Not Angels But Anglicans: A History of Christianity in the British Isles

by Henry Chadwick

This title traces the history and development of Christianity in Britain from Roman times through twenty often turbulent centuries. Learned, yet accessible, witty in style and attractively illustrated throughout, this is popular history at its best. When the earlier editions were in print, 9/11 had not happened, Iraq had not been invaded, Rowan Williams was not yet Archbishop of Canterbury. No-one could have foreseen the escalation of religious conflict, how the issue of homosexuality was to dominate the churches' public agenda, that the number of female ordinands would so rapidly outnumber male candidates, or imagined British parish churches rejecting their bishops and looking to Africa for a moral lead. This new edition conveys the character and contribution of Christianity in the ever changing landscape of contemporary Britain.

Genres: History, Christianity, Christian, Church History

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 24, 2000

About the author

Henry Chadwick was a British academic, theologian and Church of England priest. A former dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford – and as such, head of Christ Church, Oxford – he also served as master of Peterhouse, Cambridge.
A leading historian of the early church, Chadwick was appointed Regius Professor at both the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He was a noted supporter of improved relations with the Catholic Church, and a leading member of the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission. An accomplished musician, having studied music to degree level, he took a leading part in the revision and updating of hymnals widely used within Anglicanism, chairing the board of the publisher Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. for 20 years.

Reviews

[Nigel Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reasonable single volume history of Christianity in The British Isles though the focus is almost exclusively on England and predominantly on the Church of England. Like many anthologies it is somewhat uneven in quality but does include some excellent essays.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The purpose [of the Tyndale Bible] was "that men may know what they pray, also with words lest things (that are) special good and principal, being enwrapped in ignorance of the words, should not perfectly come to the mind and to the intelligence of men." Once understanding replaced ignorance, the battle was on for the minds as well as the hearts of Englishmen.

This book looked very useful when planning: "Let's create a 'History of Christianity in the British Isles,' but let's have different respected historians and theologians each take up a chapter." And so they divvy up the chronology and hand out chapter assignments. Then, for some very odd reason, the authors fail to convey any of the "history." They skip the details in a truly confusing manner, citing acts or events without any attempt at defining or describing them. It's as if they truly believe we should already be accomplished scholars on the "History of Christianity in the British Isles." Seriously. So each chapter is often one of the authors riffing on a personal point, making some obscure stand on some nebulous cause.

Rather, this book should have been titled "Ruminations on the History of Christianity in the British Isles." Then readers, like myself, would have expected that they never intended to provide any actual history, but are here simply to chat about history. I've seen this tendency in Rowan Williams before; he's no different here. But he's not alone--the tendency to rant and pontificate rather than explain or delineate is rampant.

There are much better books on this subject out there, trust me. Pick this up ONLY if your school deems this travesty a required text.

When Laud died, his pet tortoise lived on at Lambeth Palace for another 108 years, until it was killed accidentally by a gardener.

Milton's prose works were therefore kept in print primarily by eager heterodox figures who could claim him as an exemplar, men like John Toland and Richard Baron: this was more of a handicap than a help. Despite the efforts of such figures, English republicanism and English Arianism equally failed. Milton was doubly a loser.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful and accessible! Would be helpful in a lit & belief class focused on Brit lit.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Telling the story of British church history should be an easy overs; you just start with those Celts who were already Christian when Pope Gregory the Great sent Saint Augustine to Kent to convert the heathens in 597 and follow the thread up until yesterday. The venerable "Church Times" (a weekly tabloid in Britain) invited the foremost church historians in the realm to write short essays about their area of expertise and published these as a weekly feature from October 1999 to April 2000. The authors included Henry Chadwick, Kenneth Stevenson, Jonathan Riley-Smith, Gillian Evans, Norman Tanner, Euan Cameron, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Patrick Collinson, and Rowan Williams. The result, when edited by Professor Chadwick into a book, was a history of Christianity in the British Isles ... sort of. The text does not flow like a river. It is certainly not seamless. The style changes with every essay. There is much failing to link themes. There is no overarching vision through which the whole is seen. Given the interests and preferences of the authors, the book includes some things which might not otherwise have been included and omits some others, which is a puzzlement. The greatest criticism of the whole work is that it fails to answer the most interesting questions of all: Is there an Anglican ethos? Is there such a thing as Anglican spirituality? The illustrations are many and well-chosen and add much interest to the text. The boxed short biographies of principal players enliven and humanize the text. Unfortunately, the "For Further Reading" was rather dated when published in 2000 and not at all updated in 2010. It inexcusably omits, for example, Diarmaid MacCulloch’s 2003 work on the "Reformation." The 2010 edit is the first revision; the book needs a new one every decade. A chapter bringing the story forward to the date of publication would be welcome. It is time to replace Bishop John R.H. Moorman's well-worn book "The History of the Church in England" (1953) with another and this text appears to be it.

[Jonathan Frazier]

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