laudable Practice

From A Course of Sermons for the Festivals and Fasts of the Church of England (1821) by Joseph Holden Pott - associated with the Hackney Phalanx - a sermon for the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary: The fact itself, which has this day been set before us by particular memorial in the sacred office of the Church; the coming of the angel to the blessed Virgin, and the message then announced to her, furnish themes of meditation closely coupled with the great miracle of our redemption by the Incarnation of the Only Begotten Son of God, who took our nature in order to restore it, and to raise it far above its first station in the universe. How far short shall we fall of the faith of her who was "blessed among women," if we can turn easily to ordinary objects from these first scenes of the Gospel; scenes in which the kingdom of God, and of his Christ was first manifested upon earth, and have been since fulfilled, and will one day be finally accomplished, in the r...

The previous extract from the 1814 collection of sermons by Christopher Wordsworth (senior, d.1846), associated with the Hackney Phalanx, was an example of the rich natural theology to be found in Anglican preaching during the 'long 18th century'. Immediately after invoking and expounding such natural theology, however, Wordsworth immediately turned to 'revealed religion'.   Two things may be noted about this extract. Firstly, Wordsworth - reflecting the well-established conviction of 18th century Anglicanism - confirmed that natural theology and revealed religion, rather than being contradictory, cohere, witnessing to the unity of creation and redemption. Secondly, when he turns to "contemplate the Almighty in the kingdom of his grace", Wordsworth yet again demonstrates how 18th century Old High preaching could sound like the Welseys , in calling hearers to a vibrant, lively faith. Learn, secondly, to contemplate the Almighty in the kingdom of his grace. He...

While some recent extracts from an 1814 collection of sermons by Christopher Wordsworth (senior, d.1846), associated with the Hackney Phalanx, demonstrated how a lively call to vibrant faith was present in Hackney and Old High preaching, the most recent extract reasserted the necessity of good works (in line, of course, with the clear teaching of Scripture). Today we turn to another bogeyman in revivalist views of Old High preaching - natural theology.  Here Wordsworth demonstrates how a rich vision of natural theology was evident in Old High preaching, rooted in the coherence of nature and grace. To quote the Cambridge Platonist Benjamin Whichcote, "God, as the author of Nature and Grace, does agree perfectly with himself".  Such is the challenge of 18th century Anglican preaching to the revivalists, then and now: why on earth would Christian preaching not have a rich natural theology? Consider him first as the God of nature. There learn to listen to his awful voice in ...

Recent posts in the series of extracts from an 1814 collection of sermons by Christopher Wordsworth (senior, d.1846), associated with the Hackney Phalanx, have demonstrated how a lively call to vibrant faith was present in Hackney and Old High preaching. Today we return to another - and no less significant - aspect of such preaching: its vision of the moral life in Christ.  The sermon was what Wordsworth described as "a Christian discourse and exposition of the sixth commandment", in light of the exhortation in the Sermon on the Mount "That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment": Anger implies displeasure against our brother, along with some degree of desire to inflict pain upon him, for an injury, real or supposed, which he has done to ourselves; or to others, whose honour and interests are dear to us. Anger is wrong, according to our Saviour, where it is " without" a due "cause;" that is, where...

One of the most influential studies in the last few decades of Georgian England was entitled A Polite and Commercial People . While, as J.C.D. Clark famously reminded us, English society 1688-1832 remained firmly monarchical, dynastic, and aristocratic, the title does point to the economic and cultural significance of the commercial and trading concerns of the society in which the Georgian Church of England ministered. These concerns were also to the fore of the 1812-27 premiership of Lord Liverpool, as William Anthony Hay has shown in his biography. Liverpool defended "a balanced political order ... to secure ordered liberty and property ... [to] secure prosperity and rising living standards".   Now this might seem an odd introduction to the next extract in the series from an 1814 collection of sermons by Christopher Wordsworth (senior, d.1846), associated with the Hackney Phalanx. The connection is, however, two-fold.  Firstly, the cultural and social context in whic...

