Product Description
In this prizewinning book, Dell Upton interweaves architectural and cultural history to create a vivid new picture of colonial Virginia. Lavishly illustrated with photographs and drawings, the book examines the architecture, decoration, and furniture of Virginia`s Anglican churches as expressions of eighteenth-century life and society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Architecture explored
Dell Upton's book does for the eighteenth century Virginia parish Church what Addleshaw's 'The Architectural Setting of Anglican Worship' did for its English and Irish counterpart half a century ago by high lighting and exploring a unique church architecture and the society that produced it.Upton explores the architectural, historical, and sociological aspects of Anglicanism in Colonial Virginia as expressed in the church buildings. However it isn't just an architectural study. Upton's awareness of the social context of Virginia Anglicanism as an Established Church enables him to look at the buildings as an expression of the society that produced them. He raises awareness of the unique nature of the parishes, and the need to accomodate the scattered population and hierarchical social order of the colony. He also compares the church architecture of the Old Dominion to other formal structures such as courthouses and mansions, and vernacular homes illustrating the construction techniques and conventions common to all buildings in Georgian Virginia. If I have one minor criticism it is that Upton does not seem to have any great familiarity with the history of 17th & 18th century Anglicanism. For example, he states that the Rev. Devereux Jarrett (1732-1801) was a Methodist when in fact he was an Evangelical Anglican sharply critical of the separatists. Upton also seems to have only limited familiarity with the Anglican Book of Common Prayer and its demands on the worshipping space. However these are very minor blemishes in what is primarily a study of an architecture in its context. This is a very interesting and valuble book for anyone interested in colonial church architecture, the history of Anglicanism or Virginia history. ... Read more

Product Description
From the very beginning, human beings have loved to listen tostories. And Jesus loved to tell them. The parables are vivid, rich,arresting stories that make us think and teach us lessons aboutour relationship with God and others. From talents to mustardseeds, from shepherds to Samaritans, Jesus used commonreference points to teach important truths.

But the parables are filled with ambiguity and room for interpretation.With historical and cultural background, and careful scholarly detail,this book helps readers explore their beauty, richness, and joy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

accessible and enjoyable
Only 108 pages long with a brief study guide in the back, this book impressed me with its accessibility.The author makes a point of keeping it real and avoiding the all too common error that academics often make of intellectual braggadocia, as in "look how smart I am."Does that drive you as nuts as it does me?I was drawn by the author's humility and also his obvious vast knowledge.

This is possibly the most "interesting" book I've ever read on the parables. I found it easy to follow and not only relevant, but it also introduced me to some refreshingly new insights into some overly familiar parables. This book is well worth the investment and gives an enormous amount of information in a very small number of pages.

As an Episcopal priest, I highly recommend it to those like me, whose pastoral duties don't always give them the time they'd like to study dense or thick volumes of scriptural commentary, much as I enjoy that.This book far exceeded my expectations in the quality of information and insights it provides.
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Product Description
The wonderful sights, sounds, and smells of the Anglican liturgy can engage the imagination of young children and draw them into enthusiastic worship. But it can be a bit confusing as well.

Through the interactive games and puzzles in this fun-filled activity book, children ages 4-7 can grow to a deeper understanding of Anglican worship life. From learning about the participants in the entry processional, to coloring the vestments of the priest and deacon, to identifying the amazing things their senses tell them about the Eucharist, this book is a treasure trove for kids and adults.

Forty one-page activities are followed by a four-page parent guide designed to promote parenting in the pews and offer tips for parents and other educators using these activities with children. Permission to copy the pages for use in church or school is included in the book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Anglican Child's Activity Book
This is your basic coloring/activity book. It certainly isn't worth the $8.00 list price. If you can get it for $3.50 or so then it will be worth it, if not then just make your own. It will probably be just as good & not cost you so much. I wish I could have seen it before I bought it, I would have skipped this one. I know there are others in the series about Lent & Advent & those might be worth the price but your child will learn the same stuff in Sunday school. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Powerful Call for Anglicanism to Return to the Mind of the Church Fathers
Anyone who has been following the fate and fortunes of Anglicanism in recent years knows that Anglicanism, like much of the Church, is in a profound crisis.This crisis is largely an identity crisis: Anglicans don't know who they are anymore.In "Fathers and Anglicans," Canon Arthur Middleton, Emeritus Canon of Durham (and who served the Church of England in many other official capacities), provides some clarity on Anglican identity.

