This article responds to the notion of a global civil religion from a European perspective. In so doing, it makes use of three rather different starting points, which work outwards in terms of their geographical scope. The first looks at the concept of civil society within a European context; the second section demonstrates both the capacities and the limitations of the major European religious traditions to operate on a European as opposed to national scale, bearing in mind that the tensions between European and global are just as real as those between European and national for at least some of these traditions. The final section has a truly global perspective in that it reflects on the role of mission and missionary activity as a crucial aspect of European history. The possibility of reversed roles is raised in conclusion.
