Development of Anglican Moral Theology, 1680–1950

Peter H. Sedgwick, Ph.D. (1982), Durham University, was Principal of St. Michael’s College, Cardiff. He is a member of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission, Honorary Research Associate at Cardiff University and a fellow of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, USA. He has published widely, including The Origins of Anglican Moral Theology (Brill, 2018)

"In a typically wide-ranging survey of three centuries of Anglican moral theology, Peter Sedgwick demonstrates the coherence and richness of a tradition which Anglicans today neglect at their peril. Every chapter raises fresh insights into thinkers who, even when seemingly at odds with each, sat inside a framework of moral reasoning which sought to promote holiness, to be practical and pastoral, and to express the worshipping life of the Church. Together with its companion volume covering an earlier period, this is surely the authoritative assessment of the Anglican moral tradition, demonstrating at every turn its enduring relevance." - Canon Dr. Jeremy Morris, National Adviser for Ecumenical Relations for the Church of England "This is a truly magisterial study, utilizing the best of recent scholarship across a very wide field and offering a coherent, original and fresh account of a major intellectual - and spiritual - tradition. It will be of lasting importance for all students of religious and social history." - Bishop Rowan Williams "Masterful in breadth, focus, and insight, this is the Anglican story of the different and often juxtaposed accounts of Christian faith and life in Christ that together lead from and to the Church as one and many. Highly recommended for scholars and students alike." Timothy F Sedgwick, Professor Emeritus, Virginia Theological Seminary "The breadth and depth of Sedgwick’s treatment of his subject make both books suitable for advanced study in the history and development of Anglican moral theology. There is seemingly no publication touching on Anglican moral theology that has escaped Sedgwick’s notice and he has brought that vast amount of material to bear in his scholarship. Those interested in academic debates over the significance of many of the figures whose work is featured, or the intricacies of particular philosophical or theological arguments employed in them, will find much rich food to feed their curiosity... with this important contribution to scholarship on Anglican moral theology, Peter Sedgwick has offered a weighty argument in support of it being a distinctive “exemplary tradition” along the lines that Timothy Sedgwick described, one that is sure to be influential for many years to come, and deservedly so." Scott MacDougall in: Anglican Theological Review (Fall 2025) "...few will leave this magisterial study unaffected by its breadth, rigor and clarity. It merits close attention in research on post-Reformation ‘Anglicanism’, and will likely succeed in resourcing (if not quite ameliorating) contemporary debates. Students of Anglican theology should consult it; the kernels of many a monograph lie buried in its notes. Those who teach moral theology in any tradition will find it an integral part of their curriculum. Together with his volume, Sedgwick has provided an ambitious genealogical enquiry in both senses: a history of the origins and development of the Anglican moral tradition, and an elaboration of its modes of engaging intellectual challenges, which may well illuminate paths toward a convivial future for the Anglican moral tradition." - Samuel Fornecker in: Journal of Ecclesiastical History 76.4 (2025) "Even in this lengthy review it is impossible to capture the depth of Sedgwick's remarkable breadth of reading and the subtlety of his scholarship. In a review of his earlier book, Robin Gill was not convinced that a tradition was established. Readers must now decide for themselves..." Bishop Stephen Platten in: Crucible April 2025 "...Sedgwick displays a huge capacity for summarising a formidable range of scholarship. Multiple experts on, say, Hooker, Coleridge, Wesley, Newman, Maurice, and Temple will, no doubt, find fault with some of his details. That is inevitable, as he recognises at certain points, but his sheer courage and industry is itself “exemplary”. It is a great gift to Anglicans worldwide..." Canon Professor Robin Gill, University of Kent in: Church Times August 2024 "In this work, history and moral theology of the Anglicans are rightly intertwined as the author skillfully narrates in his own vivid language how a moral theological history can also be described and analysed in a narrative manner without losing its historical and theological depth. ... In producing this fine work, Sedgwick demonstrates his innate talent not only to narrate the Anglican moral theological history in a linear way but also to describe with details the simultaneous events that surrounded each of the epochs covered. As a matter of fact, the entire narration boils down to a well-researched historical process in which each of the persons and movements mentioned above responds to new questions and challenges that have emerged in very diverse historical contexts down through the centuries covered by this work. It is precisely these unique responses provided by them to such questions and challenges which shaped the making of Anglican moral theology... All in all, Sedgwick is overwhelmingly successful in achieving his main scope of both the volumes published within the span of just six years – to demonstrate that in the ever-developing Anglican moral theology there is continuity, and at the same time diversity of views. In other words, to demonstrate that there indeed is an Anglican moral theology with its own unique identity." Professor Vimal Tirimanna, CSsR, Alphonsianum Academy in: Ecclesiology Vol 21, March 2025 "The Development of Anglican Moral Theology is the second of two volumes charting the development of a distinctively Anglican approach to ethical reflection. These erudite works can be situated in something of a mini renaissance in attempts to articulate an Anglican moral theology....reading the book is itself an induction into an Anglican and English moral imagination. When Anglicans in England seem very confused about what it means to be Anglican and how to undertake moral deliberation together in the Church of England, this book could not be more timely or needed." Canon Professor Luke Bretheron, University of Oxford in: Journal of Anglican Studies, 2025 "Rarely has a book of more depth and erudition come across my desk. This book is properly understood as a tour de force. It is an exercise in genealogical exploration (in a MacIntyrian sense) of the Anglican moral tradition... The book is a powerful antidote to the propensity in the academy to simplify the Anglican tradition under a postcolonial critique and therefore primarily as problematic; the tradition is much more complicated; and the four features – threads, perhaps, is a better word – are worth heeding... This is an exceptional achievement; it is a defining text for the Anglican tradition. It is elegantly written, deeply informed, and utterly compelling." Very Revd Dr Ian Markham, Dean Virginial Theological Seminary, USA. in: Theology 2024

• ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart 1: 1680–18301 The Changing Interpretation of English Religion, 1680–17501 Introduction: The Shape of the First Two Chapters2 J. C. D. Clark and the Rethinking of English Politics after 16883 Religion in English Society after 16884 Religion in the Early Enlightenment5 Conclusion2 Theology and the English Enlightenment, 1660–17201 The End of the Reformation in Europe, and the Challenge to Christian Orthodoxy2 Revelation and Scripture in the Early Enlightenment3 Reason in the Early Enlightenment4 Thomas Hobbes5 John Locke and Empiricism6 The End of the Seventeenth Century in England: Cambridge Platonism and the Latitudinarians7 Shaftesbury and the Moral Sense School8 The Challenge of Shaftesbury to Orthodox Christianity3 Joseph Butler’s Rolls Sermons1 Butler’s Early Life and Education2 Butler and Samuel Clarke3 Butler’s Later Life, 1721–17524 Butler’s Refutation of Hobbes5 Butler on Shaftesbury and Hutcheson6 Butler’s Critique of Locke: Religious Affections7 Butler’s Critique of Locke: Personal Identity8 Butler on ‘Superior Principles’9 Butler on Benevolence10 Butler on Self-Love11 Butler on Conscience12 Butler on Self-Deceit13 The Significance of Butler4 William Law1 Introduction2 Law’s Life3 Law as a Non-Juror4 Law as Controversialist: Hoadly5 Law as Controversialist: Mandeville6 A Serious Call: Vocation7 A Serious Call: Asceticism8 A Serious Call: Literary Style9 A Serious Call: Celibacy and Virginity10 A Serious Call: An Ecclesial Ethic11 A Serious Call: The Place of Reason12 A Serious Call: Sanctification13 Conclusion5 Anglican Moral Theology, 1730–1800: Gay, Tucker, Paley and Wesley1 Introduction2 The Mid-Eighteenth Century and the Influence of Locke3 John Gay and Theological Utilitarianism4 Edmund Law and Richard Watson on Moral Teaching and Conscience5 William Paley and Later Theological Utilitarianism6 The Demise of Theological Utilitarianism7 John Wesley: Context and Life8 Wesley and Sanctification9 Wesley and Butler10 Wesley and Enthusiasm11 Wesley on Emotion in Moral Judgement12 Conclusion6 Coleridge1 Introduction2 The Re-evaluation of Coleridge3 Coleridge’s Life4 Coleridge on Paley and Jeremy Taylor5 Coleridge’s Reading of Neoplatonism6 Coleridge and Kant7 Coleridge and Aids to Reflection8 Coleridge’s Legacy9 ConclusionConclusion to Part 1Part 2: 1830–19507 John Henry Newman1 Introduction: The Changing Historiography on Newman2 The Anglican Newman3 Newman’s Life4 The Break with Evangelicalism5 Newman on Humility6 The Parochial Sermons7 The University Sermons8 Newman on Moral Character9 Newman on Conscience10 Newman on Personal Influence and Justice11 Newman on Personal Responsibility12 The Influence of Anglican Theologians: The Carolines13 The Influence of Anglican Theologians: Butler14 The Influence of Anglican Theologians: Coleridge15 Conclusion8 Frederick Denison Maurice1 Introduction2 Maurice’s Life3 Moral Philosophy at Cambridge4 Coleridge’s Influence on Maurice5 Maurice’s Theological Anthropology6 Maurice on Conscience7 Biblical Theology and Christian Ethics8 Criticisms of Maurice’s Theology9 Maurice’s Contribution to Anglican Moral Theology9 The Lux Mundi School1 Introduction2 The Influence of John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism3 The Lux Mundi Theologians: Charles Gore, Henry Scott Holland and R. C. Moberly4 Philosophical Idealism at Oxford5 Green’s Moral Philosophy6 Bradley on Self-Realization7 Donald MacKinnon on the British Idealists8 Gore on Christ’s Moral Character9 Gore on Social Morality10 Holland on Faith and Moral Will11 Holland on Christian Moral Character12 Moberly on Self-Realization13 Inge’s Response to Moberly’s Idealism14 Moberly on Penitence and Beauty15 Conclusion10 William Temple’s Christian Ethics1 Introduction2 Temple’s Life3 Edward Caird and William Temple4 The Faith and Modern Thought5 The Nature of Personality6 Mens Creatrix7 Christus Veritas8 Nature, Man and God9 Reviews of Nature, Man and God10 Temple’s Later Theology in the 1930s11 Temple’s Aquinas Lecture, 194312 Temple’s Significance11 Kenneth Kirk: History and Casuistry1 Introduction2 The Revival of Thomism and the First World War3 Kirk’s Life4 Casuistry and Conscience5 How the Church Can Change Its Mind6 Lambeth Conference, 19307 The Vision of God8 Contemporary Anglican Moral Theologians on Kirk9 ConclusionConclusion: Anglican Moral Theology 1680–1950BibliographyIndex