In the deluge of commentary that accompanied this year's Lambeth Conference, the references to 18th century Anglican church history in the Archbishop of Canterbury's second keynote address were, strangely, entirely ignored. I am, of course, being somewhat ironic. After all, the Archbishop's views on 18th century Anglicanism do not have quite the headline-making power as his management of the human sexuality debate. His views on the 18th century church, however, are not without significance and not least because caricaturing 18th century Anglicanism has frequently been a sign that those involved are seeking to reorder Anglicanism. Ryle, for example, promoting his own brand of Victorian low church evangelicalism, absurdly regarded 18th century Anglicanism as defined by "natural theology, without a single distinctive doctrine of Christianity, cold morality, or barren orthodoxy". Newman famously condemned "the last miserable century", which actually wo...
Old High - Burkean - clerk in holy orders