"There would nothing perish to the faith": Jeremy Taylor, plain churches, and the absence of imagery
When discussing the plain character of older Anglican and Episcopal churches - such as The Middle Church , King Charles the Martyr, Shelland , and Old Wye Church, Maryland - it is not uncommon to hear this character and its lack of imagery dismissed as somehow 'unAnglican', an unfortunate expression of a thankfully long-forgotten, ill-considered theology, replaced by richer Victorian tastes, not at all averse to imagery. Plain windows, whitewashed walls, with a simple, wooden God's Board: this is deemed to be little more than prejudice at work, with the lack of imagery regarded as a denial of the sacred. This is where we turn to Jeremy Taylor. He can hardly be regarded an unimpressive divine or a purveyor of shallow theological thought. Nor, to state the very obvious, was he a 'Puritan' or, indeed, even a Reformed Conformist. Taylor's critique of Calvinist soteriology, his robust defence of episcopal order, and his commitment to the "holy Liturgy" of...