Abstract
Any book that opens up the treasure chest of the Anglican theological tradition is to be welcomed in principle. This one is a diverse collection of previously published occasional studies. There is not much to suggest any principle of selection, except that the subjects are modern Anglican theologians from the Church of England and the Episcopal Church (as it now is) about whom the author has previously written. Nor is there any kind of summing up or concluding reflection, though the stimulating Preface shows that this would have been worth having. So this could have been a stronger book, but it has much to offer as it is. How many of us, this side of the Atlantic, are versed in the remarkably prescient theological writings of William Porcher DuBose (1836–1918)? DuBose, a scholar and teacher from the American South, is regarded by Episcopalians as probably their greatest theologian. He held a robust sacramental ecclesiology, was a passionate advocate of Christian unity, stood for free intellectual enquiry, accepted the theory of evolution and articulated a theology of experience. His central insights retain much freshness today. The other major exposition here is of Austin Farrer on theodicy, eschatology and the theological interpretation of the Bible (‘the rebirth of images’).
So Slocum has happily chosen two subjects who are widely regarded as the greatest American theologian of the nineteenth century and the most brilliant English theologian of the twentieth for his most substantial studies. The other Americans studied are William Stringfellow the social radical and activist, Phillips Brooks the golden preacher, Jackson Kemper the missionary bishop (not a theologian), James DeKoven the Anglo-Catholic priest and Marilyn McCord Adams the specialist in medieval philosophy who is presented here for her work on the problem of evil. The other Anglican subjects are Charles Gore, John Macquarrie (a Scotsman and former Episcopalian) and John Polkinghorne. Polkinghorne and McCord Adams are the only living subjects in the book. So in terms of whom it leaves out (e.g. Maurice, Newman, Westcott, William Temple, Ramsey) it is a rum list, but most of these studies are genuinely worth having and Anglican libraries should certainly obtain this book. It can whet the reader’s appetite to engage at first hand with unfamiliar authors.
It is in the Preface that we get the marrow of Slocum’s approach to Anglicanism. He sees it as an eminently practical, balanced, pragmatic and incarnated faith, not given to systematizing or speculation (though there have been notable Anglican metaphysicians). It owes much to the Benedictine tradition, which finds grace in everyday life. Like the case-by-case method of the English common law, Anglicanism seeks to apply a large body of wisdom and understanding to questions and challenges that emerge from its social and cultural environment. Infallibility of any kind is not in its vocabulary. It finds the praises of God in the beauty of nature. Anglican theology takes human experience, especially social experience, seriously and this lends it a narrative quality. In his Foreword, Martyn Percy concurs with this picture, pointing out that the quality of Anglicanism is known through the character of the persons that it attracts and helps to form. Since the same could be said of other major Christian traditions, we have to concede that we are describing Anglicanism ‘at its best’ and ‘as we see it’, which are blatant value judgements, though ethical, not arbitrary ones. If character is the key, we have much to live up to!