laudable Practice

The 1739 pastoral letter - Against Lukewarmness on one hand, and Enthusiasm on the other -  issued by Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London, was a response to the revivalism of George Whitefield. Gibson quoted from Whitefield's journals to demonstrate the character of revivalism, showing how Whitefield words testified to his "boast of sudden and surprizing Effects as wrought by the Holy Ghost, in Consequence of [his] Preaching"; to claims of his Preaching and Expounding, and the Effects of them, as the sole Work of a divine Power"; and justifying his "own extraordinary Methods of teaching, by casting unworthy Reflections upon the Parochial Clergy" and the regular ministrations of the church. Against this, Gibson's pastoral letter provided an account of a characteristically Anglican theology and piety, contrasting revivalist claims that experience of 'new birth' was the evidence of the Spirit's workings, with the "gradual progress and improve...

With reporting of the 'Asbury Revival' now having reached these shores (e.g. reports in the Independent , Daily Mail , and Premier Christianity ), laudable Practice thought it might be an appropriate time to consider Anglican critiques of revivalism. There is an inevitability to calls for churches in these Islands to follow the pattern of the Asbury Revival. Indeed, such a call was issued in the Premier Christianity article already referenced:  It seems that those in Asbury got close enough to the flame of God’s presence for his fire to consume them. Long may it continue and may we all follow suit. Those words alone - with the assumption that an intense worship experience equates to the working of the Holy Spirit - are suggestive of the need for a renewed understanding of the historical Anglican critique of revivalism.  One of the most significant Anglican critiques of revivalism was given by John Tillotson (Archbishop of Canterbury 1691-94) in two sermons entitled 'Of t...

On this third day of Lent, final words on the Absolution at the daily office from  A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England  (1796), by clergyman John Shepherd.  Here Shepherd turns to one of the most beautiful aspects of this Absolution, when it prays for and sets before us the path of restoration and renewal. Hearing these words week by week, receiving them in penitence and faith, is to experience to the restoration of the Prodigal: In the second part of the Absolution the minister proceeds to remind us of the means by which the blessings of pardon and reconciliation may be obtained. He exhorts us, to beseech God to grant us "true repentance," repentance unto salvation, which he alone can give, and "his Holy Spirit," to deliver us from all deadly sin, to help our infirmities, to invigorate our faith, to excite our hope, to purify our hearts, and to engage our obedience. For our encouragement he adds that if we...

On this second day of Lent, further words on the Absolution at the daily office from  A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England  (1796), by clergyman John Shepherd.  Echoing Hooker's statement that the Absolution "day by day" in "our publick prayers" applies to those whose confession "hath proceeded from a true penitent mind" ( LEP VI.4.15), Shepherd notes the pastoral wisdom in the use of the nominative case in the Absolution: The priest does not absolve in his own name. He simply promulgates the terms of pardon, granted by the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That this may be misunderstood by none, is probably one reason, for which our form repeats the nominative case. "He," that is, Almighty God, "pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his Holy Gospel." Should there in a mixed congregation be any hypocritical worshipper, whose faith is fei...

From a sermon by Edward Stillingfleet (Bishop of Worcester 1689-1699), delivered on the first Friday of Lent, 1685, when he was Dean of St. Paul's. This extract from the sermon might be regarded as a meditation on the words of the Lenten collect, "who hatest nothing that thou hast made": In order to the preventing any false or mean Apprehensions of the Divine Nature, when the Passions of Mankind are attributed to it, we must consider these two things; (1.) That we must by no means attribute to God any thing that is unreasonable in our Selves; such are all irregular Motions, which we call violent Passions, arising from Surprise, Mistake, Inadvertency, Weakness, or corrupt Inclination. But setting all these aside, the Original Passions of Mankind, which are agreeable to Reason, are no other than what arise from an Inclination to what we judge to be Good, and an Aversion from what we apprehend to be Evil; which holds as to the Divine Nature. (2.) That there is an observable...

On this day before Lent, we continue consideration of the Absolution at Morning and Evening Prayer from A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), by clergyman John Shepherd. In his commentary on Prayer Book Mattins and Evensong, Shepherd expounds how the Absolution at the morning and evening offices is an exercise in the presbyteral ministry of reconciliation.  On Shrove Tuesday, Shepherd's words are a reminder there is no need for private absolution (albeit this ministry is available to those who desire it for "quieting of ... conscience, and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness"). Those of us who have heard the absolution pronounced at Morning or Evening Prayer on Quinquagesima or the days following, being penitent, have been absolved in preparation for the penitential season.  The Church of England places the Absolution, or Remission of Sins, immediately after the General Confession. The whole congrega...

As Lent approaches, most of the posts this week will consider the normative way Anglicans over centuries received absolution: that is, by means of "The Absolution or Remission of sins ... pronounced by the Priest" at Mattins and Evensong. To guide our reflections on this Absolution, we turn to  A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), by clergyman John Shepherd. Mindful that the Absolution at Morning and Evening Prayer, "pronounced by the Priest alone", had been a source of Puritan and then Dissenting criticism since the Elizabethan era, Shepherd invokes Calvin in defence of the Absolution as a "signal promise" of forgiveness after confession: The propriety of introducing the Absolution in. this part of our daily service, is acknowledged without reserve by Calvin, whose immense learning, and extraordinary abilities, no one will dispute. This distinguished instrument of the reformation, who was...

