Review Roundup: Deep Anglicanism
Recently, theologian and frequent Anglican Compass contributor The Rev. Dr. Gerald McDermott released Deep Anglicanism: A Brief Guide, his accessible but not lightweight introduction to the Anglican tradition. We were excited to get our hands on this new volume, released by Nashotah House Press, written by one of modern Anglicanism’s most prolific writers. Such was the case that both our editor, Jacob Davis, and our ministry president, Peter Johnston, were both eager to review it. In addition, we received an outside review submitted by Calvin Robinson, who, as an English priest ordained in the Old Catholic Church, lends a broadening voice to the otherwise American Anglican context of McDermott and our team.
While not without criticism, our reviewers found McDermott’s volume to be both accessible and deep. It brings the richness of Anglicanism’s deep history, including its ancient pre-Reformation roots, to bear on our beliefs and practices. While it may, at times, try too hard to cover all bases, it very capably fills a gap, providing a depth of historical and theological richness to our understanding of the Anglican tradition.
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An Accessible Guide with Added Depth
by The Rev. Jacob Davis, editor of Anglican Compass
One takes notice when a new introduction to the Anglican Tradition is released, especially by a noted theologian within the tradition. Such is the case with Gerald McDermott’s Deep Anglicanism: A Brief Guide. McDermott has proven himself an authority on our tradition time and time again, as well as an accessible and eloquent writer. For that very reason, he’s written many articles for Anglican Compass over the years. If anyone could add anything to the genre of Anglican introductions in recent years, it would be him.
A Richly Anglican Introduction
One of the most striking features of McDermott’s volume is its immense readability. Despite being a primarily theological text, it captivates the reader’s attention, making it a page-turner in the truest sense. It also has a devotional quality in its writing, being as much food for the heart as the mind. These aspects of the book will pique and keep the interest of anyone wishing to learn more about our Anglican tradition.
The other striking feature is its depth, which is fitting considering the title. McDermott presents not just the what and how but also the why. Why is it such a big deal that Anglican clergy are ordained by bishops in Apostolic Succession back to the apostles? McDermott has a well-articulated, holistic answer. McDermott richly connects the tradition not just to scripture (which he does abundantly), nor to the Reformation, but to the ancient Church. And while, because there is a great expanse of theological opinion amongst Anglicans even on the nuances of things we have in common (Is Anglicanism Protestant? Catholic? Both? Neither?), and one will undoubtedly disagree with McDermott somewhere, the whole comes across as a useful, orthodox introductory text without reservation.
This mixture of clarity and accessible depth is everything we look for here at Anglican Compass. In many ways, I wish this book were under our label. It makes a perfect “102”-level follow-up to our entry-level, “101”-level book, Simply Anglican, written by Winfield Bevins.
Editorial Shortcomings
The work’s primary shortcomings stem from its need for more aggressive editing. This issue is twofold.
The first comes from a number of typos and punctuation issues, many of which were remedied in the second edition. A remaining issue is the double-spacing after periods, which is visually jarring at first. This has never been a norm in print publishing and only found its way into any use with the advent of typewriters and fixed-width type. Due to today’s use of variable-width digital type, modern academic and publishing style guides discourage double-spacing. Combined with the publisher’s more standard choice to justify the text block, it creates visual gaps that interrupt the reading flow.
The second, more notable editorial issue is that some of the content needs tightening. McDermott goes on several theological excursions that, while interesting, feel tangential in a concise introduction to the Anglican tradition. He tries too hard to cover all the bases that could possibly be covered. These include a few cases where McDermott’s view lies more on the edge of the Anglican theological mainstream, such as his defense of a form of purgation in the intermediary state. While his view here should be noted when relevant, expounding on it feels better left to other places and times than the context of this “brief guide.”
Conclusion
Deep Anglicanism is a truly helpful volume that is a natural follow-up to one of the entry-level overviews of the Anglican traditions. When someone wants to “dig a little deeper” regarding not just what we believe but why, this is the first book I will recommend. Critiques aside, McDermott has presented an accessible and theologically robust guide that will enrich anyone’s walk in the Anglican way.
The Depth of the Anglo-Saxon Church
by The Ven. Dr. Peter Johnston, president of Anglican Compass
Deep Anglicanism is premised on the view that the Anglican tradition, properly conceived, runs deeper than any of our normal categories of churchmanship. In other words, the low church and high church will find, when they dig deeper into the tradition, a more fundamental commonality between them. This deeper Anglicanism, one indeed grounded upon Christ and the common liturgical life of the Church under the guidance of his Spirit, is the substratum that can hold us together in the midst of our apparent differences. “Deep calls to deep” (Psalm 42:7).
I agree with this idea and commend Dr. McDermott for using his historical and theological erudition to advance our common understanding. This approach to our tradition holds great promise.
The Missing Anglo-Saxon Church
One important aspect of this promise goes unfulfilled in McDermott’s otherwise excellent book. I speak especially of the Anglo-Saxon church, which ran roughly from 597 to 1066, from the mission of Augustine to the Norman Conquest. To my mind, the development of the church at that time constitutes the deepest substratum of the distinctly Anglican tradition, and it is regrettable that Dr. McDermott devotes little attention to this period of the church.
To be sure, Dr. McDermott pays special attention to the scriptures and the early church Fathers who constitute the common inheritance of the whole catholic tradition, including our Anglican faith. Deep Anglicanism certainly does not miss what makes our tradition deeply and decidedly Christian.
