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 Journal Number One - Autumn 1994
Book ReviewThe Oxford Movement: Twelve Years: 1833-1845by R. W. Church. The University of Chicago Press, 1970.
The beginnings of what is now a prevalent nervousness about Anglican identity may, I believe, be dated from the 1978 publication of Stephen Sykes seminal work The Integrity of Anglicanism, which set before the Anglican fold the difficult challenge of thinking clearly about Anglican ecclesiology. Bishop Sykes obvious impatience with the lack of systematic theological work among Anglicans (for which Anglicans claiming a mysterious English exemption from this work-have long defended themselves) is coupled with a strident call for a renewed commitment to theological education and training which will, he hopes, strengthen the Anglican Communion and better equip it for the work of ecumenical encounter. In a word, Sykes publication is a call for those in the Anglican fold to become serious. Among those particularly affected by this recent reassessment of Anglican claims may be counted a relatively small group of bishops, theologians, parish priests, and lay people, who, under the banner Affirming Catholicism, are searching for a more profound and serious understanding of what it means to be Anglican and Catholic. The initial stages of this recent movement are tellingly portrayed in Richard Holloway's introduction to Living Tradition, a compilation of essays from the July1991 York Conference on Affirming Catholicism. while, understandably, these essays and other articles and oral presentations at Affirming Catholicism conferences and retreats have had a certain ad hoc quality as this movement finds its way, it is nonetheless essential, in any view, that painstaking attention be given to a historical recovery of the Oxford Movement, so that important lessons which might be learned, both positive and negative, are heeded. Of course no suggestion is made that the Oxford Movement is the only resource for contemporary Anglican Catholics. It simply is one that cannot be ignored. Among historical surveys of the Oxford Movement, perhaps none is better than R. W. Church's 1891
classic The Oxford Movement: Twelve Years: 1833-1845. Richard
William Church was an important secondary figure in the movement. He went to Oxford in 1833; graduated in 1836;
became a fellow of Oriel College in 1838. In order to be married, he left the university in 1852 and became a country
parson. In 1871 he became dean of St. Paul's, a position which he held until his in death on December 9, 1890.
Church's intimate knowledge of the movement and its leading characters, his special affection for John Henry Newman,
his critical sense for the strengths and weaknesses of the movement as well as the characters involved, his chronicle
of the sufferings heaped upon the central character's in the movement, and his own profound literary gifts make
his history a most important work to which students of the movement must often return.
Church's understanding of the movement remains somewhat veiled throughout the text as he makes virtually no mention of himself. Nonetheless, among summary statements one may deduce Church's assessment of the movement in terms which sound remarkably applicable to the contemporary church generally and more specifically to a recovery of Anglican Catholicism. In the opening pages of The Oxford Movement Church says, describing the religious and political mood of the time:
The task of theology always has been a call to sound the depths of conviction and to bring forth the fruits of such labor with the full aid of one's intellect and imagination so as to claim the hearts of God's people. But such a high calling is often ignored or forgotten. Church continues:
The Oxford Movement was, therefore, a radical theological venture, a return to early church sources as well as the classic works of seventeenth century English divines, a reassessment of the tradition with special concern for its application to what the Oxford fathers regarded as a moment of political and religious crisis. In addition to its theological emphasis, Church identifies its moral vigor as a distinguishing remark:
Church describes Newman's sermons as having "A passionate and sustained earnestness after
a high moral rule, seriously realized in conduct..." (p.22). "while men were reading and talking about
the Tracts, they were hearing the sermons; and in the sermons they heard the living means, and reason, and bearing
of the Tracts, their ethical affinity, their moral standard." (p. 93).
These two features of the Oxford Movement, its theological depth and its moral vigor, mentioned many times by Church, are perhaps the point at which a recovery of Anglican Catholicism may take its lead. We are at present still pressed to answer some of the fundamental theological questions which were at the heart of the Oxford Movement, not the least of which is the important issue of ecclesiology. what is the Church? what claim may it legitimately make upon contemporary people? Is it in some sense a divine society or is it a denominational convenience or encumbrance? And, we cannot escape the moral-ascetical question, To what kind of life is the Christian called? what are the moral and ascetical demands placed upon the disciple of Christ? To be sure, a review of the Oxford Movement will not supply ready answers to these questions as they surface in the later part of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, the sheer astuteness and seriousness of the theological inquiry embodied in the Oxford Movement and its attending moral vigor speak to the task facing the contemporary Anglican. Can we and will we so engage the living past? Will we commit ourselves to a manner of life worthy of a disciple? Again, the arresting words of R. W. Church, in some sense, I believe, point the way for the contemporary Anglican:
Of its moral character Church says, "The note struck in the first of Mr. Newman's published sermons-'Holiness necessary for future blessedness '-was never allowed to be out of mind. The movement was, above all, a moral one; it was nothing, allowed to be nothing, if it was not this." (p. 133). This ethical tendency, says Church, could be seen specifically in a more serious study of the Gospels as a weans to encounter a living Master whom every disciple is called to imitate. Additionally, the movement recovered a deep sense of the necessity of self-discipline, which Church calls a "real trouble with one's self to keep thoughts and wishes in order, to lay the foundation of habits, to acquire the power of self-control." (p.134). It is, of course, presumptuous to mandate the direction of a rather loosely assembled movement
such as Affirming Catholicism. Much evolution yet has to occur before some order and purpose will emerge. Nonetheless,
as one involved from its inception on American soil, I cannot but think we have much to gain and perhaps many errors
to avoid by attending to the movement which first, in the modern church, made Anglicans bold to call themselves
Catholic.