As a point of reference, I'm a priest in the Reformed Episcopal Church who has his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Lancaster University.The topic of my Ph.D. dissertation was the identity of Anglicanism.I had a chance in 2006 to meet and talk with Canon Middleton in Durham, at which time we discussed some of the ideas expressed in this book.I discovered that Canon Middleton is very knowledgeable and passionate about the topic of this book.

Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, writes in the Foreward to "Fathers and Anglicans" that "Anglican self-understanding and self-respect is at a low ebb."One of the antidotes to the identity crisis that Anglicanism is now experiencing is for Anglicans to renew their understanding of the "patristic mind."In "Fathers and Anglicans," therefore, Middleton argues that the way forward for Anglicans is the re-capture the fundamental synthesis of perspective that characterized the ancient, undivided Church.For Middleton, the way to accomplish this is to return to the Church Fathers and seek the patristic mind.Throughout, he argues that in Anglicanism Protestantism is, ultimately, a quest for catholicity.

Middleton's thesis is presented largely in a chronological way, and a list of the sections and chapters will help the reader get the big picture of what Middleton is hoping to achieve.

Part One: Fathers And Reformers
1.An Ecclesiastical Mind
2.Fathers and Reform in John Jewel and Thomas Cranmer
3.Fathers and Formularies
4.The Patristic Spirit of Reform

Part Two: Fathers and Carolines
5.Successors and Builders
6.Richard Hooker and the Puritans
7.Lancelot Andrewes and the Roman Catholics
8.William Laud and the Calvinists
9.The Laudians and Henry Hammond
10.Literature and Laudians

Part Three: Objections and Responses
11.Direct Objections and Responses
12.Indirect Objections and Responses

Part Four: Rediscovering the Fathers
13.Fathers and Tractarians
14.Redeeming the Present

Since the period of the English Reformation is particularly important for understanding Anglican identity, including contemporary Anglican identity, and since an understanding of the theology and mind of the Reformers is often a contested thing, Middleton's discussion of the patristic argument in the Reformers is especially critical.For Cranmer and Jewel (the two English Reformers Middleton deals with), "Scripture is the supreme standard of faith, but the Fathers represent the tradition of the Church by which Scripture has been interpreted correctly."This is possibly the most important sentence in the entire book, and it lies at the heart of Middleton's thesis.

Middleton continues his argument by demonstrating the essentially patristic character of the Church of England's Formularies, including The Canons of 1571 and 1603, The Thirty-nine Articles, the Book of Homilies, and the Book of Common Prayer.He sustains his argument with great consistency in the remainder of his historical presentation so that the reader is left with the definite impression of the abiding importance of the Church Fathers to Anglican thought.

In the final chapter, Middleton applies his historical thesis on the Anglican understanding of the Fathers as normative interpreters of Scripture and the Christian faith to the present.He finds a return to the patristic mind an antidote to what he calls "the cult of the new" and argues for "renovation" over "innovation."

While Middleton's argument may at times leave out Anglican voices that haven't made such direct appeals to the Church Fathers, "Fathers and Anglicans" clearly illustrates the importance of the Fathers to an Anglican interpretation of Scripture, as well as to Anglican self-understanding.While his is a minority voice, it is a critical one that deserves to be heard if Anglicanism is to re-discover its identity and renew its life as a vital Christian tradition.

I also recommend Middleton's much briefer book, "Restoring the Anglican Mind," in which he argues many of the same points without the wealth of historical evidence (for those for whom this may not be desirable) but with what is in some ways a clearer focus.

