A History of the Church in England: Third Edition

Reading Moorman was a delight because I did not find myself bogged down in the political intricacies and machinations of the English Reformation. He did a fair job of portraying the Edwardian Reformation and the age of Elizabeth and the Evangelical revivals of the 1700s. He also demonstrated sympathy for the Broad Churchmen and the role of reason and the challenges of modern science to a literal reading of Genesis. He was less sympathetic to the Oxford Movement and the efforts to re-catholicize the English Church, but not so much that an Anglo-Catholic reader would be overly offended. Overall a great read, but one that is still a very brief introduction to the complexities and nuances of that magnificent thing called Anglicanism as it has unfolded over the centuries.

This book was a required text for a seminary class I'm taking on (duh) English Church History. Compared with previous Church History texts I've had to use, this one is absolutely outstanding. It will at times leave you wondering a little about the political or social context, because the focus is heavily on the Church. I find this to actually be a plus, as the secular side of things could probably double or triple the length of the book. Moorman reads very easily compared with other history texts, especially considering it's age. History is not my favorite subject, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this text (and the class).

The text, 'A History of the Church in England', by J.R.H. Moorman, is one of the important works of Anglican history of this generation. There aren't many one-volume treatments of the whole of Anglican history; while Anglicans as a rule give a good amount of attention and authority to history (the second of the three pillars of Anglicanism - Scripture, Tradition, and Reason - has much to do with history), it is surprising perhaps that this book is rare in nature. As Moorman writes in the preface to the first edition, 'It is notoriously difficult to pour a gallon of water into a pint pot.' Moorman doesn't simply treat the period of time from Henry VIII to the present, a five-hundred year span that is also difficult to encompass in a single volume; he examines the history of the church IN England from the earliest Christian presence to the present time. Perhaps this explains the title more fully - this is not so much a history of the institution of the Church of England, but rather an exploration of the church as it continues from its earliest times to its current expression. Moorman concedes that his is not an unbiased reporter - indeed, such a creature is unlikely to be found, particularly among those for whom English and England are native aspects. Moorman states that 'impartial history would be very dull', and thus makes no such pretension. He is one who does not see the Church of England as being created by Henry VIII, but rather sees the church in England (of which the Church of England is the primary institutional successor) as a continuous entity. Moorman's text is an interesting read, but a bit dry by the standards of today's historical writing. I can tell by comparison to other works of the 1950s and 1960s (when the principal text was assembled) that this would have been an innovation in terms of accessibility and resistance to stodgy history (the kind that comes in dusty tomes residing on library shelves, doomed to never be read), but today reads as being a bit archaic at times. As every history is necessarily selective, this one suffers a time or two in the kinds of details left out, but generally hits all of the major events and issues of the development of Anglicanism in England, particularly from the Elizabethan time forward to the early part of the twentieth century. One of the flaws of the book is that it does not take into account the increasingly global nature of the Anglican Communion over time. Moorman treats this only briefly in a few sections (four pages in one chapter, six pages in another). Moorman also only briefly touches on intercommunion and ecumenical actions, which are increasingly important in today's society (when he writes about other churches, it is overwhelmingly about the Roman Catholic church that he is writing). However, Moorman is an excellent text for the topic its focus. It is well documented (nearly 800 other works are referenced here), has an excellent index (24 pages of small print), a

I had to read the second half of this book for a class assignment. I found it so helpful, understandable, and enjoyable that I went back and read the first half as well, even though I could not spare the time.This is an excellent summary of the development of the Church and much of the culture on the island we now know as England from Roman times to the 20th century.

This is the best book I have found on the history of the English Reformation and of the Church of England through the middle of the 20th C. I have read it twice and still refer to it often. It's definitely worth owning if you have any interest in this area.