THE P RTAL
February 2018 Page 19
early thought of Newman , Keble , Froude and Pusey , puts the issue facing them in this way : ‘ The old High Church tradition had reflected the complexities of English history , not least in its acceptance of a middle way , being both Catholic and reformed .’ And he continues : ‘ The Oxford Movement upset that notion of compromise by defining Protestantism as one extreme , and so brought a more intense kind of conflict into the Anglican world .’
Symptomatic of this new version of the Lord ’ s song was the fact that ‘ Anglicanism ’ was replaced by ‘ Anglo-Catholicism ’ in the second published edition of Newman ’ s Lectures on the Prophetical Office of the Church . The late Geoffrey Rowell , in a fascinating account of the ecclesiology of the Tractarian fathers , discusses Newman ’ s work . Although he mentions Newman ’ s reflections on Anglicanism / Anglo- Catholicism ( it ‘ has never had any existence except on paper … It remains to be tried whether what is called Anglo-Catholicism … is capable of being professed … or whether it be a mere modification or transitionstate either of Romanism or popular Protestantism ’) he does not pursue the conclusion Newman drew and acted on in 1845 when he entered the Catholic Church . For Rowell , Newman remains an Anglican . Rather bizarrely he presents Newman ’ s 1882 preface to William Palmer ’ s 1840-41 as if he agreed with Palmer ’ s ‘ branch theory ’. Instead , William George Ward is presented as Tractarianism ’ s only Roman Catholic ecclesiologist . And he has an explanation for Ward ’ s dissent ready : ‘ lacking any historical sympathy , Ward had no affection for the Church of England as a complex institution shaped by historical vicissitudes ’ and alleges that his Roman Catholicism was due to his ‘ love of logic and pure mathematics ’.
I couldn ’ t help wondering that if it was Ward ’ s love of logic that made him a Roman Catholic , the late bishop ’ s love of history might have had something to do with him remaining Anglican . Rowell ’ s essay concludes with the claim that the trajectory of Tractarianism was away from ecclesiology . ‘ The Tractarians ’, he argues , ‘ increasingly viewed the Church as more than the authoritative teacher of saving truths maintaining its spiritual independence from the state through the apostolic succession .’ Rowell does not give any references to support this statement , so it is difficult to judge it historically , but taking his cue from Newman ’ s Difficulties of Anglicans ( 1850 ). Fr James Pereiro ( Did the Oxford Movement Die in 1851 ?) begs to differ . He points out that the resignations caused by the Gorham Judgement 1850 shows the continuing significance of ecclesiology to the Tractarian mind . James R . Hope seems to have been instrumental in persuading Manning that he could not remain in the Church of
England . ‘ If you have not hitherto read Erastianism in the Church of England since the Reformation , wrote Hope , ‘ then I fear you and I have much to discuss before we can meet on common ground .’ Pereiro succinctly summarises Hope ’ s and Newman ’ s argument as follows : ‘ Recent events had not changed the position of the Church of England : they had merely revealed it .’
And , of course , they still do . The last essay in this excellent collection is by Dr Colin Podmore . He refers to Anglicans who ‘ differ from contemporary society on matters concerning gender difference ’, and to Rowan Williams ’ speech to General Synod commending them for ‘ obedience to the consensus of the Church Catholic ’. But as this volume demonstrates ‘ the Church Catholic ’ was always a made-up thing . Here is Sheridan Gilley again : ‘ Newman acknowledged that Roman Catholicism and Protestantism were “ real religions ” ... while his own via media was a paper theory existing only in the writings of learned theologians .’ Such as , one is tempted to add , those of the distinguished Master of Magdalene College , Cambridge . ‘ How shall we sing the Lord ’ s song in a strange land ?’ Only by heeding the prophet Jeremiah : ‘ Come out of her , my people ’.
The Oxford Handbook of the Oxford Movement edited by Stewart J . Brown , Peter B . Nockles and James Pereiro , OUP
The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham THE ORDER OF MASS
Divine Worship : The Missal in accordance with the Roman Rite
Ordinariate Mass cards with the Order of Mass from
Divine Worship : The Missal are now available
Prices including UK delivery are :
£ 1 for a single copy , £ 3.50 for 10 , £ 14 for 50 , £ 26 for 100 , £ 48 for 200
Overseas enquiries : email mass . cards @ ordinariate . org . uk for postage costs
To order , please send your name and address with your cheque , made payable to Ordinariate OLW to :
Mass Cards , Ordinariate OLW , 24 Golden Square , London W1F 9JR