The Oxford Movement

by Richard William Church

The Oxford Movement, written by R.W. Church, is a comprehensive account of the religious and social movement that originated in the 19th century in England. The book explores the origins, development, and impact of the movement, which was led by a group of Anglican theologians who sought to revive the Catholic traditions of the Church of England. The Oxford Movement was a response to the growing secularization of society and the perceived decline of the Church of England. It emphasized the importance of liturgy, sacraments, and the authority of the Church, and sought to restore the spiritual and moral character of the Church. The book examines the key figures of the movement, including John Henry Newman, Edward Pusey, and John Keble, and their influence on the Church of England and the wider society. The Oxford Movement had a profound impact on the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion, and its legacy can still be felt today. The book is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of Christianity and the Church of England.Their unflinching and severe proclamation of Church principles and Church doctrines coincided with a state of feeling and opinion in the country, in which two very different tendencies might be observed. They fell on the public mind just when one of these tendencies would help them, and the other be fiercely hostile. On the one hand, the issue of the political controversy with the Roman Catholics, their triumph all along the line, and the now scarcely disguised contempt shown by their political representatives for the pledges and explanations on which their relief was supposed to have been conceded.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1891

About the author

Richard William Church was an English churchman and writer, known latterly as Dean Church.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard...

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This work was written by a second tier adherent of the movement (who remained in the C of E). It is a valuable source on the movement, but I found the author's writing style to be somewhat difficult. Sentences contained multiple clauses; at times I had to go back to the beginning of the sentence to figure out who was the subject of the sentence. Having some prior knowledge of the political situation at that time, and how Oxford is governed, will help while reading this book.

I suspect the author is too hard on the theological liberals and their motives. At times I felt the author made the liberals the villains of the work. Like the Tractarians themselves, the liberals probably overreacted to the situation at hand. It demonstrates that faculty politics are the nastiest.

[foundfoundfound · Rating 4 out of 5]

the oxford movement was the one, brief, genuine effort to turn the church of england (essentially a catholic-hating club) into a genuinely religious body; that is, a church. it failed, naturally. the english tried religion and found it unpalatable.

r.w. church sympathetically describes, in mature high victorian prose, the process of this failure.

a useful supplementary guide to the material treated in john henry newman's classic "apologia pro vita sua".

[Christopher Pokorny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary of the Oxford/ Tractarian Movement from a second generation tractarian adherent. Having a working knowledge of the events and persons involved, help the reader make progress through the book. Seems to be middle of the road, and not pushing in any direction, but objectively reporting what happened and how it shaped the religious/scholastic/educational field at the time.