--- title: What kind of thing is a nation? date: 2026-06-11T14:50:00+01:00 author: Laura Morton canonical_url: "https://cuf.org.uk/about-us/news/what-is-a-nation" section: News --- --- # What kind of thing is a nation? How we should understand the nation? Revd Prof Luke Bretherton explores the idea, both a source of good and a product of human imperfection --- - News - 11 Jun 2026 --- ![Three young people in an audience, chatting and laughing. Vicar in background among crowd](https://cuf.org.uk/assets/images/_1008x567_crop_center-center_82_none/WJ-030325-21-Large.jpg?v=1787050743) How we should understand the nation — not as a fixed ethnic identity, a marketplace of competing interests, or a collection of individuals bound only by laws, but as a shared community shaped through relationships, responsibility, and common purpose. Drawing on the thought of St Augustine, [The Revd Professor Luke Bretherton](https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/people/revd-professor-luke-bretherton), Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology Christ Church, Oxford University, explores the idea of nation, both a source of good and a product of human imperfection. Nations provide peace, order, institutions, and a framework for common life, yet they are also marked by histories of injustice, exclusion, and sacrifice. As a result, neither narratives of national glory nor narratives of national shame fully capture the truth. Central to this vision is the idea of *covenant*: relationships of mutual responsibility, care, and cooperation. A healthy nation depends on citizens, institutions, communities, and leaders who contribute to the common good while recognising both the achievements and failures of the past. Ultimately, the paper calls for a story of nation that understands politics as the art of association, covenant as the basis of common life, peace as a moral if ambiguous good, and prudence as the virtue required of leaders in a fallen world. [ Go deeper with the full article PDF 323 KB ](https://cuf.org.uk/assets/documents/What-kind-of-thing-is-a-nation_Luke-Bretherton.pdf?v=1785937880) ## What do you value about community life? How we can live well together? The National Conversation is asking everyone what worries them about the UK’s future, what makes them feel hopeful, and how we can find ways to live well together as a country. Take the survey today and share your vision for the UK’s future. [ Have your say ](https://www.thenationalconversation.org.uk/) **The Revd Professor Luke Bretherton** is Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology and director of the McDonald Center for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life, Christ Church, Oxford University. Prior to Oxford Bretherton was the Robert E. Cushman Distinguished Professor of Moral and Political Theology and Senior Fellow of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. Before joining Duke in 2012, he was Reader in Theology & Politics and Convener of the Faith & Public Policy Forum at King’s College London. Alongside his scholarly work, he writes in the media on topics related to religion and politics, has worked with a variety of faith-based NGOs, mission agencies, and churches around the world, and has been actively involved over many years in forms of grassroots democratic politics, both in the UK and the US. He also hosts the [Listen, Organize, Act! podcast](https://www.ormondcenter.com/listen-organize-act-podcast) which focuses on the history and contemporary practice of community organizing and the role religion plays in democracy. Specific issues addressed in his work include debt, fair trade, environmental justice, racism, humanitarianism, the treatment of refugees, interfaith relations, euthanasia, secularism, nationalism, church-state relations, and the provision of social welfare.