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4/13/2016 8:58 pm  #1


Anglican Works

Even as an ex-Anglican, I still have respect for some aspects of the Anglican Patrimony, both High Church and Cranmerian. Some of the jewels of English language and culture are part of this patrimony (even the Catholic revival under Mary drew on the language of Cranmer). I thought I'd post some of these works:

​King James Version
1662 Book of Common Prayer
Book of Homilies
Works of Bishop Hooker
Lancelot Andrewes
George Herbert
Jeremy Taylor
Thomas Fuller's The Holy State
Thomas Traherne's Centuries of Meditation
William Law's Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life and the Spirit of Prayer
Tracts for the Times 

 

4/13/2016 9:05 pm  #2


Re: Anglican Works

Hey, Jeremy Taylor, you made it onto your own list!

As an ex-Methodist with an eye towards Wesley's influences (you noted the most important one in fact, which was the work by William Law), I've always had and retain a fondness for a lot of the old high church authors, even now as a Catholic; it's tragic what the Church of England has become, compared to some of its brightest lights and moments.

Last edited by Timotheos (4/14/2016 2:27 am)

 

4/14/2016 3:38 am  #3


Re: Anglican Works

Indeed, but I think the Church of England has always been divided. I used to fondly think that deep down it was just English Orthodoxy with a few low Church and Calvinistic accretions (leaving aside theological liberalism) from the eighteenth century onwards. But, really, the Church of England was always split between those of more Catholic or Orthodox sensibilities and Calvinists and other real Protestants. If only Henry VIII had listened to Bishop Stokely and Tunstall and tried to forge links with the Greek Church.

 ​Looking at the list above, I am again struck at how important to English literature those works are. The KJV, Book of Common Prayer, Book of Homilies, Taylor, and Fuller, for example, should be read by all who wish to acquaint themselves with the finest English prose, and Traherne and Andrewes are well worth reading simply for their value as prose writers as well. 

Although he wasn't specifically a devotional or liturgical writer, Dr. Johnson is another great Anglican writer whose work was often suffused with a deep Anglican spirituality. Even the socialist historian AJP Taylor claimed Dr. Johnson as the greatest Englishman (with Cobbett a close runner up).

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4/14/2016 7:46 pm  #4


Re: Anglican Works

I almost forgot Bishop Butler's Analogy, one of the most important and insightful works of apologetics to come out of the Anglican tradition.

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