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Response to Dr. Jared Henderson on Tract I
Thank you, Jared Henderson, for engaging with my definition of Anglicanism. I appreciate the points you make about the apparent lack of appropriate norms. It was impossible, without composing a Faulknerian definition which included many semicolons, to include everything I wanted into one sentence. This is one of the reasons that the one-sentence definition was…
Prayer for a Prayer by a Nonbeliever
I saw a fellow praying by a sandwiched city church, his eyes screwed up and swaying on that sort-of parrot perch. A comic picture, nearly, he presented to me. Still he kept mouthing on sincerely, letting words in silence spill. Through the smelly candlesmoke I watched him, earnest, there, and, reaching deep for habit, spoke…
Tract I: What Is Anglicanism?
Tracts for the Times 2.0 I’m often asked the question, “What is Anglicanism?” To which I respond: “Do you want the two-word answer, the long one-sentence answer, or my book on Anglican identity? Avoiding having to answer the question of what Anglicanism is has been a favorite Anglican hobby for decades, and when we do…
A Better Intentionalism: Toward A more Transparent Tractarian Historiography
Seeking to interpret the meaning of a text by sourcing it in the perceived intentions of the author(s) is the hermeneutical strategy called ‘Intentionalism.’ Pace, some of the overstatements of 20th century hermeneutical theorists, seeking to understand the intentions of an author remains a noble endeavor in the quest for understanding. Certainly, to enter the fray of competing Anglican narratives…
What is an “Evangelical?”
What is an “evangelical”? In the preface to Christian Faith: Dogmatics in Outline (2016) B. A. Gerrish explored the question as an exercise in self-identification: “[O]thers, whether approving or scornfully, have called me a “liberal,” whereas I have always considered myself an “evangelical” in the old, Reformation sense: one who holds that “the real treasure…
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?”
The first time I ever preached on Psalm 24, I was struck by John Calvin’s gloss on verse eight. He wrote, “Mount Sion, it is true, is not at this day the place appointed for the sanctuary, and the ark of the covenant is no longer the image or representation of God dwelling between the…
Simplified Plainsong: An Unwritten Musical Resource for Anglicans in the 21st Century?
William Law once remarked, “For singing is as much the proper use of a Psalm as devout supplication is the proper use of a form of prayer. And a psalm only read is very much like a prayer that is only looked over.” Anyone who has had the privilege of worshiping in a community that chants…
Hydrangeas
The blade, the cuts, the sighs. Inner pith grown hotter. A vase of injured limbs. Do this to resurrect: Rinse and gash, repeat. Hammer till fibers split. Blossoms’ bee-swarm (hurt-flecked By memories of heat) All loveliness and grit… Life rises from mangle, From stems slashed at angle.
Announcing Tracts for the Times 2.0
In my first article for The North American Anglican, I envisioned a renewed traditional, Prayer-Book Anglicanism which I called “Tracts for the Times 2.0.” In retrospect, I see I equivocated in my meaning of the phrase, using it both to mean an actual set of Tracts and also a renewed movement in the Church akin…
Package Store
A bum—a holy fool all I knew. I’d just redeemed some cans, a case or two And grabbed a single by the checkout queue. Not my proudest move. Remember though, Throwing stones is often quid pro quo. His robe of castoff clothes, his beard askew. He grabbed a bottle, then he bade adieu, Handing over…
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