laudable Practice

From a visitation sermon by Bishop Bull, on the text James 3:1, urging his clergy to preach with the spirit of Grotius and Erasmus. This invocation of two great advocates of an eirenic Christian vision encapsulates a significant and attractive characteristic of 18th century Anglicanism, reflecting the One who is "the author of peace and lover of concord".  It is also rooted in the earlier eirenicism of Casaubon , and the praise for Erasmus and Grotius from Jeremy Taylor , echoed in Timothy Puller's  defence of the Restoration Church . In other words, the Erasmian and Grotian character of 18th century Anglicanism flowed from this earlier eirenicism. In our own age of secular and ecclesiastical culture wars, we might also heed Bull's call to follow after Erasmus and Grotius, seeking "cloven tongues of fire" with which to enlighten, rather than burn. To this it will not be amiss to add what Grotius wisely observes, that the admonition of the Apostle concerning...

In his 2016 article ' Primitive Christianity revived: religious renewal in Augustan England ', Eamon Duffy pointed to "the new assurance" of Anglicanism at the Restoration that it was the embodiment of the Primitive Church. This can give rise to an interpretation in which the Anglicanism of the' long 18th century' is believed to have viewed itself in 'splendid isolation', haughtily aloof from the other Christian traditions in Europe during this era.  There are very good reasons indeed for robustly challenging any such notion. The Laudian and High Church tradition had a vibrant cosmopolitan vision, embracing the Gallicans and Jansenists . 18th century Anglicanism had high praise for the Lutheran churches and exercised a significant care for non-episcopal Protestant churches .  Another expression of such cosmopolitanism is found in invocations of leading European eirenic Protestant thinkers and their view of the Church of England. Timothy Puller's 1...

In his defence of an eirenic vision of the churches of the British Isles and of Europe - amidst bitter division and bloody conflict - Taylor invoked two towering eirenic figures, Erasmus and Grotius. That he did so in his highly controversial works outlining a non-Augustinian account of Original Sin ( Unum Necessarium and Deus Justificatus ,   published in 1655) only added to the controversy: the Papist Erasmus and the Arminian Grotius were hardly likely to endear Taylor to his critics.   The praise Taylor heaped on Erasmus and Grotius in these two works gives some idea of the esteem in which he held them and their thinking: I shall not be ashamed to profess what company I now keep ... the great Erasmus, and the incomparable Hugo Grotius ; Erasmus and Grotius, who are to be reckoned amongst the greatest, and the best expositors of Scripture, that any age since the Apostles and their immediate successors . What Taylor valued in how Erasmus and Grotius handled Scripture is...

Today we resume extracts from John Shepherd's A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796). At the outset of his discussion of the Venite, Shepherd describes it as "originally composed for the public service". A short footnote addressing this point is worth considering: Grotius thinks it was composed for the Feast of Tabernacles, and Calvin for the Sabbath Day.  A short footnote, yes, but one that captures a significant aspect of how much Anglican opinion regarded the Book of Common Prayer during the 'long 18th century'. Shepherd is very content to describe Luther and Calvin as "two of the most illustrious instruments of the Reformation". As seen previously, he invoked Calvin to explain the purpose of the Absolution at Morning and Evening Prayer. He was, however, hostile to those readings of the Prayer Book which were "too favourable to Calvinistic opinions".  Which brings us to the re...