In the seventh of his 1844 Bampton Lectures, An inquiry into the means of grace, their mutual connection, and combined use, with especial reference to the Church of England , Jelf - one of those whom Nockles lists as the 'Zs', the post-1833 continuation of the Old High tradition - provides a vigorous defence of the right of national churches to order traditions, ceremonies, and matters indifferent: And this, in fact, was the method ordained by Divine Providence for the guidance of the Churches, in questions which, compared with the great and essential matters of faith and worship, might be rightly considered indifferent. For this liberty, qualified with due regard for apostolical ordinances or universal consent, was freely exercised by every Church from the beginning. It is historically certain that, agreeing in all essential points, the ancient Churches within their several jurisdictions did vary very widely in the particular adaptation of their usages. Thus, that bread should...

There is a great deal of flaming Heat about Matters, in which more Gentleness and a milder Temper would both look better , and more effectually compass that which is designed by it;  I mean the bringing the Dissenters into our Communion. Bitter Railings, and a rough Behaviour, cannot make many Converts.  Gilbert Burnett's words from the Preface to the 1712 edition of his Discourse of Pastoral Care came to mind when reading William Gibson's excellent Samuel Wesley & the Crisis of Tory Piety, 1685-1720 (2021). Gibson addresses how the High Church and Tory Wesley differed from his Whig and Latitudinarian diocesan, William Wake, during the 'Lay Baptism' controversy of 1708-1712. The controversy commenced when an Anglican convert from Dissent, Roger Laurence (who had been re-baptised according to Anglican rites in 1708), wrote an inflammatory tract entitled  Lay Baptism Invalid, or an Essay to prove that such Baptism is Null and Void when administer'd in opposition...

As part of the series of weekly posts from the responses to Tract XC by Old High bishops in the visitation charges of the early 1840s, today we have a final extract from the charge given in 1842 by Henry Phillpotts (Bishop of Exeter 1831-69). These charges are a rich seam of Old High teaching. In this extract, Phillpotts interprets the Prayer Book offertory in light of the rubric: "the Alms for the Poor". This reflects the original intent of the Cranmerian offertory , applied by Phillpotts to the changed social context of Victorian era. This, of course, was a quite different emphasis to that which would be given by Anglo-catholics - e.g. in Directorium Anglicanum - to the offertory, with the bread and wine as the focus. Phillpotts, however, demonstrated the continued relevance of the Cranmerian offertory and its alms for the poor, pointing to a vision of a society renewed by love of God and love of neighbour: There is, too, one other claim still more imperative than either,...

Taylor the Laudian, echoing Hooker, reminding us why the Prayer Book has but few ceremonies: And therefore there is reason to celebrate and honour the wisdome and prudence of the Church of England, which hath in all her offices retain'd but one ritual or ceremony that is not of Divine ordinance or Apostolical practice, and that is, the Cross in baptisme: which though it be a significant ceremony, and of no other use, yet as it is a compliance with the practice of all ancient Churches, so it is very innocent in it self, and being one and alone is in no regard troublesome or afflictive to those that understand her power and her liberty and her reason. I said, she hath one onely ceremony of her own appointment; for the Ring in marriage is the symbol of a civil and a religious contract, it is a pledge and custome of the nation, not of the religion: and those other circumstances of her worship, are but determinations of time and place and manner of a duty; they serve to other purposes b...

For today's post, another extract from an 1818 sermon by John Lonsdale, associated with the Hackney Phalanx, on the occasion of the death of Queen Caroline. Lonsdale here challenges stereotypes of the late Georgian Church promoted both by Tractarians and evangelicals, with their accounts of a Church and a dominant theology exclusively defined by natural theology and moralising sermons. In stark contrast to such narratives, Lonsdale - in the midst of a sermon for a time of civic and national mourning - appeals to "the far surer guide" of revelation in order to give a vibrant exposition of the final judgement and the life everlasting: Nor will Reason ever permit us to entertain such unworthy notions of God's attributes, (for I will not suppose the case of direct Atheism) as to believe that he may have impressed our nature with these feelings and faculties merely to deceive us; to buoy us up into a vain imagination that we have another state to look to, after the curtai...

A Prayer for all the Reformed Churches. O God, the Father of Mercies, who, of thy great Goodness, hast admitted us into thy Holy Church, the mystical Body of Christ, we, as living Members thereof, mourning with them that mourn, and rejoicing with them that rejoice, do now present our Supplications and Prayers at the Throne of Grace, more especially in Behalf of all our Reformed Brethren; beseeching thee to make them perfect, Establish, strengthen them; that they may stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free, and adorn the Doctrine of God our Saviour in all Things; to preserve the Tranquility of those who at present enjoy it, and to look down with an Eye of Pity upon those, who are in Distress or Persecution on Account of thy most Holy Religion. Suffer not unreasonable and wicked Men still to triumph over thy Heritage. Plead thy Cause with them that blaspheme thy Truth, and persecute thy People. Enlighten those who are in Darkness and Error, and give them Repentance...