That said, a more thorough discussion of Anglicanism as a unique strand of Christianity would benefit from the depiction of that era and its exemplary figures. For example, I want to read more about Augustine’s journey, Hilda’s diplomacy, Caedmon’s poetry, Bede’s scholarship, Aidan’s devotion, Boniface’s evangelism, Alfred’s reform, and Wulfstan’s warnings.
A Future Project
Of course, Deep Anglicanism is already somewhat long for an introductory guide, so such a treatment of the Anglo-Saxon church might not fit within the book’s contours. Moreover, its structure is devotional rather than historical, in contrast to Dr. McDermott’s recent theological history, A New History of Redemption.
Perhaps there is an opening for a future project in the genre of Anglican guidebooks. A guide fully committed to the Catholic and Reformed faith hammered out in the 16th century is needed, but one that unfolds chronologically and covers the full history of the distinctly Anglican way.
An Update to Lewis & Staley
by the Rev. Calvin Robinson, UK-based priest, Old Catholic Church
The Reverend Dr. Gerald R. McDermott’s latest book is one that many of us have been waiting for for some time. It is an Anglican guidebook of sorts. What Fr. McDermott manages to do with Deep Anglicanism is pick up where C. S. Lewis left off with Mere Christianity. Adopting Lewis’ lexicon, McDermott attempts to provide a catch-all book for Anglicans and those considering Anglicanism, presenting somewhat of a guidebook for the faith.
Vernon Staley is another credited influence on this book. Staley’s The Catholic Religion has been my go-to recommendation for those interested in Anglo-Catholic theology ever since my good friend Clinton Colister asked me to review it for the Holy CofE Podcast. Staley’s 19th-century work is mostly out of print and quite old-fashioned now in style, but it contains everything one needs to know about the Catholic faith from an Anglo perspective. McDermott provides a 21st-century update to that great work.
Incorporating Lewis’s breadth and Staley’s accuracy, McDermott provides a one-size-fits-all approach to the Anglican tradition of the Catholic faith, covering an array of topics.
Overview
The first half of the book broaches the via media of Anglicanism, filling the gap between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. It also discusses Crazy King Henry and the question of the roots of Anglicanism, liturgy and the Book of Common Prayer, and spirituality and the Anglican divines.
For me, though, the book really comes into its own in the latter half, with the Sacraments, the Church, Sacred Scripture, and Sacred Tradition—or, as McDermott calls it, the Great Tradition. The book ends with fascinating chapters exploring why not the other major traditions of the Christian faith: “Why not the way of Geneva? Why not Wittenberg? Why not Rome or Constantinople?”
If anything, this book does too good a job. It almost feels like it should be two separate books or perhaps three. And herein lies this reviewer’s major criticism of the book; its strength is also its weakness, in that it tries to be all things to perhaps too many people.
Anglicanism for Protestants
The first half of the book is an explanation of Anglicanism, but particularly from an American perspective. Perhaps this is helpful, as Anglicanism in England is part of our blood; it is our inherited faith, whereas, in the United States, it is a choice. And McDermott understands this well. He writes the first chapters, it seems, for the eyes of Protestants. The Anglican expression of the faith is explained in a way that will help those exploring the tradition. Baptists, Methodists, Evangelicals, and people of other Low Church denominations will benefit from these first few chapters, which teach about common misconceptions. They will help evangelicals gain more appreciation for the traditions of the Church and attain a better understanding of the fullness of the faith. After reading this first half, they will want to become Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, or Anglican, as is right and proper.
For Anglicans, this first half will help them better understand their tradition as adherents to the English expression of the Catholic faith. McDermott talks of the Reformation as a process to heal the Church of error and superstition while redirecting back to the teachings of the Church Fathers. The Reformers did not aim to create a new Church, which is a falsehood many modern-day Protestants often fall into.
Anglicanism as a Catholic Faith
Where the first half of the book is primarily historical and ecclesiological, the latter half of the book is mostly theological. If, in the first half, McDermott covers what it means to be Anglican. In the second, he addresses what it means to be Catholic.
Rome has made this a juridical matter. McDermott presents it as theological: Catholic refers to the Church of the whole or the beliefs and practices of the whole Church around the world, from the Latin catholicus, which is from the Greek katholikos. The Greek word combines kata (according to) and holos (the whole). Catholic means not just the Universal Church but the Whole Church. It certainly does not mean one particular Church or one particular institution or jurisdiction.
He does not shy away from hard truths, either. He discusses marriage being a lifelong union between one man and one woman and why women cannot become priests. McDermott touches on other interesting topics, such as why it is appropriate to call priests ‘Father’ and the importance of Apostolic Succession. He even delves into that favorite topic of Protestants: the definition of Justification and the means of Salvation.
In Conclusion
This book does not need to be read cover to cover. Think of it as more of a guidebook to dip into for particular topics. It would make for great reading as part of a study group or catechism class. The chapters are all written in bite-size chunks, making them incredibly accessible. One would imagine McDermott had reading groups in mind as he was writing it.
Deep Anglicanism is the religion of C. S. Lewis. It is a contemporary supplement to, although not a replacement for, Vernon Staley’s The Catholic Religion, which, along with Mere Christianity, Deep Anglicanism is undoubtedly among the top five books every Anglican should read, following, of course, the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer.
Photo of Wells Cathedral by Kristian Thomas from Pexels.
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