Living the Christian life is inseparable from engagement with the Church as institution, an engagement presumed by not a few committed Christians to be problematic. In particular, those who identify themselves as ‘evangelical’ Anglicans tend to be apologetic about their church context, or even become rebels within it. That any Christian should find Christ’s Church to be other than a means of divine grace is tragic, and reform must be sought (cf Article 26). Yet to assume that living in Christ’s Church is typically a spiritual problem can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy, a danger for all who set high-spiritual standards. This danger faces every Christian tradition in an age of individualism and ‘self-select’ spirituality.
The Heart of Faith is a collection of brief essays seeking to address this situation. It does so, however, not by focussing on the institution in and of itself, but by seeking to trace how sixteen of its members have sought to follow Christ within it. In doing so, a good deal is said and implied about the shape and priorities, which the essayists wish to commend to Anglicans generally. This strategy is an attractive one, and makes for both digestible and encouraging reading.
In the choice of persons, ‘Evangelicals predominate’ (as the editor acknowledges), though this should not deter readers. Indeed, the book implies that the priorities of Anglicans who describe themselves as ‘evangelical’ need review in the light of those depicted. Each essay is written by a reputable scholar — a dozen English, two from the USA — and (with one exception) supported by well-prepared footnotes. A brief Epilogue from Bp Michael Nazir-Ali, ‘The Apostolic Teaching and Anglicanism’, is both eirenic and sensitive to the ecumenical vocation of the Anglican tradition. A useful bibliography and a comprehensive Index of Names round out the volume.
Of the 16 subjects, seven are lay members of the Church of England, nine clerical. To my mind the ‘clerical’ chapters tend to focus too much on ministry priorities or theological emphases more than the ‘heart of faith’ — for example, those on Bede, Cranmer, Hooker, Simeon and Stott. It was good to be reminded via Richard Sibbes that the ‘Church of England’ was once comprehensive rather than ‘Anglican’, but I doubt that Nonconformists would find the post-Reformation chapters wholly true to their experience of it!
I found the ‘lay’ chapters more helpful in seeking to learn better to follow Christ in his ecclesial body. Those on Robert Boyle, Susanne Wesley, Lord Shaftesbury and C.S. Lewis were excellent, giving valuable insights into their struggles to embody the highest spiritual ideals in the realities of life. Though quite different in kind, that on Frances Ridley Havergal was an inspiration. The one disappointment was the treatment of William Wilberforce that summarizes his Practical Religion, and (unlike other chapters) fails to engage with other literature, notable his diaries (cf the recent biography by William Hague).
The final subject is David Watson, a cleric who defied neat categorization, and whose I Believe in the Church still forms a refreshing ‘evangelical’ enthusiasm for the church. It is a good choice for the last chapter — a life cut off early, lived in the struggle to embrace life in the Spirit in the here and now: a parable of being Church in any age and place.
Inclusion of a wider stream from the Church of England would have been welcome — for example, Nicholas Ferrar, George Herbert, Bishop Butler, G. Studdert Kennedy, Dorothy L. Sayers and William Temple. But the virtue of the present choice is that Anglicans who identify as ‘evangelical’ are more likely to read this book. Others should enjoy it, but might already lean towards the ecclesial priorities implicitly endorsed by the book. In addition, this brief volume would make an excellent introduction to the Anglican tradition in its English guise for ‘ordinary’ Christians with no formal theological learning.
