Essays Anglican and Analytic: Explorations in Critical Catholicism

Explore the riches at the intersection of Anglican and philosophical theology.

In this thought-provoking essay collection, Robert MacSwain explores important connections between Anglican and philosophical theology. Shining a spotlight on the underappreciated theological work of Austin Farrer and David Brown, he brings them into creative conversation with better-known figures such as Joseph Butler, C. S. Lewis, Stanley Hauerwas, and Eleonore Stump. He skillfully leads readers through diverse conceptual territory ranging from the Reformed epistemology of Alvin Plantinga and Nicholas Wolterstorff, to the hiddenness argument of J. L. Schellenberg, to a sacramental vision of human culture and the arts. More broadly, MacSwain outlines what he calls ＂Critical Catholicism,＂ explaining how it differs from other movements in contemporary Christian thought such as Radical Orthodoxy and Analytic Theology. These perceptive essays will be of particular interest to scholars and pastors who are curious about connections between theology, philosophy, and Anglican studies.

Robert MacSwain is an Episcopal priest and associate professor of theology at the School of Theology, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee. He has been a visiting scholar at Duke, Harvard, and Vanderbilt Divinity Schools and a recipient of two research grants from the Templeton Religion Trust. MacSwain is the author of Solved by Sacrifice: Austin Farrer, Fideism, and the Evidence of Faith. He is also the editor or co-editor of seven additional volumes, including The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis and Theology, Aesthetics, and Culture: Responses to the Work of David Brown.