Anglican Theology

Description

This book seeks to explain the ways in which Anglicans have sought to practise theology in their various contexts. It is a clear, insightful, and reliable guide which avoids technical jargon and roots its discussions in concrete examples. The book is primarily a work of historical theology, which engages deeply with key texts and writers from across the tradition (e.g. Cranmer, Jewel, Hooker, Taylor, Butler, Simeon, Pusey, Huntington, Temple, Ramsey, and many others). As well as being suitable for seminary courses, it will be of particular interest to study groups in parishes and churches, as well as to individuals who seek to gain a deeper insight into the traditions of Anglicanism. While it adopts a broad and unpartisan approach, it will also be provocative and lively.

Mark Chapman is Vice-Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford, and a Reader in Modern Theology at the University of Oxford, UK. He has written widely on modern church history, ethics and theology. His books include Ernst Troeltsch and Liberal Theology (Oxford), The Coming Crisis (Sheffield), Blair's Britain (DLT) and Anglicanism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford).

Chapman declares that "conflict is the normal state of Anglican theology throughout history". He illustrates this from the time of the Henrican reformation to the present day. He provides a history of Anglican theology and employs the complementary skills of the historian and the theologian exceptionally well. It is a fascinating story, very well told. Chapman describes Anglicanism's complexity as both infuriating and exciting. So it is. -- Graham James, Diocese of Norwich * The Expository Times * This book offers an unusual perspective on Anglican identity from the Reformation to the nineteenth century, with some reflections on the state of the Anglican communion today... Illuminates some key moments in the making of Anglican theology... A very useful study text. -- Paul Avis, University of Exeter * Journal of Ecclesiastical History * The wider strength of the work is that it challenges readers (Anglicans, Ordinands, and none of the above) to a kind of 'resourcement' within Anglican thought. -- Richard P Whaite, University of Oxford, UK * Theological Book Review * A fascinating story, very well told. Chapman describes Anglicanism's complexity as both infuriating and exciting. So it is. -- Graham James, Diocese of Norwich, UK * Expository Times * Is there such a thing as Anglican Theology? This is what Chapman explores in this rigorous but stimulating book. In a well presented but compact review, he shows how a plurality of theologies - especially of the church and authority - have always characterised Anglicanism.He begins with Henry VIII, but he could as well have begun with Bede and used the same rigorous method. He quotes primary as well as secondary sources and reveals step by step the lack of historical perspective in those who claim that their understanding is the right - or indeed the only - Anglican position. Since a theology of development is always potentially threatening, this timely study is important, not just for the Church of England but for the whole Anglican Communion. -- David Stancliffe, formerly Bishop of Salisbury, UK. Listed in the 'new titles just published' section of the Church Times. Mentioned in an article in the Church of England Newspaper.