“How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place” is a hymn of longing and spiritual ascent. It is a paraphrase of Psalm 84 and began in the ancient Hebrew practice of pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
St. Oswald: the Evangelist King
After a period of embracing Christianity, people in Northumbria returned to the Pagan beliefs they held before the gospel first reached the British shores. It would take a young Christian king returning from exile with a zeal for evangelism to begin a revival of faith that would last for centuries.
Fulfilling our First Commission: The Anglican Creation Care Network
The Church has an opportunity to lead the way in stewarding creation and, in doing so, point others to their Creator.
Communion for Children: A Rookie Anglican Guide to Paedocommunion
If you are new to the Anglican way, you might be surprised to see children, including toddlers and even babies, receive Communion. This ancient practice, called paedo-communion, has always been practiced in the Eastern Church but was only recently rediscovered and reincorporated in the West. It offers great spiritual benefit not only to the children who…
Three Creeds, Four Councils, Five Centuries (Andrewes’ Principle Pt. 2)
We continue with our second in a series on Lancelot Andrewes’ principle of Anglican belief (read the first installment here): One canon reduced to writing by God himself, two testaments, three creeds, four general councils, five centuries, and the series of Fathers in that period—the centuries, that is, before Constantine, and two after, determine the…
Let Us Keep the Feast: A Commentary on the Pascha Nostrum
The world God made is a world of rhythm and rhyme. Seasons change and come again before leaving us once more. There is a predictable stability in the constant diversity that God has made, something C.S. Lewis once brought out in his masterpiece The Screwtape Letters. As his fictional demon once put it, God has…
Why Do Bishops Wear Purple?
Why do bishops wear purple? As a symbol of authority, sobriety, and boldness in the gospel. Please note: this article offers a theological rationale for the practice rather than a historical explanation. As a historical matter, Anglican bishops have more commonly worn scarlet, black, and white; episcopal purple was a relatively recent development. Purple and…
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…
Book Review: A New History of Redemption
Few scholars could even attempt to write a book like A New History of Redemption, Gerald McDermott’s recent work of near-comprehensive theological history. McDermott borrows the title and structure from an unfinished project of Jonathan Edwards, the 18th-century Puritan, who outlined the project but did not live to complete it. And no wonder: Edwards’ idea…
Political Violence and a Crucified Lord
How should Christians react to a rise in political violence? Anger is justified, but sin is not. Rather, we look to our crucified Lord: whose conviction was political violence, whose crucifixion was political violence, who himself grieved political violence, but whose resurrection triumphed over political violence. As Christians, we proclaim the superior hope of repentance…