John Keble
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
"National Apostasy" by John Keble is a sermon preached on July 14, 1833, at Oxford University. Delivered amid growing tensions between the Church of England and an increasingly secular government, Keble's sermon warns of England's spiritual decline and urges believers to remain faithful through prayer and Christian virtue. Traditionally considered the starting point of the Oxford Movement, this controversial address challenged governmental interference in church affairs and called listeners to resist the nation's drift from religious principle.