"To cherish in our hearts the love of what is good": A Hackney Phalanx sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity

From A Course of Sermons, for the Lord's Day throughout the Year, Volume II (1817) by Joseph Holden Pott - associated with the Hackney Phalanx - an extract from a sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity. His text was II Samuel 21:11-14, in which David is moved to act with charity through the example of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul.

This might be considered an example of the so-called 'moralism' in the preaching of the Georgian church, which later 19th century Tractarians and Evangelicals would criticise (and exaggerate). Rather than it being a cause of embarrassment, however, we should see it is a meaningful, engaging, and significant way of shaping the Christian moral imagination. That this extract concludes with an allusion to Philippians 4:8 is a reminder that such moral teaching is deeply Scriptural. It also embodies an enduring Old High pastoral conviction, that grace does not destroy nature, as indicated by the opening words:

A strong propensity to imitation, is implanted in the nature of man, and all good designs, and every good endeavour, may be encouraged and advanced by the force and influences of that powerful impulse. The growth of every valuable quality of mind and temper, may be furthered by this habit of attention to the lives of others; and our own course and progress in every good attainment, may be much promoted by a due regard to that proficiency, which others have attained. "Go and do thou likewise", is the voice which speaks to us in every generous action, and in all religious services, which are displayed before us. The call, in all such cases, is addressed to the ears of the considerate and attentive, with persuasive force, and the motives of precept and example are united.

How much more advantageous will this plan of regarding the conduct and the lives of others be, than that which is too commonly pursued, when men employ their pains in searching only for the faults, and in detecting the misdeeds of their neighbour, in order that they may defend their own misdoings, by some flattering comparisons. By making this use of the follies and the trespasses of those about them, men contrive to frame excuses for the worst parts of their own conduct: but if they would act consistently, they would at least be as ready to regard those particulars of their neighbour's life and character, wherein he surpasses them, and displays a better pattern for their notice ...

Let it then be our first care to notice what is good in others, to be ready to commend that which deserves our praise, and above all, to strive to copy after what we praise, lest our own testimony should operate to condemn us. It is a sad proof of bondage to be constrained to praise what we have no heart to copy; it is like the faith of evil spirits, who believe, but with aversion and with incurable reluctance. Let it then be our chief care to cherish in our hearts the love of what is good; we shall then know how to admire, and how to praise, and the next step will be to follow that which we commend.

Why I support the ordination of women: a High Church reflection

A number of commenters on this blog have asked about my occasional expressions of support for the ordination of women to all three orders. With some hesitation, I have decided to post a summary of my own views on this matter. The hesitation is because I have sought on this blog to focus on issues and themes which can unify those who identify with or have respect (grudging or otherwise!) for what we might term 'classical' Anglicanism (the Anglicanism of the Formularies and - yes - of the Old High Church tradition). Some oppose the ordination of women (and I have friends and colleagues who do so, Anglo-Catholic, High Church, and Reformed Evangelical). Some of us support it (again, friends and colleagues covering a wide range of theological traditions). Below, I have organised my thinking around 5 points (needless to say, no reference to Dort is implied). 1. The Declaration for Subscription required of clergy in the Church of Ireland states: (6) I promise to submit ...

How the Old High tradition continued

Charles Gore's 1914 letter to the clergy of his diocese, ' The Basis of Anglican Fellowship ', can be regarded as a classical expression of the Prayer Book Catholic tradition. A key part of the letter - entitled 'Romanizing in the Church of England' - addressed the "Catholic movement", questioning beliefs and practices within it which tended to "a position which makes it very difficult for its extremer representatives to give an intelligible reason why they are not Roman Catholics". Gore provides the outlines of an alternative account and experience of catholicity within Anglicanism, defined by three characteristics. What is particularly interesting about these characteristics is their continuity with the older High Church tradition. Indeed, the central characteristic as set out by Gore was integral to High Church claims over centuries: To accept the Anglican position as valid, in any sense, is to appeal behind the Pope and the authority of t...

1928 practices and the 1979 book: unthinking conservatism or popular piety?

Those responsible for Earth & Altar - a new blog emanating from a group within TEC - are to be congratulated for an excellent contribution to wider Anglican discussion and debate. The commitment to "an expansively conceived credal orthodoxy as fully compatible with LGBTQ inclusion, gender equality, and racial justice" is an important part of a wider retrieval of creedal orthodoxy within what we might call the post-liberal generation. It is in this spirit that I want to respond to a recent post on the site by Andrew McGowan , Dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Professor of Anglican Studies at Yale Divinity School. Against the background of another round of "ill-defined" liturgical revision in TEC, he understandably urges that a fuller reception of the 1979 BCP should occur before further reforms. In doing so, however, he takes aim at what he describes as "clinging to the ritual structures of 1928" while using the text of 1979. We ...

laudable Practice

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