In the seventh of his 1844 Bampton Lectures, An inquiry into the means of grace, their mutual connection, and combined use, with especial reference to the Church of England , Jelf - one of those whom Nockles lists as the 'Zs', the post-1833 continuation of the Old High tradition - commenced by introducing " auxiliary and subordinate " ordinances and usages.  In today's extract, Jelf expounds a deeply Cranmerian understanding of ordinances, rites, and ceremonies.  As Cranmer had declared, while "Christ's Gospel is not a Ceremonial Law, (as much of Moses' Law was)", "without some Ceremonies it is not possible to keep any Order, or quiet Discipline in the Church". Such ceremonies, Cranmer stated, could legitimately differ and be changed in "divers countries", not least because "at length [some ceremonies] turned to vanity and superstition". Mindful that mid-Victorian Anglicanism would soon experience intense conflict a...

As part of the series of weekly posts from the responses to Tract XC by Old High bishops in the visitation charges of the early 1840s, today we continue consideration of the charge given in 1842 by Henry Phillpotts (Bishop of Exeter 1831-69). These charges are a rich seam of Old High teaching.  In today's extract Phillpotts addresses a matter which would become a significant point of controversy between Tractarians and Old High: private absolution. Contrary to what would become the Anglo-catholic imitation of the Roman discipline, Phillpotts maintains the caution and reserve of historic Prayer Book practice: rejecting any notion of a necessity for private absolution; no requirement to catalogue any or all sins; and the efficacy of absolution dependent on being received in faith and penitence.  Mindful of the divisive controversies which ensued upon the Tractarian and Anglo-catholic promotion of the Roman discipline, Phillpotts' Old High exposition was deeply Hookerian and of...

... beseeching thee to inspire continually the universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord: And grant, that all they that do confess thy holy Name may agree in the truth of thy holy Word, and live in unity, and godly love. Having prayed this petition from the Prayer for the Church Militant with Jewel and Hooker , we turn now to Cosin and Taylor. In his account of the differences between the Church of England and Tridentine teaching, Cosin summarised the Tridentine claim for tradition he was critiquing: That all the ecclesiastical observations and constitutions of the same Church ... are to be approved held and believed as needful to salvation and that whoever approves them not is out of the Catholic Church and must be damned. He contrasted this with the Church of England's confession of sola scriptura , or in the words of the Prayer for the Church Militant, "the truth of thy holy Word": All the two and twenty canonical books of the Old Testament and the...

Today's post is an extract from an 1818 sermon by John Lonsdale, associated with the Hackney Phalanx, on the occasion of the death of Queen Caroline. The sermon demonstrates how the Hackney Phalanx continued a significant and attractive part of Old High teaching, a wise and reasoned account of Christian duties and obligations in the commonwealth. The "great moral chain" which bound together governor and governed underpinned the peace and concord of the commonwealth. It is worth noting that the reference to "princes" as "God's viceregents upon earth" is not a particular claim for monarchical government - a claim renounced by Old High teaching (e.g. see Horsley's 1793 30th January sermon ) - but, rather, an understanding of the vocation of the civil magistrate in light of Romans 13.  When the princes of the people, they, whom the God of order, and the Author of all power, has set over us, fall like other men; when they too, have the grave for th...

In the seventh of his 1844 Bampton Lectures,  An inquiry into the means of grace, their mutual connection, and combined use, with especial reference to the Church of England , Jelf - one of those whom Nockles lists as the 'Zs', the post-1833 continuation of the Old High tradition - after having previously considered Baptism and the Eucharist, turns to "auxiliary and subordinate" ordinances and usages. Jelf here presents a Laudian understanding, significantly distinct from the direction in which Tractarianism was developing.  To begin with, those ordinances reverently administered by the Church of England, such as Confirmation, " approximating to the rank of proper means of grace", are not to be regarded as Sacraments of the Gospel.   The key term is "approximating". It is echoed in the use of "subsidiary". These ordinances, unlike the Sacraments of the Gospel, follow apostolic practice (they are not of dominical institution) or have ...

In January and February 1548, by order of the Privy Council, at the urging of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the ceremonies of Candlemas candles, ashing on the first day of Lent, palms on the Sunday before Easter, and creeping to the cross on Good Friday were abolished in the realm of England. Eamon Duffy writes of this, "the entire edifice of Catholic culture and liturgy was being dismantled in England". Many contemporary Anglicans, and not only Anglo-Catholics, agree with Duffy: the abolition of such ceremonies is to be deeply regretted, removing drama and imagery from the observance of the Christian year. Generations of Anglicans over centuries, however, would consider such a view to be distinctly odd and a rejection of the goodly order of the Book of Common Prayer. The purpose of this post is not to criticize those Anglicans who use and value such ceremonies. It is, rather, to encourage those of us for whom these ceremonies are not part of our liturgical observance and to be...