An Anglo-Catholic Interpretation of Anglican Theologians
This book faithfully reproduces the thought of the Oxford Movement theologians of the 19th century regarding the church fathers. Middleton assumes there is such a thing as a patristic mind, i.e., that the fathers all thought alike and that their thought could be harmonized and systematized. That was one of the great enterprises of the Oxford movement that gave us Anglo-Catholicism.
Middleton describes the theology and use of the church fathers beginning with Thomas Cranmer, Jewel, Hooker and moves through to the Caroline divines and ends with the theologians of the Oxford Movement. All of these men did indeed quote the fathers. The major critique launched against this work is that Middleton fails to point out that the Reformers' use of the fathers was rather different from that of the Caroline divines of the 1600s and that their use of the fathers was also different from that of John Henry Newman, Keble and Pusey. Nockles pointed out in "The Oxford Movement in Context" that the Oxford movement leaders, for instance, had the nasty habit of quoting the caroline divines out of context. The Tractarians also preferred the fathers of the late 4th and early 5th century, rather than the fathers of the second century while earlier Anglicans gave preference to the fathers of the first 300 years. Nevertheless Middleton's work is extremely interesting if you are interested in the church fathers and how Anglicans have made use of them over the centuries, but please understand that Jean Louis Quantin's work on Christian Antiquity and the Church of England is a much more scholarly and reliable source of information on this subject.

A noteworthy defense of orthodox Anglicanism
This book surveys the Anglican appeal in theology to the primitive Church since her break with Rome during the reformation.It traces the way in which Cranmer, Hooker, Laud, Taylor, etc., all sought to conform their thinking to the thought of the Church during the first three to four centuries.This line of reasoning continued up until the 20th century, when we see Archbishops of Canterbury like Temple and Ramsey, theologians in their own right who defended a distinctively Anglican theology.The author argues that if world Anglicanism is to stay a viable expression of Christianity it must go back to its roots in an appeal to ancient catholicism, rather than adopting every new secular fad that comes along.While the writing could be clearer in some places, this book is still a wealth of information on the history of the theology of theChurch of England.I would recommend it highly to traditionalists in the Anglican Communion as well as to the continuing Anglican Churches. ... Read more

Product Description
This book offers an accessible overview of the achievements of Laudian culture, so much of which was destroyed in the Civil Wars. Some eighty years after the Reformation, the brief span of the Anglican Counter-Reformation in the 1620s and 1630s saw a revival of the arts in the Church. With the rise of a `High Church' movement, initiated by Lancelot Andrewes and propelled by William Laud, John Cosin and Matthew Wren, the arts of religion flourished once again. New churches were built, and cathedrals and parish churches began to install new furnishings that were appropriate to the ceremonial forms of worship now being introduced. Painted glass, religious painting and sculpture, and ornate screens, font-covers and tombs all re-appeared. Sacred music enjoyed a revival too, as cathedral and chapel choirs required an enlarged repertoire for the more complex services that the Laudian movement favoured. The heightened mood of piety also found expression in a remarkable flowering of devotional poetry and prose. All these are discussed in this remarkable book.

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Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Best look at the Reformation available . . .
. . . if only for the brilliant concept of "technical orthodoxy."But, thankfully, there's a whole lot more going on here.

For one thing, the genesis of this book is utterly fascinating.John Jay Hughes made history as the first Anglican priest to be received as a Catholic priest without being reordained (he was conditionally ordained, which is a rite administered to those for whom the validity of their orders is questionable, but not regarded as essentially defective).This book is an apology for his view that the Anglican understanding of priesthood is in continuity with Catholic views (although one wonders what he might make of the chaos in the Anglican Communion following the consecration of Gene Robinson).

What's fascinating about the book, beyond what has to be the most thorough investigation of the issues of the validity of Anglican orders, is, what it uncovers about issues surrounding the reformation, especially regarding questions of "the Sacrifice of the Mass."That's where the concept of technical orthodoxy comes in.Hughes, over against the standard Catholic accounting of the late Medieval Church, admits there were some rather severe problems with the Church's self-understanding.These had to do primarily with, one might say, degraded, although not heretical, understandings about the Mass.He uses the term "technical orthodoxy" to describe these views.What he means is that although the Church did not slip into heresy, it only with barely minimal adequacy preserved proper understandings.The brilliance of this term is that it grants that while Catholic self-understandings had become very problematic they were not so degraded as to compromise the indefectibility of the Church.Additionally, it enables one to see that even though the Reformation's theological challenges to Catholic understandings arose from grave problems within the Medieval Church, the answers provided by the Reformers were not necessarily satisfactory.

