English Spirituality: An Outline of Ascetical Theology According to the English Pastoral Tradition

by Martin Thornton

Thornton's classic text surveying the English pastoral tradition answers basic "How does an Anglican spiritual guide go about the job?" and "What body of knowledge is required for competent guidance and how should it be applied?" Thornton's survey moves from the New Testament to St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and the English tradition's Celtic roots. Concludes with a comprehensive guide for spiritual directors.

Genres: Theology, History, Spirituality, Church, Christian, Philosophy, Religion

1 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1963

Reviews

[Chad D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for the book, five stars for the reading experience, much of which took place in England.

The author exposits English spirituality historically, with a particular focus on the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, what he argues to be its high points and golden ages.

The strengths of this particular tradition, according to him, are syntheses of speculative and affective devotion, nature and grace, ecclesial and personal, discipline and innovation, all channeled into a lifetime of habitual recollection in which religious experience is the total experience of a religious person. That ideal is powerfully attractive, especially when he applies adjectives like "sane," "domestic," and "homely." It seems as though a devoted layperson could live in it.

Because I am not an Anglican, some of the intricacies of argument elude my comprehension and my interest. But, again, the ideal is powerfully attractive.

[Joseph Leake]

This proved — along with Julian of Norwich's Divine Revelations, read around the same time — to be the most enriching, most edifying and most spiritually nourishing work of Christian writing that I have read in a long time. It was both an informing and clarifying book — that is, it taught me a lot, but also (even more valuably) it gave voice to things I have long grasped, but grasped in a general, inchoate way; it put into words what I might have struggled to express. It clarified what I love about this tradition — "sane, wise, ancient, modern, sound, and simple" — and why; it helped me understand the language of my own heart.

Thornton's term "ascetical theology" is regrettably misleading; what he means by it is the "synthesis" and integration of "the theological and the emotional, doctrine and devotion, fact and feeling." It is the synthesis of "true piety and sound learning" (that is, "true piety" based on or practiced alongside "sound learning"), "a living and creative faith, as against mere external belief", providing "a map rather than a programme" which "controls and colors practical daily life." This is breathing fresh and cool air. It is something neither hampered by nervously-placed doctrinal guardrails and "Off limits" signs, nor given over to a radical "believe what you want" individualism; something neither puritanical nor libertine. As Thornton aptly puts it, "It is all intensely sane."

More than that: it is something that (at its best) embraces beauty, but also simplicity; is magnanimous, fundamentally humane; it is (to use a favorite term of Julian's) courteous.

The one major fault I find with the book is that early Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Christendom is given short shrift. Thornton doesn't just say he has no insights to share about this important part of English Christian tradition, which would be disappointing but certainly pardonable; he instead dismissively says there's nothing really there to discuss anyway, which is much less pardonable. Ignorance of a subject should be confessed with humility, not masked by claiming there's nothing worth knowing about the subject to begin with.

But I mostly am filled with gratitude to Thornton for how beneficial and enriching — and how personally moving — the book was. (And I am impressed that he discussed the rather obscure but excellent 13th century Ancrene Riwle as an important component of the English Christian tradition.)

[Rev. Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am currently re-reading English Spirituality after a hiatus of perhaps two decades. It is a splendid book; my reason for giving it only four rather than five stars is that at this remove, it seems a bit dated:

Not, I hasten to add, in its core content – the English spiritual / ascetical / pastoral tradition, which remains as valid and relevant as ever, but in Thornton's efforts to relate this tradition to the (then-) "current" trends in Anglican (and more broadly, Western) spirituality. While he by no means embraces the spirit of the age, Thornton gives it, perhaps, a deeper bow than it deserves.

That said, this is consonant with one of his basic premises, which is that while the core of the tradition remains, as I say, both valid and relevant to each age and all ages, the way in which it is interpreted and presented must, of necessity, be sensitive to the variations in ethos, outlook, and emphasis which are the inevitable result of social and historic processes.

