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That Blessed Liberty: Episcopal Bishops and the Development of the American Republic 1789-1860
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 10, 2026
This is an incredibly fascinating book tracing the lives and legacies of Protestant Episcopal Bishops during the beginnings of America's founding.
Anglicans in modern-day America are frequently discussing the core of our Anglican "identity" and most of the conversations revolve around the Early Church, the Reformation and the Liturgical Renewal movement. However, as these authors seek to show, we need to factor in the legacy of the Protestant Episcopal Church and how the example of these early years in America can shape and inform our identity today.
From the book: "The Protestant Episcopal Church of the Nineteenth Century not only provides an important historic tradition for modern North American Anglicans; it also provides a tradition that effectively maintained relative unity amongst churchmen whose theological differences might have led to the fracture of the Episcopal Church. That the fracture occurred at the beginning of the Twenty-First Century, and not in the era of the Tractarian movement, the Civil War, and en masse societal democratization is a testament to the strength of the antebellum and broader Nineteenth Century Episcopal leadership."
As a current Anglican Seminarian, I found this book incredibly helpful and increased my curiosity about the distinct heritage of American Anglicanism.
Anglicans in modern-day America are frequently discussing the core of our Anglican "identity" and most of the conversations revolve around the Early Church, the Reformation and the Liturgical Renewal movement. However, as these authors seek to show, we need to factor in the legacy of the Protestant Episcopal Church and how the example of these early years in America can shape and inform our identity today.
From the book: "The Protestant Episcopal Church of the Nineteenth Century not only provides an important historic tradition for modern North American Anglicans; it also provides a tradition that effectively maintained relative unity amongst churchmen whose theological differences might have led to the fracture of the Episcopal Church. That the fracture occurred at the beginning of the Twenty-First Century, and not in the era of the Tractarian movement, the Civil War, and en masse societal democratization is a testament to the strength of the antebellum and broader Nineteenth Century Episcopal leadership."
As a current Anglican Seminarian, I found this book incredibly helpful and increased my curiosity about the distinct heritage of American Anglicanism.
October 5, 2025
10 sketches of Episcopalian bishops in the Early Republic era paint an instructive and inspiring picture of a church body navigating serious debate such as the Oxford Movement debate and high/low church split writ large, abolition, and response to evangelical revivals all while maintaining a degree of ecclesiastical cohesion. It’s helpful to see a variety of approaches to these issues represented in the different figures, some more sympathetic to Oxford or to Calvinism, but each devoted to the uniqueness of the Anglican Church as a Reformation tradition and to the propagation of American religion. A short but substantial read.
September 22, 2025
Im giving Adam five starts but not rating me lol.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews