'There is one thing which he takes more tenderly, and that is, the uncharitableness of men towards his poor'

From Jeremy Taylor's sermon for Advent Sunday - 'Dooms-Day Book: or, Christ's Advent to Judgement' - a particularly powerful extract on how Christian duties to the poor are to be understood in light of the Lord's advent and and the last judgement:

Every man that lives wickedly disgraces the religion and institution of Jesus, he discourages strangers from entring into it, he weakens the hands of them that are in already, and makes that the adversaries speak reproachfully of the Name of Christ; but although it is certain our Lord and Judge will deeply resent all these things, yet there is one thing which he takes more tenderly, and that is, the uncharitablenesse of men towards his poor: It shall then be upbraided to them by the Judge, that himself was hungry and they refused to give meat to him that gave them his body and heart-bloud, to feed them and quench their thirst; that they denyed a robe to cover his nakednesse, and yet he would have cloathed their souls with the robe of his righteousnesse, lest their souls should be found naked in the day of the Lords visitation; and all this unkindnesse is nothing but that evill men were uncharitable to their Brethren, they would not feed the hungry, nor give drink to the thirsty, nor cloath the naked, nor relieve their Brothers needs, nor forgive his follies, nor cover their shame, nor turn their eyes from delighting in their affronts and evill accidents; this is it which our Lord will take so tenderly, that his Brethren for whom he died, who suck'd the paps of his Mother, that fed on his Body and are nourished with his Bloud, whom he hath lodg'd in his heart and entertains in his bosome, the partners of his Spirit and co-heirs of his inheritance, that these should be deny'd relief and suffered to go away ashamed, and unpitied; this our blessed Lord will take so ill, that all those who are guilty of this unkindnesse, have no reason to expect the favour of the Court.

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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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