Great Tradition, a Great Labor

Description: At a recent conference entitled Ancient Wisdom--Anglican Futures, theologians from across the denominational spectrum considered the question, "What does it mean to inhabit the 'Great Tradition' authentically?" As an expression of what C. S. Lewis called "Deep Church," Anglicanism offers a test case of Tradition with a capital "T" in late modernity. Of particular interest is the highly dynamic transmission that has preserved a recognizable "Anglican Way" over the centuries. The process has been enlivened through constant negotiation and exchange with surprising convergences that have brought new life and direction. The contributors to this volume show how "profitable and commodious" (as Richard Hooker has said) the Great Tradition can be in nurturing the worship, communal life, and mission of the Church. But it often demonstrates how hard it is to uphold the varied integrities of historic faith in the contemporary marketplace of religion and, especially, among evangelicals who continue to follow the Canterbury Trail. Contributors: Simon Chan, Tony Clark, Dominic Erdozain, Edith Humphrey, D. Stephen Long, George Sumner, and D. H. Williams. Endorsements: "Evangelicals have too long suffered from a willful amnesia. In their passion for the immediacy of God's voice in the pages of Scripture, they have implicitly stopped their ears to the many and various ways God spoke to our fathers (and mothers). The essays in this volume will help us tune our ears to God's voice in the church's history, even as we listen carefully for his voice in our future." --David Neff , Editor in Chief & Vice President Christianity Today Media Group "Recently there has been an exciting 'ancient-future' resourcement of the larger church. This work explores the contours and nature of that movement, through a veritable cornucopia of essays, from evangelical, to pentecostal and emerging. This intricate mapping announces that the archives of the church are now open to all, whilst at the same time providing a much needed guide to the use of those resources for Christian formation." --Jason Clark Emergent U.K. Coordinator Pastor, Putney Vineyard Church, London, UK "Much more than just presenting a call for allegiance to the Great Tradition, this collection of essays actually engages the tough question what such allegiance might look like on the ground. We find here a common recognition that this effort inevitably involves what T. S. Eliot called a 'great labour.' Happily, this book itself forms an important contribution of this great labour." --Hans Boersma J. I. Packer Professor of Theology Regent College About the Contributor(s): D. H. Williams is Professor of Religion in Patristics and Historical Theology at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. William's recent books include Tradition, Scripture and Interpretation (Baker, 2006). Philip Harrold is Associate Professor of Church History, Trinity School for Ministry, Ambridge, Pennsylvania. Harrold's most recent book is 'A Place Somewhat Apart: The Private Worlds of a Late Nineteenth-Century Public University (Wipf & Stock, 2006).