The Hope of Things to Come

This is a collection of essays by leading theologians and church leaders on the past, present and future of Anglican theology in the context of the Lambeth Conference of 2008. This book is a collection of essays by leading theologians and church leaders on the past, present and future of Anglican theology in the context of the Lambeth Conference of 2008. The principal theological strands of the classical Anglican tradition (Scripture, Tradition and Reason) are assessed in original and creative ways which will promote further thought and encourage open debate within the Church of England and Anglicanism more broadly. Each of the essays focuses on how the inheritance of the past and present can be appropriated into the future - instead of being marred by the deep pessimism which permeates so much of Anglicanism - particularly in the increasingly inward looking and often bitter Anglo-Catholic tradition - all the essays offer hopeful and constructive insights for a vibrant catholic form of Christianity within Anglicanism which understands the church as a place of dialogue, encounter and renewal. Instead of division, the emphasis is on conversation, dialogue and unity. The Book is divided into two parts. The three essays in part one re-assess the sources of doctrine in Anglicanism in novel ways, all in dialogue with history, as well as with the theologies of other churches, and the experience in other religions. A conversation is promoted which continues through the chapters in Part Two, which engage in their different - and often exciting ways - with the ecumenical setting of theology, Anglo-Catholicism and the future, and the effects of the recent Lambeth Conference on the resolution of conflict and peacemaking across the Anglican Communion. Affirming Catholicism is a progressive movement in the Anglican Church, drawing inspiration and hope from the Catholic tradition, confident that it will bear the gifts of the past into the future. The books in this series aim to make the Catholic element within Anglicanism once more a positive force for the Gospel, and a model for effective mission today.