The Anglican Spiritual Tradition (John R. H. Moorman, 1983)

It seemed only fair to give my own denomination some air time in light of all of the Catholic history and Catholic-leaning writings I've read over the past year or so. Given we are outnumbered 70 million to 3 million, it can be a little hard to find equivalent Anglican resources. Therefore, while this was very informative, it wasn't the most gripping book I've read. England was a very complex society religiously, and post-Reformation a clear split in the new order soon took shape with the upper classes sticking with an all-but-the-Pope high Anglicanism and Protestant-leaning "low" church catching fire among the common people. It is interesting how sometimes even more extreme results came out of both sides, with some returning to the Catholic Church and others breaking away to new forms of Protestantism, such as Methodism.

Anglicanism differs from its fellow Protestant denominations (even the mainline ones) in that it is apostolic, so, particularly among the high-church types, is the belief that the Church of England is the real continuation of the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church", not the Roman Catholic Church. Other Protestants tend to observe the "get back to Jesus" idea and throw out the whole Catholic Church back to the beginning. As Luther and Calvin seeped into the lower classes of England, this was an appealing notion.

Also, Anglicanism, by its nature as a fused church-state entity, was strongly influenced by whoever happened to be sitting on the throne. Even though the conventional wisdom was that it emerged fully developed from Henry VIII's reign, most the more differing characteristics from Catholicism came during the reigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I. Intervening monarchs would prove to be more Catholic, particularly Mary I and James II, but from Elizabeth onward it was its own church, Oxford Movement sentiments or not.

It was interesting to read about all of the changes over time (some of which early on were very violent and aptly illustrated by a fictional account of a very confused priest), as well as the varying strains of thought that exist in Anglicanism (and we aren't even talking about the Anglican Communion here). Again it's fairly dry reading, so a little historical background in English history and the Reformation would be useful before approaching it.

My copy, strangely enough, came from my church's library. Most library copies are usually only available in academic libraries, so it may be worth tracking down second-hand on the cheap if you aren't familiar or comfortable with interlibrary loan. Of course if you are Episcopalian or feel comfortable visiting one and it is not too "low church" I bet you will find a copy there. Consult Worldcat for a library near you that carries a copy.