Church history

Reviewed by Morna D. Hooker, Robinson College, Cambridge in Modern Believing Jan 2012.

Reviewed by Donald Reeves (short review), Soul of Europe, Crediton in Modern Believing Jan 2012.

Reviewed by Mark D. Chapman, Ripon College Cuddesdon in Modern Believing Oct 2010.

Reviewed by Paul Badham, University of Wales, Lampeter in Modern Believing Apr 2009.

The battle lines are drawn in what some believe will be the final showdown between liberals and conservatives in the Anglican Church. If the two sides can't agree, the cracks which began to show over the ordination of women may well become an unbridgeable chasm and the church will split. The catalyst is the row over the consecration of a gay bishop in America, but Jonathan Clatworthy argues that it goes deeper than that, to the very roots of Anglicanism itself. Different theories developed at different stages to produce the mix of ideas we have today.

"For a long time, liberals in the Church of England have been exposed to jibes that they offer a watered-down version of Christianity and have trimmed their sails according to the prevailing winds of secularism. Now there are signs of a fight-back. Jonathan Clatworthy's book is one manifestation of this. Clearly written, with a firm grounding in the historical and intellectual background of contemporary debates, and plenty of common sense, he argues for the properly theological truth of liberalism. This work will encourage many to move from the defensive to speak out all the more strongly for the rightness as well as the humaneness of a liberal approach."
George Pattison, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, University of Oxford

Reviewed by Augustine Casiday, University of Wales, Lampeter in Modern Believing Jan 2009.

Reviewed by Thomas O'Loughlin, University of Wales, Lampeter in Modern Believing Jan 2008.

Reviewed by Paul Badham, University of Wales, Lampeter in Modern Believing Oct 2007.

Henry Dewsbury Alves Major (1871-1961) was the leading figure in the Modern Churchpeople's Union from joining in 1911 until his death in 1961 and central to Modernist Anglican theology through this period.

Signs of the Times article - review by Michael Cocks.

Reviewed by Thomas O'Loughlin, University of Wales, Lampeter in Modern Believing Oct 2007.

Richard Hooker (1554-1600) has traditionally been seen as the first systematic defender of an Anglican via media between Rome and Geneva. Revisionists have argued recently, however, that Hooker was in fact a thoroughly Reformed theologian. Dr Voak takes issue with this interpretation, arguing that Hooker over time became highly critical of numerous Reformed positions. Beginning with philosophical principles underlying Hooker's theology (e.g. free will, resistibility of grace), the book then considers issues such as original sin, justification and sanctification, merit and the religious authority of scripture, reason, and tradition. Finally, Hooker's late manuscripts are examined, in which he defends himself from the charge of heresy.

Anglicanism can be seen as irredeemably English. In this book Kevin Ward questions that assumption. He explores the character of the African, Asian, Oceanic, Caribbean and Latin American churches which are now a majority in the world-wide communion, and shows how they are decisively shaping what it means to be Anglican.

Miranda Hassett tells the fascinating story of how a new alliance between conservative American Episcopalians and African Anglicans is transforming conflicts between American Episcopalians - especially over homosexuality - into global conflicts within the Anglican church.

This book is the first anthropological examination of the coalition between American Episcopalians and African Anglicans.