvation, risks being investigated — and could be arrested and hauled from the pulpit in handcuffs simply for preaching what the New Testament commands.

One of the most alarming shifts in the UK is the quiet erosion of the ancient right to be judged by a jury of one’s peers. Trial by jury — a cornerstone of British jurisprudence since the Magna Carta — is now being restricted, narrowed, or replaced by judge-only proceedings in more and more categories of cases. What was once considered the primary safeguard against government abuse is steadily disappearing. When citizens are no longer guaranteed the judgment of their peers, but instead stand before the state alone, the balance of power tilts decisively toward government control and away from individual liberty. This is a profound departure from the legal heritage Britain once gave to the world.

For a Christian charged with “hate speech,” the erosion of jury trials carries grave implications. A jury of ordinary citizens might be far more likely to recognize that quoting Scripture is not a crime, but a judge operating within the government’s ideological framework may not be so sympathetic. If jury trials continue to shrink while speech laws expand, a pastor accused of “offensive” biblical preaching could find himself standing before the state alone, without the protection of peers who share a basic understanding of religious liberty. This shift makes it far easier for the government to secure convictions against Christians whose only “offense” is preaching the Bible.

For centuries, the UK openly identified itself as a Christian nation, shaping its laws, culture, and moral life around biblical principles. That heritage has now been largely abandoned. Today, the UK presents itself as a neutral, secular nation, yet in reality it has created a double standard: Christianity can be openly criticized and restricted, while Islam is treated as a protected religion that no one dares to confront in the same way.

It’s Not Just Britain

This pattern is spreading across Europe:

• Norway has prosecuted believers for quoting Scripture online.
• Finland put a member of Parliament on trial for sharing Bible verses on sexuality.
• Germany enforces sweeping hate-speech laws that make public biblical preaching risky.
• France and Belgium impose regulations where biblical moral teaching can be punished if it contradicts state ideology.

Europe is rapidly becoming a continent where historic Christianity — the Christianity of the New Testament — is treated not as a protected faith but as a potential crime. There was a time when the West as a whole — Europe, the UK, and the United States — stood together on freedom of speech and freedom of religion. We shared a common conviction that the state must not police opinions, sermons, or conscience. But that unity is gone.

In his 2025 address at the Munich Security Conference, U.S. Vice President J. D. Vance warned that “the threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia… it’s the threat from within,” describing it as “the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.”

He singled out Britain and the continent, saying, “In Britain, and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat,” and warned that the “backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs.”

In effect, Vance was warning that the old transatlantic partnership is splitting into divergent paths, and that America and Europe must now ask whether they still share the same values they once held in common. It was meant to be a wakeup call for Europe and the UK. Unfortunately, the Vice President’s well-intended warning was met with derision, and his call for Europe and the UK to reexamine their values fell on deaf ears.

The Prophetic Shadow Over Europe

The Bible predicts that shortly before the rise of the Antichrist, a great falling away will sweep across the world. Paul wrote, “That day will not come until the rebellion occurs” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). This “rebellion” refers to a widespread rejection of God’s laws — a moral and spiritual revolt against everything Scripture teaches. And that is exactly what we are witnessing now across the UK and Europe. Nations that once professed Christianity are criminalizing biblical morality, punishing those who call sinners to repentance, and elevating state ideology above the Word of God. The accelerating hostility toward Christianity across Europe is not random; it is precisely the kind of rebellion Scripture said would mark the last days. Prophecy teaches that in the last days, the Antichrist will rise from a European confederation — a coalition of ten nations united under his authority (Daniel 7; Revelation 17).

For such a figure to dominate Europe, the continent must first:

• Abandon biblical morality
• Suppress Christian evangelism
• Embrace government-controlled morality
• Normalize antisemitism and sexual sins
• Disallow any critique of competing religions

And we are seeing every one of those elements forming right now. Hostility toward Christian preaching.  Criminalizing moral teaching. Critique of Islam forbidden. Government power expanding over thought and speech, and with the rise of Islam, antisemitism is now sweeping across the UK and Europe at levels not seen in generations.These trends resemble the very conditions Scripture describes as precursors to the Tribulation. The ground is being prepared.

The Warning for America

What is happening in Europe is not only alarming — it is instructive.

The United States faces the same danger, especially if Democrats regain full control of the government. Their push for “hate speech” laws, censorship boards, and restrictions on biblical moral teaching mirrors the European trajectory. If the government can decide which words are allowed, it will eventually decide which beliefs are allowed. And once that line is crossed, Christianity becomes a state-managed religion rather than the free proclamation of God’s truth.

If America wants to remain free, it must reject the European model completely. Biblical preaching must never be criminalized. Scripture must never be placed under state supervision. Christians must remain vigilant, vocal, and courageous.

Freedom Comes From God — Not Government

True freedom does not come from Parliament, Congress, or any earthly authority. Freedom comes from God. Governments merely protect — or destroy — what God has given.

When a nation forbids Christians to call sin what the Bible calls sin, that nation has entered open rebellion against God. Britain has taken that path. Much of Europe has joined it. And America could easily follow unless believers refuse to be silent.

If the West wants a future that is free — not a future darkened by the shadow of the Antichrist — Christians must speak while speaking is still allowed.



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