Indeed, the Catholic Church was unable to adequately answer the challenge of the Reformation's new theological views (esp. regarding issues such as how the Mass is a sacrifice and the nature of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but also issues about justification) for over four hundred years.In fact, the best Catholic theologians of the time were reduced to essentially saying something along these lines:"You're wrong, because what you say doesn't accord with what we have received."Thus, they preserved a proper understanding even as they were incapable of adequately explaining it.It took the recovery of the Mass in the vernacular, the reappropriation of the idea of Anamnesis, and a deeper appreciation of the role of the entire company of the faithful in the action of the Mass, brilliantly made manifest in the Vatican II documents, in subsequent proclamations by Paul VI and John Paul II, and in the actual vernacular liturgies themselves, for the Catholic Church to finally answer the challenges presented by the new theology of the Reformation.

Thus, the scope of the book is much larger than the mere question of the validity of Anglican orders, and the questions it raises and the answers it gives are quite far-reaching.On a personal note, this book, which I have owned for nearly thirty years, and which I finally thoroughly read and digested just this past summer, was a major factor in the completion of my decades-long pilgrimage from Protestantism to Catholicism.It, along with the works of N. T. Wright and Ben Meyer, provided the framework for me to grasp the theological essentials of the Catholic faith.For that, I am profoundly grateful. ... Read more

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"Easter Day is the center and crown of the Christian year, but no season of that year provides us with richer material for meditation than Advent and the twelve days of Christmas." So writes Christopher Webber in this thoughtful and inspiring collection of meditations from the most gifted Anglican writers of the past six hundred years.Love Came Down draws on the best sermons, books, poems, and hymns by these writers, with a reading for every day in Advent and for each of the twelve days of Christmas. Writers include Christina Rossetti, R. W. Church, F. D. Maurice, John Donne, Jeremy Taylor, Madeleine L'Engle, Phillips Brooks, John Keble, William Temple, Thomas Traherne, William Law, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and many others. Brief biographies of the contributors are included. ... Read more

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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.This is an OCR edition with typos.Excerpt from book:CHAPTER I.INTRODUCTION.A LMIGHTY God in His love created all /- things. At the head of this lower world He placed man, giving him the power to choose, to love and serve Him freely. That this choice might be a reality, it was needful that man should have the power to reject God, and to withhold his love and service. In no other way could his will be really free. Man, thus gifted, was put on his trial. He failed, and so fell away from God.But God's love was so great that, even though rejected by man, He would not leave him to his ruin. God pursued fallen man with a love which is as astonishing as it is touching. The history of the human race is the history of God's patient love following man, in order to bring him back to Himself.By man's evil choice his mind became darkened, his heart polluted, and his will weakened. All along the ages we find God striving to remedy these defects, enlightening man's mind by His truth, cleansing his heart by holy inspirations, and aiding man's will by His power.Whilst God was thus dealing with the human race in general, He willed, in His wisdom, towork in a more special way within a narrower circle. At first, history tells of God's particular dealings with individuals and families, as with the patriarchs; then with one nation, that of the Jews; and lastly, when Christ came, with all nations without distinction.Taking the Old Testament as our guide, we find in early times Noah thus singled out for God's special favour. The human race had become so utterly wicked, that it was necessary to destroy it by a mighty flood. Noah and his family remained faithful; and, as a reward, God saved them in the Ark from the punishment which fell upon the godless. With Noah and his family, God made a covenant or agreement, revealing Himself... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

a wretched edition of a fantastic book
Father Staley's book is indisputably a classic of the Catholic tradition of Anglicanism. His lucid prose, helpful exposition of Scripture and the Fathers are all distilled into a thoroughly digestible piece of pedagogy, for clergy and laity.

Unfortunately, this edition is so full of typographical errors that it approaches illegibility at times. About two thirds of the book is italicized. The table of contents reads as follows: "Section 1... 1 / Section 2... 5 / Section 3... 9 / Section 4... 13" and so on. Useless. The page numbers in the index don't even refer to this edition. Again: useless.

