Best anglican christianity books according to redditors

If you are an American, then I'd say Thomas McKenzie's Anglican Way. Certainly pushed me closer to Anglicanism.

​

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JHQOA8Q/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

I'm Episcopalian, which is the American branch of the Anglican Communion. Some people blame our ordination of an openly gay (that is, in a same-sex relationship) bishop in 2003 for the current troubles in the entire Anglican Communion. Some churches interpret 2003 as the moment the Episcopal Church "broke off" from the Communion and ceased to be Anglican! (For example, a popular book on Amazon, "The Anglican Way," makes this argument). The Diocese of South Carolina is in the process of leaving The Episcopal Church. A new Anglican denomination, the Anglican Church of North America, appeared in response to 2003. During Rowan Williams' term as Archbishop of Canterbury he spent a lot of energy (God bless him) trying to keep some African Anglicans from leaving the Communion.

In the meantime, we've approved some (trial?) ceremonial liturgies for same-sex couples (I'm fuzzy on the details) that are not considered a full-fledged marriage: so far, our official 1979 Book of Common Prayer still uses the language of "this man... this woman" in its Marriage ceremony.

But nonetheless, Episcopalians are considered part of an open and affirming denomination. My own parish flies the rainbow flag, and its previous priest was openly gay. The parish on the other side of my town has a married lesbian (2 kids) as its current rector (I've had dinner with her family.) I'd like to think of us a place of refuge for LGBT Christians who have been hurt.

At the same time, as a church it's not enough to pat ourselves on the back for having the "right" opinion and then do nothing. We must not just accept our LGBT members, but to nourish their life in Christ so that they can "perfectly love... and worthily magnify" (Collect for Purity) the holy Name of the Lord. A life of discipleship is the ultimate defense against a world that is suspicious of the validity of LGBT identity, because no offense can overcome the Lord, our "strength and shield." (Psalm 28.7)

If you could somehow teleport yourself to my church I would love to make you at home.

Here's a resource that may help you http://archive.episcopalchurch.org/documents/ToSetOurHope_eng.pdf

As a historian who studies Reformation England, I'd highly recommend the Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer for anyone wanting an introduction to the history behind the it. It's especially good at covering the reciprocal relationship between theology and society/culture/politics. It's a pretty hefty book, but it's broken up into chapters not only on specific eras, but ones on specific themes as well. So it's pretty easy to find your way around while covering a lot of information.

http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/

This is an excellent resource for seeing all the various iterations of the Book of Common Prayer and how it has changed, in such variegated ways, over Anglican history. My favorite BCPs are the 1929 Scottish, 1928 American, 1928 English Proposed, and the 1954 South African. There's some cool stuff in the Indian 1960 too.

http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/everyman_history/

Good old St Dearmer! Here's his history of the Book of Common Prayer.

Some podcasts I like: there's the Young Tractarians which definitely has a conservative Anglo-Catholic bent that talks extensively about the Prayer Book and what it is, so I'd recommend that. I'd also recommend understanding the BCP in the context in which it was written, namely the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion. And finally, there's also these two special editions, one of the 1662 with an essay at the beginning from Penguin (you may be able to find this without having to buy 1662, but it's a gorgeous essay I would really recommend) and the Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer.

Here are a couple books to look at. Btw, NT Wright is an Anglican. And he's terrific if you haven't read him. Check out Surprised By Hope.

What Anglicans Believe in the Twenty-first Century (Continuum Icons) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0826476899/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_yh2Xzb7CE5F45

Anglican Theology (Doing Theology) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0567008029/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_4i2Xzb0SY5ZC0

The Study of Anglicanism https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002SG7H2I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_sj2Xzb83PQ5CJ

Most forms of theonomy make several critical errors about the nature and purpose of the Torah and the moral law. The only kind which is fairly workable is the kind of "general equity theonomy" u/BirdieNZ advocates, but that is so distant from what most people think of (and from, say, Rushdoony) as theonomy that I don't think the term is helpful there. Really, there is probably no better discussion of the Mosaic law, natural law, moral law, etc. than that of Richard Hooker is his Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. If interested, the best version for modern readers is the modernization published by the Davenant Institute.

• J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men ($8)
  
• J.C. Ryle, Holiness ($8)
  
• John Bunyan, Christian Behavior ($6)
  
• Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in the Spirit ($2, used)
  
• Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Christian Solider, $11 used
  
• William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour, selections, $12
  
• Voices from the Past, $20 used -- this book is FANTASTIC for both being thought-provoking and helpful in its own right, but also as a jump-off point to whet the appetite for reading the Puritans. I've discovered (and read) so many worthy books for free on Kindle that I've originally discovered through this little book. Bit over your price point, unfortunately, but this is a great book I wish someone had given me when I was a teenager!
  
