The following essays are based on the lectures I gave in a course “The Anglican Way of Theology,” that I taught at Trinity Anglican Seminary for eighteen years. The course was developed out of a course that had been taught previously, but to the best of my knowledge is unique in the Anglican world. While one can find histories of Roman Catholic, Reformed and Lutheran theologies, to the best of my knowledge that is nothing similar available concerning Anglicanism. Anglicanism does indeed have a rich theological history, and my eventual goal, once this series is complete, is to turn what was originally a series of lectures into a book.

What is Anglican Theology?

Because Anglicanism has no single theologian with the status of a Thomas Aquinas or John Calvin or Martin Luther, because Anglicanism is not a confessional tradition in the sense of Lutheranism or Calvinism, because of a lack of well-known systematic theologians in the twentieth century, and because of partisan divisions between Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics, the claim is frequently made that there is no such thing as Anglican theology (or even identity). The entire purpose of this series of essays is to argue that Anglicanism does indeed have a distinctive theological identity.

Thomas Cranmer’s Reformation Theology

In this essay, I examine the Reformation roots of Thomas Cranmer’s theology, particularly his understanding of Scripture and justification. Nonetheless, I argue that Cranmer’s theology was both evangelical and catholic.

Thomas Cranmer on the Sacraments and the Prayer Book

In this essay, I try to sort out Cranmer’s not always clear views on sacramental theology, argue (against Dom Gregory Dix) that Cranmer was not  a Zwinglian and examine the catholic and evangelical dimensions of Cranmer’s Prayer Book liturgy.

John Jewel and the Catholicity of Anglicanism

John Jewel is the lesser known of the two Reformation-era Anglican apologists. While Richard Hooker defended Anglicanism against Puritan criticisms that the Church of England was too Catholic, Jewel defended Anglicanism against Tridentine Roman Catholic criticism by arguing that Anglicanism is indeed Catholic.