A synoptic investigation of the underlying philosophies of twelve religious thinkers from Newman to Ratzinger. It argues that between the Oxford Movement and Vatican II, there was a profound shift, not so much in the content of religious belief, as in the way it was held. This shift, more intellectual than theological, is in the book termed the Critical Impulsion. It may be described as a change from categorically affirmed authority to critically observed method.
Scientific and historical studies in the Nineteenth-century challenged Christian believers to restate their faith in ways which took account of new knowledge. An example of this is the influence of philosophical idealism on a generation of writers and theologians, principally centred around the University of Oxford. However, these optimistic and socially-privileged men and women failed to come to terms with the mass movements and rapid changes in fin-de-siècle England. The Church moved out of touch with national life and is reaping the consequences today.
This study of T.H. Green views his philosophical opus through his public life and political commitments, and it uses biography as a lens through which to examine Victorian political culture and its moral climate. The book deals with the political and religious history of Victorian Britain in examining the basis of Green's Liberal partisanship. It demonstrates how his main ethical and political conceptions--his idea of "self-realisation" and his theory of individuality within community--were informed by evangelical theology, popular Protestantism and an idea of the English national consciousness as formed by religious conflict. While the significance of Kantian and Hegelian elements in Green's thought is acknowledged, it is argued that "indigenous" qualities of Green's teachings resonated with values shared alike by elite and rank-and-file Liberals during the mid and late Victorian era. In examining Green's beliefs about the historical evolution of English liberty, his championing of (Liberal) Nonconformity and Nonconformist causes and his approval of religious bases of community, this study analyzes the ripening of a Greenian moment and traces Green's influence on Liberal, quasi-socialist and Conservative social reform down to the 1920s. The lasting impact of Green's teachings on British and Western political philosophy, apparent in the current vogue for communitarianism in liberal theory, indicates limitations of the "secularization thesis" still tacitly accepted by historians of Western political thought.
[Part 2] "...consists of a series of critical reviews of the more important works illustrating the 13 types of philosophical thought described in pt. 1.
This study of T.H. Green views his philosophical opus through his public life and political commitments, and it uses biography as a lens through which to examine Victorian political culture and its moral climate. The book deals with the political and religious history of Victorian Britain in examining the basis of Green's Liberal partisanship. It demonstrates how his main ethical and political conceptions—his idea of "self-realisation" and his theory of individuality within community—were informed by evangelical theology, popular Protestantism and an idea of the English national consciousness as formed by religious conflict. While the significance of Kantian and Hegelian elements in Green's thought is acknowledged, it is argued that “indigenous” qualities of Green's teachings resonated with values shared alike by elite and rank-and-file Liberals during the mid and late Victorian era. In examining Green’s beliefs about the historical evolution of English liberty, his championing of (Liberal) Nonconformity and Nonconformist causes and his approval of religious bases of community, this study analyzes the ripening of a Greenian moment and traces Green’s influence on Liberal, quasi-socialist and Conservative social reform down to the 1920s. The lasting impact of Green’s teachings on British and Western political philosophy, apparent in the current vogue for communitarianism in liberal theory, indicates limitations of the “secularization thesis” still tacitly accepted by historians of Western political thought.
The Royal Historical Society's Annual Bibliography of British and Irish History provides a comprehensive and authoritative survey of books and articles published in a single calendar year. It covers all periods of British anbd Irish history from Roman Britain to the end of the twentieth century, and also includes a section on imperial and commonweatlh history. It is the most complete and up-to-date bibliography of its type, and an indispensable tool for historians.
Navigating the treacherous territory between faith and doubt, the author explores the challenge posed to religious belief by existentialism, science, and modern skepticism. Reprint.
The Church of England finds itself colliding with society at large on regular occasion. Has the time come, therefore, where the advantages of being the established church are at last outweighed by the disadvantages? Is there a case for disestablishment, and if so, what might a fresh vision of the church’s relationship with wider society be? Separating the question of establishment, from the question of presence in the community, Jonathan Chaplin argues that the time has come for the ending of privileged constitutional ties between the Church of England the British state. Rather than offering a smaller place for the Church of England within society, he suggests, such a separation would in fact enhance its ability to maintain an embedded presence in local parishes, and allow it the room to speak out about the deeper, bigger challenges which face society today.