  These are all good and helpful to young people.
  
  EDIT: Also, The Swans are Not Silent series by John Piper is amazing; I especially recommend The Hidden Smile of God and The Roots of Endurance. However, these are all free for download (legally) here, and it pains me to recommend buying what can be gotten for free! You might recommend them to him though! Most of the above are also free to download (not the Lloyd-Jones, or compilations) but the price is lower and the volumes larger, so I think it's worth having a paper copy for a gift. :)

So Anglican theology is deeply liturgical - i.e. we see our theology as being expressed, experienced, and enforced in our worship - "lex orandi, lex credendi." This principle comes to a zenith in our theology behind the sacraments, which has often relied on liturgical texts and actions in a way unique among other Christian churches. This makes our theology as much of an experience as it is a set of intellectual commitments (not to artificially split the two though). However, it means that Anglicans, especially today's Anglicans, often have an implicit theology behind the sacraments, a theology relying on liturgy more than explicit explanations, which can make expressing a coherent theology difficult.


Regardless, the first place you should go if you want a taste of Episcopal "sacramentality" today is our current worship, the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Our service for Baptism begins on p.298 (be sure to look at the Baptismal Covenant on p.304). We have two rites for the Eucharist, Rite I on p.323 and Rite II on p.355. As an example of Episcopal sacramental theology, it is very significant that Baptism and Eucharist are considered important enough to warrant their own liturgies.

But don't just read the texts - attend worship to understand! Theology is practiced and trained by worship.

Two other documents in the Prayer Book are of note: first, a very brief contemporary Catechism, which covers the Sacraments on pp.857-861. The other are the 39 Articles of Religion of the Church of England (dating back to the 16th century), which are not considered authoritative for Episcopalians today, but are an important historical document that highlights the deeply Reformed dimension of Anglicanism's development during the English Reformation (a fact that frankly embarrasses many today, for better or worse). Articles #25-31 cover the sacraments on pp.872-74.

Here's a link from a contemporary Episcopalian's attempt to coherently explain the basics of sacramental theology in our church today. It was written in response to a practice that he (rightly, imo) identified as a perversion of proper sacramentality: http://www.episcopalcafe.com/sacramental_theology_101_baptism_and_eucharist/

There are several good books on sacraments within Anglicanism by Anglican authors:

• Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer by Rowan Williams - an introductory book on the essentials of Christianity by a former Archbishop of Canterbury. Beautifully written, profound, short, and accessible.
  
  
• Inwardly Digest: The Prayer Book as Guide to a Spiritual Life by Derek Olsen - treats the Episcopal '79 BCP as a coherent system of spirituality. Also accessibly written for non-specialists. Derek Olsen is an amazing author and blogger in contemporary Anglo-Catholic circles. I believe this is the best work on our Prayer Book available today. Look especially for "Section 3 - The Holy Eucharist" for Episcopal sacramentality. You can read a rough draft of it at Olsen's blog here.
  
  
• The Study of Anglicanism - informative collection of essays. Look for "Part V - Church, Sacraments, and Ministry", especially V.4 ("Initiation" by David Holeton) and V.5 ("Holy Communion" by William R. Crockett)
  
  
• The Mystery of Baptism in the Anglican Tradition by Kenneth Stevenson - historical overview of baptismal theology
  
  
• The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Anglican Tradition by H.R. McAdoo and Kenneth Stevenson - historical overview of eucharistic theology
  
  
• A Guide to the Sacraments by John MacQuarrie - takes a more Anglo-Catholic view. MacQuarrie was a respected systematic theologian of the 20th century.
  
  
• "V. Anglicanism and Eucharistic Ecclesiology" and "VI. Anglicanism and Baptismal Ecclesiology" in The Identity of Anglicanism by Paul Avis - Avis is a major figure in the question of ecclesiology in Anglicanism, molded by his years in the Church of England's ecumenism office.
  
  
• The Anglican Evangelical Doctrine of Infant Baptism by John Stott and J. Alec Motyer - both are evangelical authors. Stott in particular is well-regarded. I think this book is important because it displays the Reformed dimension of our sacramentality.
  
  I hope this post did not give you a heart attack.

I'm a fan of Glorious Companions when it comes to understanding the theology of the Anglican faith.

Elizabeth and the English Reformation is a good history of the Church of England during the reign of Elizabeth I. It makes the point that most of the ideas that we consider Anglican distinctives today were held by Queen Elizabeth I, and remained part of the official doctrine of the Church of England over the objections of (most of) her bishops.