Opening the book to a random page, we find the following so-called "sentence" -- "One of the Kentish 1 Leaden in the Northern Church p. 50. clergy was chosen, but having gone to Rome for consecration, died there." Evidently a footnote has somehow managed to be inserted into the middle of the text itself. This appears to be policy with this edition, as it occurs throughout. I wonder whether this is the standard for all "General Books LLC" publications. If so, the sooner they are out of business, the better.

I was going to use this for an adult education class at my church, but this edition is simply useless. Keep shopping.

Setting Anglicanism Straight
This is a wonderful book. If only Anglican leaders could read this book and take it to heart.Modern Anglicanism, which is so often characterized as being driven by every wind of doctrine and innovation from worldly culture, would do well to return to the faith once delived that this book promotes.It is a true standard of sound Apostolic biblical doctrine and holy living. I will buy more copies of this gem to give to my friends and church leaders.True Anglicanism at it's best, true to the spirit of the English reformers and the English branch of the Catholic Church.

Traditional Anglicanism for the 21st Century
The author never grows old or out-of-date,in this fine review of the catholic faith, as experienced in the Anglican ( Episcopal ) Church.

This Anglican Classic has been reprinted by Saint Paul Theological Seminary due to the world-wide demand.

Highly recommended by the Faculty of the College.

The Best Book on Basic Anglo-Catholicism
While the language may be a little bit outdated, Vernon Staley's book stands head and shoulders above the rest for basic instruction on the Anglican faith, from an anglo-catholic perspective.The language, while somewhat old-fashioned, is still very clear, and the author has brought this clarity to all the basic tenets of the faith, from the sacraments, to the Creeds, to Holy Scripture, and to the concept of the Holy Trinity, all the while making these sometimes-confusing subjects understandable to the average person.This is a "must-have" for anyone wanting to understand the faith.

A fine book on catholicism within the Anglican Church
Staley gives us a fine guide to being both Anglican and Catholic, that is a part of the worldwide, historic and universal Church (not necessarily in the Roman Church). The book is essentially a concise catechism for the Anglican faithful. In his book he discusses many topics of value. For instance the first 70 pages are an introduction to the history of the faith. In these pages Staley demonstrates the importance of the church's orders: Bishop, Deacon, and Priest. He also stresses the essentiality of Apostolic Succession (through the Episcopate), as a guarantee against heresy and false teaching. He attempts to emphasize the genuine character of Anglican orders, by giving the English Church's history before being under Rome, while under Rome, and after breaking from Rome under Henry VIII. In these pages he explains the causes of Reformation, and the goals of Reformation in England, which overall were not meant to replace the Catholic faith, but simply bring it to a better state. In these chapters an Anglican slant is given to the faith, which I find refreshing. At times Staley seems a bit anti-Roman Catholic, but he was also living before Vatican II.

The last 120 pages deal with the faith of the Church in doctrine and practice. He has sections on the three creeds, the Trinity, the Incarnation (which Staley describes as, "the greatest honor and blessing our race has ever received"), and other important topics. Most of his ideas are firmly rooted in the Church Councils and Church Tradition. He discusses the Catholic view of the seven sacraments, including the Eucharist. Regarding the Eucharist, he takes a decidedly Anglican position when he reiterates the firm Anglican belief in the Real Presence, "without presuming to define the manner of [how the body and blood are present]". He also emphasizes the free-will of humankind and the power of God, sounding more like the Church fathers than the reformers. However, that is the goal of Staley's book: to celebrate the Anglican Church's place in the Historic Church. Staley also gives excellent information on the Creation. He is sympathetic to evolution as a possibility, so long as it is God guided.

He also discusses Christian duty, prayer, and the Bible including the deutero-canon. Staley says, "No Bible is complete which does not contain the apocrypha." Overall, Staley gives a good Anglo-Catholic view of most every major doctrine and practice.