Our own age has its burning questions, which the Church must face. But no response from ecclesiastical quarters will suffice unless is it sufficiently serious, profoundly learned, imaginative in its appeal, and morally challenging. The problem in the modern church is perhaps similar to the crisis prior to the Oxford Movement. Church membership is still too easy, the intellect is too lazy, moral demands are too lax, and devotion is, when present, too sentimental. R.W. Church might prescribe two things: A theology which is serious-that is, an entire life dedicated to study, plummeting the depths, examining sources, asking hard questions, going to the root of matters; and a moral life which befits a disciple-that is, a life of self-discipline in which habits of virtue are nurtured and sustained by the constant aid of labor and grace. In this way, I suspect, the catholic cause may be advanced in the life of contemporary Anglicans. This is important only because Catholicism is now and always has been an avenue into the mystery of Christ himself. Admittedly, nothing is resolved by these simple observations from Dean Church's classic history. No theological proposal is set forth. No moralascetical program is recommended. Yet, as regards the general direction of an effort to reclaim Anglican Catholicism, the concern to deepen and strengthen theological inquiry, particularly as it pertains to the question of ecclesiology, so dear to the Oxford fathers, and the quest to seek God through self-disciplined sanctity must have a place of privilege on the Anglican Catholic agenda. Bishop Sykes rightly urges Anglicans to face the difficult question of ecclesial identity, particularly
in view of the demand from our ecumenical partners that we give some coherent apology for who we are. The question,
however, is also urgent to the parish priest who regards evangelism not simply as a call for people to embrace
yet another social commitment, albeit one with valid religious concerns about giving people a sense of belonging,
a place in which to be affirmed, a community of moral formation. Notwithstanding the importance of these elements,
it is critical, in my view, that be people hear a clear call to be forgiven and illumined and enriched through
incorporation into the mystery of Christ in the context of his One Holy Catholic Church. Somehow, the question
of what the church is must be faced anew.
John Henry Newman began a life-long struggle with the question of ecclesiology in Tract One with the assertion "I fear we have neglected the real ground on which our authority is built-OUR APOSTOLICAL DESCENT." "Theory after theory came up and was tried, and was found wasting," Dean Church says of Newman's continued struggle. (p.138). The result, of course, was Newman's transfer to Rome and his claim that Anglicanism was but a paper church. Dean Church, however, like most who remained loyal, claimed, in spite of whatever shortcomings were obvious in the English Church, that Anglican Catholicism was a real position about a real church, divinely instituted. "The Via Media, whether or not logically consistent, was a thing of genuine English., growth, and was at least a working theory." (p.201). Presumably, contemporary Anglicans have a responsibility to "work" at this theory and to embody it; that is, to articulate an ecclesiology which regard the church both as a fallible human society and a supernatural communion, and to set before the faithful certain intelligible patterns of devotion and moral behavior which may express and deepen their awareness and dependence upon the divine mystery. Catholic identity is rooted in theology, that is, doctrine; and it has a particular concern to assert that the Church, for all its obvious errors and problems, is, nonetheless, a communion of saints, a mystical body, divinely instituted and divinely protected. Catholic identity is equally rooted in devotion; that is, prayer. This, of course, is much hard work, for which contemporary examples are a great inspiration. I, for one, know that Anglican Catholicism is an undeniable reality for the simple reason that I have greeted again and again the work of Austin Farrer. Here we have a theologian of repute, with an incisive mind, and immensely imaginative spirit, who, though practicing the theologian's task of dissecting doctrine right down to its essential elements, refused ever to excise the spirit of prayer from his most abstract reflection. Austin Farrer is a priest of prayer and a man of deep devotion, in love equally with Scripture, metaphysics, and poetry. I conclude with the opening lines of his book Lord I Believe; which so eloquently embody the spirit of the movement:
Incorporation into the church through baptism is incorporation into Christ himself. Thus, sacramentally, and by eschatological anticipation, the baptized enter a new and heavenly country. This is more than even a working theory. Amid the varied changes and chances of life, there is a palpable knowledge which beats in the praying heart, a knowledge of Christ, an imbued divine love, from which those dear to Christ will never be separated. t Patrick T. Twomey, Rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Dixon, Illinois
Affirming Catholicism is an educational charity involved in various initiatives: publications, seminars, shared worship, retreats, pilgrimages, conferences. Most dioceses have their own local groups to undertake similar projects themselves. Address: St Giles Church, No. 4 The Postern, Wood Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8BJ. Telephone enquiries to+44 [0]171-638 1980; fax: +44 [0]171-638 1997. Registered Charity No. 1007291
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