This book https://www.amazon.com/Glorious-Companions-Centuries-Anglican-Spirituality/dp/0802822223 is a really good read. It has a bunch of writers and spiritual thinkers that were/are Anglican from the last 5 centuries or so. It gives a short biography for each and an overview of their work along with a selected bibliography. Some of them I knew going in. Some of them I didn't. It's a good book on its own, and it's a tremendous resource for building a reading list of works from notable Anglican thinkers.

Nashotah House prints a fascimile of an older version that I particularly like. This is what I use,, and I think it works fine. I've read good things about The Books of Homilies: A Critical Edition edited by Gerald Bray from a review in The Living Church, but it's a bit pricey.

The Fifties: David Halberstam
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara
The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story - Douglas Preston
Oliver Cromwell and the Rule of the Puritans in England - C. H. Firth
JI Packer: An Evangelical Life - Leland Riken
Core Christianity - Michael Horton


My reading list is far too long, but involves mostly history, theology/Christian Leadership, and biography. I'm a very dull person at parties.

A Quest for Godliness by Packer
Holiness by Ryle
Mortification of Sin
Future Grace by Piper
Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges

You've gotten a number of good leads. For the Episcopal end of things, the BCP and Hatchett's book are excellent. Additionally, there are a couple of manuals that I use as a verger and MC. They are Galley's Ceremonies of the Eucharist and Malloy's Celebrating the Eucharist: A Practical Ceremonial Guide for Clergy and Other Liturgical Ministers. Those two are excellent resources that I've depended on for years. Galley is becoming just a bit dated, but is more than serviceable.

The Anglican Spirit by former Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey

Well, I've certainly not read everything on offer, but I'll guess the Coverdale translation is right up there.

It's Anglican in origin, and my argument for its liceity is that it is apparently the translation used in the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Be sure to check out Dean Nelson and Karl Giberson's "Quantum Leap" too. It's an intellectual biography of Polkinghorne and is easier to read than Polkinghorne's own stuff.
I haven't read it yet, but Thomas Jay Oord recently published a Polkinghorne reader. Seems like a good introduction to his thought.

I use this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JHQOA8Q/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr

The Anglican Way by Thomas Mckenzie gives a good overview of what makes Anglicanism distinctive.

I don't see any need to 'prove' anything. My position is that God is not susceptible to proof and that religion actually teaches this.

Atheists might deny God but asking for proof is intellectually dishonest. It's like if I play Baseball and you play Football and I keep asking you to prove Football exists by showing me a Footballer getting a Home Run.

In essence they are trying to force their rules on to you rather than trying to disprove your position by your own rules - which is what they should do if they are rational. No-one would ever construct a scientific model that tried to prove something by rules that don't apply to it.

Anyway, I digress. I never read atheist books any more as I find them insulting to my intelligence but I do read a lot of theology. Actually, most problems about God have been far better addressed by theologians than atheists.

David Bentley Hart is good on Atheist 'thought'. This is a good one:

Bart Erhman is good on alternate readings of Christian scripture.

This is good too - a discussion on how atheists see the world as material 'things' and assume God does not exist because He is not material. That's the whole point though... God is NO THING

If you want a logical proof though The Kalam Cosmological Argument is probably the nearest to it and I think no atheist really wants to discuss this.

It's an early Islamic 'proof' of God which has been take up by theologian William Lane Craig. He actually has repeatedly asked Dawkins for a public debate on this but Dawkins continually refuses.

The argument is simple

• Whatever begins to exist has a cause;
  
• The universe began to exist;
  
• therefore: the universe has a cause
  
  To falsify it the atheist would need to point to one example of an existent thing that has no cause (which actually would be God)
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalam_cosmological_argument
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

If you want a good example of someone who firmly believed in the doctrines of grace and yet was kind and loving towards those who didn't, check out some of John Newton's letters. Here's a book with a handful of his letters HERE, or quite a few more letters are found in his Works. It really has to do with humility and love kindled in us by the graciousness of the gospel!

Hey, so your post included an Amazon affiliate link, which is why it was removed. If you link to the John Newton letters via a normal link (like so) that will be just fine.

> https://www.amazon.com/Girards-Mimetic-Studies-Violence-Mimesis/dp/1611860776

I ordered the Wolfgang Palavar book. Have you read or heard of this book "Discovering Girard" by Michael Kirwan?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1561012297/ref=pd_luc_rh_sim_04_03_t_img_lh?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Many-Christians-Few-Lions-Christianophobia-ebook/dp/B00PV650QW

No problem. Might be able to find it cheaper used. Be sure to come back and share your thoughts with us.