In general, Staley's book assumes the Anglican Church is Historic and Catholic, which may be a surprise to Evangelicals within the church. However, the Church, since the mid-1800s when the "Oxford Movement" sprang up, has as a whole moved toward Catholicism in doctrine and praxis, although not as far as Anglo-Catholics had anticipated. Overall, I think this is an excellent book for anyone searching for catholicism in the Anglican Church. Of note, this book was originally written in 1893, so some issues are outdated. It was revised and condensed in 1983, and the new parts are useful as well. ... Read more

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"There have been other discussions of the Archbishop of Canterbury's theology, but this is the first serious attempt to link it with his ecclesiastical policy. The parallel seems to be drawn very tellingly."The Revd Dr Roger Beckwith, formerly warden of Latimer House, Oxford."Charles Raven has provided convincing evidence about the real problem facing us in the Church of England and how this has affected the wider Anglican Communion. He argues that we are experiencing not so much an ecclesial defi cit as a confessional one. His book is an excellent introduction to the deeper issues that sooner or later will affect us all."Rt. Rev John Ellison, Retired Bishop of Paraguay."Archbishop Rowan Williams is the most significant theologian influencing the Anglican Communion at the moment. Therefore it is important for orthodox Anglicans to understand his thinking. Charles Raven has performed a great service by going through Archbishop Williams' work carefully and helping us to see the foundations of his thought and the direction in which he is going."Canon Dr Vinay Samuel, Church of South India and Convenor of GAFCON Theological Resource Group.Charles Raven is Rector of Christ Church Wyre Forest, an Anglican church plant near Kidderminster in Worcestershire, and is a widely read commentator on the Anglican Communion as Director of SPREAD (The Society for the Promotion of Reformed Evangelical Anglican Doctrine). He also serves as a member of theGAFCON Theological Resource Group. Educated at Oxford and Durham Universities, he was ordained into the Church of England in 1988 after working in the banking industry. He is married to Gillian, a teacher, and they have three children. ... Read more

Product Description
The term Continuing Anglican refers to a number of churches in various countries that have been formed outside of the Anglican Communion. These churches generally believe that "traditional" forms of Anglican faith and worship have been unacceptably revised or abandoned within some Anglican Communion churches in recent decades. They claim, therefore, that they are "continuing" the traditional forms of Anglicanism. The modern Continuing movement principally dates to the Congress of St. Louis in the United States in 1977, at which participants rejected changes that had been made in the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer and the ordination of women. More recent changes in the North American churches of the Anglican Communion, such as the ordination of gay and lesbian people to the priesthood and episcopate, have created further separations. ... Read more

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Peter Ball looks at some of the leading figures from the past to illustrate the roots and development of Anglican spiritual direction: George Herbert, Lancelot Andrewes, John Wesley, Somerset Ward, and Evelyn Underhill. More recent influences in the revival of interest in the subject have been Kenneth Leech, Alan Jones, Gordon Jeff, and Margaret Guenther. This is an updated version of a book first published as "Journey Into Truth." New material will include developments in Australia and the US, and the increasing role played by women, as well as updated resources. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Guidance Through a Spiritual Tradition
Anglican Spiritual Direction, Peter Ball, 2nd Edition, Morehouse Publishing, 2007


In the last 40 years numerous books appeared on the practice of spiritual direction, along with the rise of Spiritual Directors International and their publications.

Some started with the Jesuit Jean LaPlace's 1967 book Preparing for Spiritual Direction or with Merton's book discussed below. The 1980's saw new Roman Catholic books, particularly, Carolyn Gratton's Guidelines for Spiritual Direction (1980), and William Barry's and William Connolly's book The Practice of Spiritual Direction.Well-known Anglican and Episcopalian volumes were: Kenneth' Leach's 1977 Soul Friend; Tilden Edward's Spiritual Friend (1980); Morton Kelsey's Companions on the Inner Way (1983); and Martin Thornton's Spiritual Direction (1984).

I highlight six books here as a group which, collectively, might be used in this era to both deepen awareness of the Christian tradition in particular and to see spiritual direction in the context of the contemporary multiplicity of interfaith synergies. Norvene Vest's Tending the Holy: Spiritual Direction Across Traditions, 2003 (another SDI book) is an anthology which introduces the reader to spiritual directionas it is conceived and practiced in Buddhist, Sufi, Hindu, and Jewish traditions. A second section introduces Ignatian, Carmelite and Benedictine traditions, adding a piece on spiritual direction for Evangelicals. The final section includes special perspectives: spirituality of nature and the poor (Franciscan), institutional levels of spiritual direction, the Gen-X soul, and Vest's own innovative writing on feminist direction.

