There are many associations that come to mind. Whether it is the buildings, the unique history, the prayers, or church government, often we emphasize one aspect against others. Is the Anglican church a Protestant church with distinctive characteristics, or a Catholic Church no longer in communion with Rome?
In Anglicanism: A Reformed Catholic Tradition, Gerald Bray argues that some theological trajectories are more faithful than others to the nature and history of the Church of England. Readers looking to understand the diversity, nature, and future of Anglicanism will be helped by Bray’s historical examination.
Gerald Bray writes in the spirit of J. I. Packer and John Stott and has gifted the church with an unrivaled brief introduction to Anglicanism. Deo gratias!
–Mark Bowald, professor of theology, Grace Theological Seminary
Gerald Bray's helpful survey of the history and historic formularies of the Anglican tradition succeeds, on the one hand, in capturing the many-splendored character of Anglicanism, while demonstrating on the other that it is "Reformed Catholicism"—a Reformation church within the ancient Catholic tradition.
–Joel Scandrett, assistant professor of theology at Trinity School for Ministry and editor of To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism
“The only medieval figure to be remembered today as a proto-Anglican is John Wycliffe or Wyclif (1328–1384).” (Page 8)
“was composed nearly a century later and began as a conscious attempt to improve the Thirty-nine Articles” (Page 16)
“an academic bent who rejected dogmatism in theology and promoted what amounted to freedom of thought” (Page 27)
“modern Anglicans generally accept the essentially amillenarian approach” (Page 17)
“Tyndale developed what would later become covenant theology” (Page 10)
Gerald L. Bray is research professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University (Birmingham, Alabama). He is the author of numerous books, including Preaching the Word with John Chrysostom, God Has Spoken, and Doing Theology with the Reformers.