The High Church Tradition: A Study in the Liturgical Thought of the Seventeenth Century

by G.W.O. Addleshaw

Genres: Theology

204 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1947

About the author

the very reverend

Reviews

[Alex Strohschein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I currently attend St. John's Vancouver, J.I. Packer's church. Compared to much of Anglicanism, it is evangelical and low church. We only celebrate Holy Communion monthly at the service I attend (the early morning service celebrates it weekly) and there are no smells and bells.

But G.W.O. Addleshaw's "The High Church Tradition" is an illuminating elucidation of an expression of Anglicanism that deeply cherishes the Church Father, the liturgy, and the Eucharist. Addleshaw shows the vision for the Church that Lancelot Andrewes, Richard Hooker, Jeremy Taylor, William Laud, and other high churchmen had for the Anglican Church. These theologians sought to be faithful to the catholic Church and were not strict Calvinists like many of their Puritan brethren were nor did they overcompensate too much and swing towards Rome; they were thoughtful about the liturgy's order and upheld the theology of the early Church Fathers. They were particularly insistent upon the centrality of the Eucharist for Christian worship. "The High Church Tradition" reminds me of the paleo-orthodox movement championed by the late Thomas Oden and others.

Though informative, the description of liturgy is not the same as EXPERIENCING liturgy itself. It's one thing to highlight a particular prayer and why it should follow "x" but it's not the same as participating in the liturgy with the people of God around you. As well, some sections of the book were a bit too dry and detailed, particularly discussions over ecclesiastical law.

[A.L. Stumo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a clear, wise, educated writer. He really speaks to the problems that the end of Christendom bring. His perspective is of course very English, and his prescription is only for an England that wishes to be culturally unified. He realizes that the C of E cannot work as it did in the past, and in places he realizes that his view is not likely to be realized, yet he claims the perspective.

[John]

An outstanding survey of the Anglican thinkers of the the Elizabethan and Caroline periods who established High Churchmanship in Anglicanism, with a particular view of their understanding of the liturgy as the nexus of Christian life.