Introducing Anglican Antiquities
Readers of a certain age will remember the opening scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The prologue of the film sees Indy engaged in a life-or-death struggle to recapture the fictional Cross of Coronado from a band of mercenaries amidst the storm-tossed seas of Portugal. As he claims back the famous cross, he gives his famous retort to the bandits: “This belongs in a museum!”
Anglican Compass is on an adventure to recapture treasure, too! While it doesn’t include bandits, fistfights, or explosions (at least not yet), it does include looking for lost gems. And we don’t want to put them in a museum; we want to put them in your hands!
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Jewels in the Anglican Tradition
As it stands, many jewels in the Anglican tradition go unread by modern Christians, and that is to our loss. The oft-quoted line from C.S. Lewis is especially applicable here:
It’s a good rule after reading a new book never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between… Every age has its own outlook. It is especially good at seeing certain truths and especially liable to make certain mistakes… The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds and this can only be done by reading old books.
C. S. Lewis, “On the Reading of Old Books,” in God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, ed. Walter Hooper (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1970), 200.
And what faithful old books we have!
The Anglican Antiquities line of publications at Anglican Compass seeks to reintroduce works of devotion and theology across churchmanship and time to eager readers. As many of our readers will recognize, we live in a time of reformation and reorganization within the Anglican Communion. As we live through such reformation and reordering, getting outside of the Anglicanism of our century is certainly one way to allow “the clean sea breeze of the centuries” to blow through our minds.
In seeking reformation, we need the witness and writing of those faithful clergy and lay leaders who have gone before us. They don’t always write, think, or pray exactly like us—and that is the point! We need their corrective voice speaking into our time in order to more fully recapture the power and promise that Anglicanism still holds in our day. It is our prayer that such antiquities will speak again into our lives in the here and now.
Which Titles are We Dusting Off?
The first two books in this series already exist in our catalog: Sister Frances Anna’s A Garden Enclosed and the first volume (out of four, eventually) of E. Harold Browne’s An Exposition of the 39 Articles. However, this is only the beginning.
Some potential titles we are planning include The Christian Year by John Keble, The Private Devotions of Lancelot Andrewes, The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes, Prefaces by William Tyndale, Holy Living and Holy Dying by Jeremy Taylor, and Hymns for Little Children by Cecil Frances Alexander.
Let’s take a quick perusal of three of these titles.
The Christian Year
The Christian Year (1827) by John Keble is a collection of poems and hymns designed to mirror the liturgical calendar of the Church of England. Though in danger of being forgotten today, it stands as one of the most influential works of 19th-century Christian literature and was a foundational text for the Oxford Movement.
The Private Devotions of Lancelot Andrewes
The Private Devotions of Lancelot Andrewes (16th century) is a classic of Christian devotional literature. Lancelot Andrewes, an Anglican bishop, prominent scholar, and one of the lead translators of the King James Version of the Bible, was known as the stella predicantium (Latin for “star of preachers”) in his own day. The devotions were never originally intended for publication; they were Andrewes’ personal, intimate prayer journals. It is said he spent up to five hours a day in prayer, and after his death, the original manuscript was found structurally worn, “slubbered with his pious hands, and watered with his penitential tears.”
The Bruised Reed
Warm with comfort and invitation, The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax (1630) is Richard Sibbes’ most famous and enduring pastoral work. Based on the biblical prophecy in Isaiah 42:3—“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench”—the book is a masterpiece of spiritual comfort, written specifically for Christians who feel spiritually weak, broken by sin, or plagued by doubt.
Classics that Build Bridges
As you can see, this collection (with many more coming!) includes poetry, deep theology, and private devotion, ranging from shorter to longer works and spanning the expanse of Anglican churchmanship. We believe this to be a strength that will build bridges and foster cross-pollination between the current-day “camps” within the Anglican Church.
In this new series, we will give special attention to aesthetic value and modernization. We strive to present each work in a clean, modern format with attractive packaging. Sometimes the outer trappings of these works have left them locked up, unopened to the masses. However, the packaging and formatting of the Anglican Antiquities series will encourage readers to open these treasure chests anew—and give them a ready key to do so!
More information on this series will be available in the months to come.
Image: photo by Roberto from Getty Images, courtesy of Canva. Digitally edited by Jacob Davis.
Edward Pusey and the Oxford Movement
Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882) was simultaneously one of the most erudite and most polarizing figures in the Church of England in the nineteenth century. Along with John Henry Newman, Pusey was one of the most important leaders of the Oxford Movement1, a catholicizing reform movement in the Church of England committed to baptismal regeneration, Christ’s…
Equipped by the Historic Episcopate (Jerusalem Declaration 7.1)
We recognise that God has called and gifted bishops, priests and deacons in historic succession to equip all the people of God for their ministry in the world.