Continuing with the series of extracts from an 1814 collection of sermons by Christopher Wordsworth (senior, d.1846), associated with the Hackney Phalanx, here is a characteristic expression of Old High anti-solifidian teaching and piety, echoing comments elsewhere by Wordsworth in these sermons: Here then opens upon you your path of duty. Here especially lies your part and obligation: quench not this spirit: follow the example of the holy Jesus: adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour in all things; and walk before him in newness of life. What we before spoke of were the free graces and mercies of Almighty God in Christ Jesus. This now is your part and duty. Unless this be well performed and regarded, all the rest, be assured, must be vain. Ye must be made holy here, in order that ye may be happy hereafter. "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye, through the spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." "If ye live after the flesh," then...

Continuing with the series of extracts from an 1814 collection of sermons by Christopher Wordsworth (senior, d.1846), associated with the Hackney Phalanx, today we turn to an extract which is rooted in a modesty about the doctrine of Original Sin, famously articulated by Taylor. Taylor's view - as has been previously indicated - clearly had antecedents within the Church of England and quickly became established as a legitimate interpretation of Article IX .  This extract, to what I hope is obvious, is certainly not offered in any way as an example of the grief of parents might be addressed from the pulpit: it would be entirely inappropriate for the extract to be regarded in such a manner. Rather, it is the influence of Taylor's reading of Original Sin that is the cause of interest here. Indeed, Taylor himself had explicitly linked his understanding of Original Sin with the issue of the death of infants: It is strange to me that Men should desire to believe that their pretty ...

Today we continue with the series of extracts from an 1814 collection of sermons by Christopher Wordsworth (senior, d.1846), associated with the Hackney Phalanx. In this extract from a sermon on 2 Kings 5 on the actions of Gehazi, servant of Elisha. Here we see a Hackney Phalanx sermon emphasising a characteristic Old High concern with a moral life shaped by the Commandments and the spiritual dangers arising from the absence of this concern. The history forcibly illustrates another important truth, that vices seldom go single, but one transgression commonly opens the way to another. The love of money, especially, is, as the Apostle says, "the root of all evil." The commandment has said, "Thou shalt not covet." But he did covet. Gehazi disobeyed that precept, and having so done, he was brought under a kind of necessity of  breaking two other commandments of the decalogue. The presents which he obtained at the hand of Naaman, he got by fraud, and so he transgressed t...

Today begins a series of extracts from an 1814 collection of sermons by Christopher Wordsworth (senior, d.1846). In 1814, Wordsworth was Dean of Bocking; he would be Master of Trinity, Cambridge from 1820-41. He was associated with the Hackney Phalanx and was a chaplain to Archbishop of Canterbury Charles Manners-Sutton. Indeed, this volume was warmly dedicated to the Archbishop's son (to whom he had been tutor), then Judge Advocate General in the administration of Lord Liverpool.  As a recent excellent study of Liverpool has demonstrated, he was guided by and supportive of the Hackney Phalanx in his ecclesiastical policies. It was on the Archbishop's recommendation that Liverpool appointed Wordsworth Master of Trinity. In other words, we can regard this collection of sermons as expressive of the teaching and piety of the Hackney Phalanx. In this extract, Wordsworth offers a critique of populist evangelicalism and revivalism, reflecting characteristic Old High concerns: some,...

I am not sure of the origin of the illustration which was circulated on Anglican Twitter some weeks ago (apologies to the person who designed it), but I did enjoy considering its options.  Such things are not, of course, to be taken too seriously.  Thinking about my instinctive answers, however, I realized that they provided a rather good expression of why I value the Old High tradition.  Today's post offers some extended thoughts on these choices. Archbishops of Canterbury - D, William Howley, 1828-48. This might be regarded as my most surprising choice.  Why not Laud? I do, of course, admire Laud for his defence of the ecclesia Anglicana against the gathering storm inspired by Puritan agitation. What gives me pause, however, is perhaps best summarised by Hume's judgement that he did not act "with the enlarged sentiments and cool reflection of a legislator". While rejecting the deeply inaccurate portrayals of Laud which still dominate historical accounts (Sharpe...

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...

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...