A highly informative book Relating to a Spiritual Teacher: Building a Healthy Relationship, Alexander Berzin, (2000) provides excellent East-West perspective for Americans in particular. Berzin offers a huge, in depth ethical corrective to the influx of "Cadillac gurus" while at the same time introducing the reader to the entire context of Tibetan Buddhism. If there is a single book which frames the Merton, Main, Le Saux, Griffiths and Centering Prayer Western response from Christianity as a spiritual path, this book is it. There is no discussion of these Christian writers; the reader will see how highly developed the Tibetan tradition is, why many Western seekers have sought to transplant themselves outside their own traditions, and why the desert tradition in the West has been the primary source for all subsequent Christian streams of guidance for sanctification/union with God. The desert is Christianity's key point of interaction with the East.

Here Western Christians might go directly to 5th century Neilos the Ascetic's "Ascetic Discourse" in volume I of the Philokalia. Neilos discusses spiritual direction as charism. He is unambiguously Christo-centric, as is Julian of Norwich. Here we encounter spiritual elder as spirit bearer as distinguished from method-teacher. (There remains the strategic question of Christian revelation as it relates to the perennial philosophy.)Vest's anthology is something of an update to Kevin Culligan's fine 1983 anthology (Spiritual Direction: Contemporary Readings), with the notable exception that Culligan's book contains an excellent introduction to the desert and Eastern Orthodox tradition of direction by Kallistos Ware, of which Neilos is a typical source. Ware's chapter is a bit better than either Tilden Edwards' or Kenneth Leach's briefer discussions of this stream. The newest, perhaps best, history of the implications of desert spirituality for the church at the time is George E. Demacopoulos' Five Models of Spiritual Direction in the Early Church (2007). It is excellent.

Merton's book Spiritual Direction and Meditation (1960, 1987) completes the circle of books which set the stage for Ball's book on the Anglican tradition. Merton says this ministry of the spiritual person--the pneumatikos--"was purely and simply charismatic."

As always, prayer is the teacher.

For many readers, Peter Ball's book may be too "homely," grounded as it is in a particular Christian tradition. For this reviewer such a book may be part of our response to Thich Nhat Hanh's subtle and gentle advice to Western (and Anglican) seekers to go home and "look deeply" into their own tradition. "Many people," he says, "need to go away before they realize they do not have to go anywhere." (This is in somewhat poignant contrast to Bede Griffiths, who left Anglican Christianity, and then the West for most of his writing career.) Ball characterizes Anglican spiritual direction as pastoral, moderate, and employing a wide variety of styles and approaches. He describes it as "local, low-key, and practical," as well as less concerned with method and more reflective of "closeness to God and a generosity of spirit." We might even call most of the figures in the Anglican tradition of spiritual direction "stay-at-home mystics."

Ball offers a succinct history, i.e. the Anglican medieval heritage, including The Cloud and Julian, and the English Reformation--notably The Book of Common Prayer--and the Caroline Divines. He then tracks both the Catholic revival in the Oxford movement and Evangelicalism, leading to such 20th century spiritual directors as Evelyn Underhill, Fr. Andrew SDC, Shirley Hughson, Gilbert Shaw, Mother Mary Clare, and Somerset Ward.

It may be useful for Anglicans/Episcopalians to look first among these authors and practitioners of prayer. In Underhill we find an early 20th century Anglican who, well before Merton and his successive generations of teachers of contemplative prayer, was delving into Eastern Christianity and the desert tradition through her association with the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius. (And, even earlier, as Kallistos Ware notes in his preface to Pseudo-Macarius' Fifty Spiritual Homilies: "I read Macarius and sang," wrote John Wesley in his diary for July 30, 1736.)

Ball's book may be fruitfully read alongside of the remarkable anthology Love's Redeeming Work: The Anglican Quest for Holiness, Geoffrey Rowell, et al, eds. (2001).A good sample of an Anglican teacher and spiritual director is Mother Mary Clare, superior of the Sisters of the Love of God 1954-73. SLG was founded by the Cowley Fathers. Mary Clare's book of essays Encountering the Depths: Prayers, Solitude, and Contemplation (1981) is a good representative of Anglican teaching on the life of prayer. "Christian prayer is a process of constant recovery of our common roots, a pilgrimage which searches ever forward through the tradition of the past.""Interior peace is the fruit of Christ's overcoming and of the Holy Spirit's outpouring. This peace is the ground of Christian contemplation."

