Anglican systematic theology text?

Do you have any favorite systematic theology texts that reflect the Anglican perspective?

Seeing how things have changed--this could be systematic theology texts reflecting classical Anglicanism, as well as systematic theology texts reflecting the contemporary perspective.

This thread does not need to be a heated debate--just list your favorite systematic texts and authors. Why you like the text would also be nice. If you can keep it to a short paragraph!!!

Thank you.

 

I've been reading a lot of Griffith Thomas (1861-1924):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Griffith_Thomas

But I'm finding a lot that's dissatisfactory in it. I've been also reading Browne's exposition of the 39 articles, which is better (1811-1891).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Browne

 

While not a text, the Church Society offers it's own version of Anglican theology set up in a manner reminiscent of a theology textbook, by giving a number of links broken down by doctrines, ie, of God, of Man, of Christ, etc. You may fins some of the articles enlightening, even if they are staunchly Anti-Anglo-Catholic.

 

Francis Joseph Hall's 10 Volume Dogmatic Theology is a masterpiece of Anglican Theology from the Anglo-Catholic perspective, available for free on Google Books. I am also a avid student of his book The Sacraments. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

 

Very cool! But I don't read Latin. I hope there will be an English translation.

 

I'd be careful in seeking out an "Anglican systematic theology" -- there isn't one (as far as I can tell). That is to say, there isn't one but many.

Anglican theology was basically "systematized" by Thomas Cranmer, and can be summarized in the Thirty Nine Articles (as finalized in 1571) . But Anglicans and Anglo-Catholics differ on how foundational the Thirty Nine Articles are. As I am more on the Reformed end of the spectrum, I think they speak pretty plainly, but Anglo-Catholics who sprang out of the Oxford movement tend to take a dimmer view.

Then there is the issue of whether you subscribe to a covenant theology or a dispensationalist view (or Thomism if you're an Anglo-Catholic, I suppose). The Anglican world is wide and I don't think there is any single "systematic theology" that will satisfy everyone. The via media of Anglicanism pretty much rules out having a single systematic theology.

Nevertheless, I can recommend some works that have helped me. Be aware: I lean heavily to the low church Reformed tradition, and in a former time would have been a happy Puritan. So I start with Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion:

https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/calvin-institutes-christianity/

You should also read some Martin Luther stuff, but he wasn't a systematic theologian. He did theology like a rabbit runs. But he was the father of the Reformation for good or ill, so his theology is important to understand. Just remember that Luther had lots of opinions on lots of things, his opinions shifted over time, and later Reformers had to take his basic ideas and form actual theological constructs out of them.

You absolutely should read Jonathan Edwards and John Owen. Owen in particular is a must-read for basic theology. (I count reading The Death of Death in the Death of Christ as a foundational experience. J. I. Packer's preface is worth the price of admission all by itself.)

As modern theology goes, I'm not terribly enthused by much of anything that came out from 1880 onwards. Some Charles Spurgeon stuff wouldn't go amiss. Of course Anglicans should always read C. S. Lewis' apologetics stuff, and J. I. Packer's Concise Theology. Packer also wrote the To Be A Christian catechism for ACNA, which I recommend highly even if you're an old-timer.

I've gotten a lot of value from Niehaus' three-volume Biblical Theology, which covers the covenant theology landscape pretty well (he's a Gordon-Conwell guy):

https://www.amazon.com/Biblical-The...ehaus+biblical+theology&qid=1602948789&sr=8-3

And of course as neo-Puritan I get great insight from Beeke's A Puritan Theology:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601781660/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I noticed Fr. Christopher is using a couple of books by Alister McGrath, supplemented by selections from the aforementioned Hall in the systematic theology course at our seminary.

 

Gerald Bray's God is Love: A Biblical and Systematic Theology comes to mind. I'd recommend looking into dogmatic theology: The Christian Faith: An Introduction to Dogmatic Theology by Claude Beaufort Moss is a good place to start and Hall, of course, who has been mentioned previously. I'd also recommend Milton Spenser Terry's Biblical Apocalyptics, Biblical Dogmatics, and Biblical Hermeneutics. Bray, Moss, and Hall are/were Anglicans; Terry was a Methodist, but since his works are dogmatic and not systematic, they are useful for all denominations - I believe even the Reformed Presbyterian Church still uses Biblical Hermeneutics as a textbook.

 

I second the caution that Anglican Systematic Theology is almost an oxymoron. There is no singular text on the matter, and there never has been. It just isn't our style.

The closest you get, really, are the various expositions of the Articles of Religion. There are many of them (if not very many recent ones, which is probably just as well). For best mileage, ask a Reformed Anglican and an Anglo-Catholic for their best recommendations of Articles Commentaries, and work between them.