And now I'm starting to sound too much like an academic, so I shall be more blunt: you've got to reach people where they are, and only then can one hope to lead them to where they ought to be.

This book, with its sibling Christian Proficiency , provides excellent resources and inspiration for accomplishing both of those ends. As well, of course, as being a fascinating historical study for those who are interested in the English school of spirituality, as it has developed over the centuries.

Well worth a read!

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very remarkable historical survey of the distinctively English school of Christian spirituality. Thornton will have no truck with Anglicans who wish to ape the Counter-Reformation and uncritically adopt its devotional practices, neither does he think it wise to idealize the 17th century as the paradigm of all English spirituality before and after. Rather, we might more profitably emphasize the continuities between 14th century mystics, ancient and Medieval church fathers, and divines of the 17th century and later in order to discover that a coherent, biblical, patristic, and Catholic system of spirituality which is distinctively English is our native soil as Anglicans. Thornton takes these insights and then applies them in ways that are radically traditional and yet follow a tradition of radical experimentation to the glory of God.

[Allan Savage]

This book is written out of the English experience and for that reason should be read by American theologians and clergy. Thornton lives up to his promise and presents a practical pastoral approach to matters spiritual without an inordinate emphasis on the influence of psychology as is often present in American publications about spirituality and pastoral practice. Martin is honest and says that his book "contains nothing very new, but I think it contains a good deal that is old enough to have been forgotten..." (P. xiii). His claim arises after years of personal experience. This is important because he notes that the science-religion relationship, that developed in favour of the dominance of science, seems to be reversing. He writes that " theology looks like becoming the only frame of reference into which current questions can be fitted" (p. 7). He fits spiritual questions into a framework of an English School of spirituality within the diversity of Catholic Christianity. To address the spiritual needs of the twentieth century he pays attention to the biblical roots and early theological interpreters, especially English, of the Christian experience. It is a great help to the reader that Thornton explains how and why his interpretations depart from other authors who have written in this field. These have been addressed by other authors. Written, not as an academic text, but as a resource for the contemporary spiritual director, the books fulfils its purpose admirably. Finally, this is the same author who later, in Prayer: A New Encounter (1972), criticizes and alters his original perspective from an academic theologian to embrace a pastoral-theological stance. His reasons for this are well worth knowing.

[Jared Lovell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful in many ways. Thornton's explanation of St. Benedict's influence on English spirituality and its connection with the structure of the Book of Common Prayer is fascinating. His discussion of English ascetical theology in the Middle Ages in the lives of Walter Hilton, Margery Kempe, and Julian of Norwich is spiritually rich. His outline of the theological contributions of the Caroline Divines gives the reader a greater appreciation for these often neglected men of God. However, I do think Thornton's complete neglect of the 16th century was glaring omission that was a little too convenient for his thesis.

[Scott Meadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for tracing the history of English spirituality before and after the Book of Common Prayer. All is centered around the threefold Office/Eucharist/Private Devotion as seen in St. Benedictine, St. Anselm, Julian of Norwich, St. Thomas, and onward. You have to want to read it though, as Thornton can have several dry pages booked by excellent paragraphs.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF. Started reading this for a book club but the group fizzled out. I will probably return to this book some day but am taking a break for now. The chapters on St. Benedict and The Book of Common Prayer were incredible and worthy of 5 stars in and of themselves.

[Laura]

A piecemeal read for church. A compendium of the spiritual and theological traditions within the English church, but a bit dense for me. I will return to it periodically as I need to freshen up on various theological giants.

[Tynan Brooks]

Really useful for me, in many ways, for gesturing towards what I might find valuable in a vague "English/Anglican tradition." Not perfect, especially in its historiography, but its central theses seem useful and resonant w/ my spirituality.

[Joel Zartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a historical theology of the English ascetical tradition. Martin Thornton is competent, thorough, and has a sense of humor that is often wry.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic reprinted. Great structural underpining to our current pastoral diversity.

[Russeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. great book. some points repeated too often, but they're good points.