There is a rich collection of contemporary Anglican voices from around the world. Ball discusses varying views about personal growth, psychotherapy, and the relative professionalizing of spiritual direction in the U.S. He concludes by citing Kenneth Leech that "the role of `training' is very limited, and that the ministry (of spiritual direction)is essentially the by-product of a life of prayer and growth in holiness."

A Very Good Overview
Peter Ball gives us a very comprehensive overview of Spiritual Direction from an Anglican perspective.He looks primarily on the different schools and their contributions.This book is not about technique, but about the values, attitudes and pastoral perspective that Anglicans have contributed to the work of Spiritual Direction.It is a helpful tool for those who wish to know more about this important work. ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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The Anglican Newman
Not exactly a best seller these days and certainly not as famous as Newman's later "Essay on Doctrinal Development" this collection of essays issues from Newman's "via media" stage when he was seeking to make Anglicanism into something it never was - a middle way between BOTH Protestantism and Anglicanism. At this stage of Newman's own theological development he argues that such things as the famous criteria of the Vincentian Canon ("That is Catholic which has been believed everywhere, always and by everyone.")serves as a bulwark against both Romanism and Protestantism. Newman at this stage is fixated with a notion of Antiquity that halts Tridentine novelties and developments as well as Protestant innovations such as "sola fide" (faith alone)- something that was wholly unknown to all of Christian antiquity. Newman seeks to discover and ascertain the mind of the fathers even as he appeals to earlier Anglican divines, especially the Caroline divines and the Nonjurors. Ultimately (see Peter Nockles, "The Oxford Movement in Context") Newman concludes that Anglicanism by its very nature is unsystematic and that doctrinal development is a necessity for the health of the Church. Thus his conversion to Catholicism in 1845, but these essays are a fascinating attempt to create a new kind of Anglicanism, an Anglicanism that is certainly not identical to that of the famous Caroline divines such as Lancelot Andrewes and William Laud, nor the Anglicanism of the Old High Churchmen such as Van Mildert and Jones of Nayland, but a new form of Anglicanism based exclusively on the mind of the fathers and the fathers of the fourth and early fifth centuries in particular. A must read for serious students of Newman as well as Anglo-Catholics. ... Read more

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Cardinal Henry Edward Manning (1808-92) was a major figure of the nineteenth- century Church. This book follows his intellectual formation and development from his early years and Anglican ministry, through his conversion to Catholicism to his subsequent role at the First Vatican Council.This is an area of research that has hitherto attracted little attention, a neglect which is surprising given the significant role that Manning played in many of the most important ecclesiastical events of his time. As well as setting Manning's ideas against their historical background, the events in which he was involved and those which influenced his thought or upon which he exerted his influence, James Pereiro examines the deep personal crisis, both ideological and emotional, that he experienced. His study is based on a thorough research into Manning's published works and manuscript sources, many of them previously unused.A fine intellectual biography of Manning.Eamon Duffy, The TabletThis volume is a witness to a greatness discerned and understood.Sheridan Gilley, Church TimesThis is an exceptional study of an exceptional man.John R. Griffin, Church HistoryDr Pereiro has made a significant contribution to the history of the development of ideas and to the greater understanding of nineteenth-century Catholicism.V.Alan McClelland, The Catholic Historical ReviewAccess to the sources has enabled Fr James Pereiro to produce a very perceptive and illuminating study.David Newsome, The Tablet Although Manning left us no Apologia pro vita sua of his religious opinions, Pereiro's book comes close to one.Geoffrey Rowell, The Times Literary SupplementJames Pereiro is Chaplain of Grandpont House, Oxford. ... Read more

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Part of the well-established "Welcome to..." series from Morehouse Publishing, this book addresses church history from the grassroots perspective of how Anglicans have prayed, thought about, and lived out their faith through the centuries. ... Read more