Anglo-Catholic in Religion

Barry Spurr is Associate Professor of English Literature in the University of Sydney. He has published extensively on Renaissance and Modernist poetry, religious literature and liturgical language. He is the author of books on studying poetry, Lytton Strachey's prose, poetry about the Virgin Mary and Anglican and Roman Catholic liturgical language reform (The Word in the Desert, The Lutterworth Press, 1995).

'Eliot once said, 'I believe that all our problems turn out ulitmatley to be a religious problem' (p.175). Spurr demonstrates convincingly that Eliot believed what he said and also believed that his version of Anglicanism offered the best solution to these problems. Spurr's lucid, well-researched, judicious book should be prized by anyone who wants a better understanding of Eliot's complex religious views and the profound influence they had on his writings.'Henry Hart, Anglican Theological Review, Vol.93:3' 'Anglo-Catholic in Religion': T. S. Eliot and Christianity is a detailed and informative study which places particular importance on Anglo-Catholicism, and establishes it as a key influence on Eliot's life and work. [...] For the most part his analyses are extremely effective. Eliot scholars will find his exposition of Ash Wednesday fascinating, as he illuminates its complex allusions to prayer, liturgy and the importance of the Virgin Mary. Moreover, Spurr highlights where the biblical echoes are most apparent in Eliot's poetry, and he perceptively indicates how Eliot was influenced both by the language of the Prayer Book and by the Bible. [...] Barry Spurr's monograph is relevant and timely. He has produced a seminal work on Eliot's Anglo-Catholicism that is both convincing and cogently presented. ' Jeremy Diaper in Modernist Cultures, May 2011"Spurr considers every area of Eliot's writing with a view to showing what a full understanding of his religious ideas and practices might reveal." David Fuller, Modern Believing, Vol. 54.3, July 2013'Spurr's book is comprehensively excellent on the nature and history of twentieth century Anglo-Catholicism, on Eliot's reputation as an Anglo-Catholic, his observance of its practices, his associations within Anglo-Catholic circles, and its expressions in his creative work [...] Spurr's study elucidates the history of Anglo-Catholicism, its differences from Roman Catholicism and from Protestant traditions.'Roger Kojecký, The Glass, Number 23, Spring 2011"How fortunate we are to have a well informed and highly readable one of that title [Anglo-Catholic in Religion] by the Australian scholar, Professor Barry Spurr. Without being either pietistic or dryly objective it places Anglo-Catholic teachings and practises within the context of Anglicanism and Christianity as a whole, and it traces, in the needed detail, the imprint of these teachings and practises on T.S. Elliot as a literary figure and churchman. It rises on occasion over and above this primary duty of exposition."-William Blissett, The Chesterton Review, Vol. XXXVII No. 1&2, Spring/Summer 2011"Professor Spurr has written an eloquent, learned and moving book, which any one interested in Anglo-Catholicism and all lovers of Eliot's literary output should read."-Sheridan Gilley, The Chesterton Review, Vol. XXXVII No. 1&2, Spring/Summer 2011

• Preface and Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; I The Sources of Faith, Familial and Philosophical (1888-1917); II Towards Anglo-Catholicism (1917-1927); III The Struggle for Existence (1915-1933); IV Anglo-Catholicism: 'entre deux guerres' (1918-1939); V Anglo-Catholic in Religion (1927-1965); VI A Christian State; VII Anglo-Catholic in Literature; Conclusion; Appendix One: The Unpublished Letters and Diary of Mary Trevelyan; Appendix Two: The Unpublished Papers of George Every; Appendix Three: T.S. Eliot and C.S. Lewis; Appendix Four: T.S. Eliot and Anti-Semitism; Notes; Bibliography; Index