Returning to John Lonsdale's sermon at the 1824 consecration of Blomfield for Chester , we see again an example of how the Hackney Phalanx, bearers of the Old High tradition, viewed the episcopal office.  As with Lonsdale's sermon at an 1827 episcopal consecration, the  complete absence of sacerdotal language is striking.   And, again as with the 1827 sermon , there is the use of the language of "superintendence" to describe the episcopate. This is suggestive of the Hookerian moderation of the Old High understanding of the episcopate, reflecting how the Old High tradition sought to encourage episcopacy amongst non-episcopal continental Protestant churches.  Also interesting at the outset of the extract is the implication of a cautious, modest account as to how episcopacy was understood to exercise oversight in succession to the Apostles. Well may the Church rejoice, and honestly may she glory, (since ordinary now occupy the place of extraordinary aids) when she ...

Continuing the series of sermons from those associated with the Hackney Phalanx, an extract from another episcopal consecration sermon - this time the 1824 consecration of Blomfield for Chester - John Lonsdale (ordained 1815, Principal of King's College, London 1839, consecrated Bishop of Lichfield in 1843, died 1867). As can be seen from the title page of this sermon, Lonsdale was chaplain to Charles Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury and a strong supporter of the Hackney Phalanx. This extract struck me as quite significant because of assumptions routinely made regarding the Phalanx and the Old High tradition. Lonsdale - in a manner that reminds me of Tom Holland's Dominion - points to the significance of the rejection of Christianity by the Roman elite. Contra Gibbon (referenced in a footnote in the sermon), Lonsdale hails this rejection as evidence of the divine origins of Christianity.  It is also revealing in terms of how the Hackney Phalanx viewed the Churc...

Should the Government and Country so far forget their GOD as to cast off the Church, to deprive it of its temporal honours and substance, on what will you rest the claim of respect and attention which you make upon your flocks? Hitherto you have been upheld by your birth, your education, your wealth, your connexions; should these secular advantages cease, on what must CHRIST'S Ministers depend?  The question was asked by Newman in Tract One . It carries the implication, of course, that the pre-1833 Church of England and Ireland was dependent upon its established status and that without this status it had little or no theological rationale for its ministry. Tract One is a quite brilliant piece of ecclesiastical propaganda, significantly contributing to the perverse image of Georgian Anglicanism which the Tractarians - with assistance from low church evangelicals - would enthusiastically promote. However, as laudable Practice has previously suggested, such an account of pre-1833 Ang...

Throughout 2022 laudable Practice shared extracts from the sermons of Joseph Holden Pott , associated with the Hackney Phalanx. This year, we will turn to sermons from a variety of associates of the Hackney Phalanx, exploring the thinking of this vibrant and influential expression of the Old High tradition. We begin with sermons by John Lonsdale, who received orders in 1815, becoming Principal of King's College, London in 1839, and consecrated Bishop of Lichfield in 1843, remaining in the see until his death in 1867. That year, of course, was the midway point between the publication of Tract XC and Newman's conversion to Rome.  The first of Lonsdale's sermons for consideration is that preached at the 1827 episcopal consecration of Hugh Percy , Bishop of Rochester (translated the same year to Carlisle, in which see he died in 1856). Perhaps what is most striking about the sermon is the modesty of its claims for the episcopal office.  It is thoroughly Hookerian, without a...

Since Advent 2021, laudable Practice has journeyed through the liturgical year with the sermons of Joseph Holden Pott. Associated with the Hackney Phalanx, the Old High circle which deeply influenced the early 19th century Church of England, Pott's  A Course of Sermons, for the Lord's Day throughout the Year  was published in 1817. The sermons have offered a significant insight into how Old High theology and piety was articulated from the pulpit. Today's final extract is from the sermon for the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity, the Sunday next before Advent.  Based on the reading for the epistle, from Jeremiah 23, Pott emphasises how the righteousness of Christ is both the ground of our justification and is to bear the fruit of righteousness in the Christian life. This reflects an enduring Old High theme, echoed many times in Pott's sermons, on the necessity of good works. This, of course, echoed the collect of the Sunday: "plenteously bringing forth the fruit of...