Apostle to the Wilderness: Bishop John Medley and the Evolution of the Anglican Church

Front Cover
Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 2005 - Biography & Autobiography - 246 pages
This book describes the life and work of John Medley, the first member of the Oxford Movement to be consecrated bishop. As an experiment, W. E. Gladstone, future Prime Minister of England and keen churchman, arranged in 1844 to have a member of this controversial group appointed to the Episcopal bench. Because those associated with this movement were suspected of Roman Catholic theological leanings and perhaps even disloyalty to the English Establishment, such a move was politically and ecclesiastically dangerous in England. So Medley was sent to the colonies. Intended to establish High Churchmanship and the British Empire in the soil of the new world, Medley became convinced, over this forty-seven-year episcopate, that the American model of the church was more practical than the British. He eventually forged an identity for his diocese that was, in many ways, to be the pattern for the modern worldwide Anglican Church. Barry Craig is an Assistant Professor in the department of philosophy at St. Thomas University.

From inside the book

Contents

Preface
9
Medleys LifeThe Early Years
26
John FrederictonMissionary to the Wilderness
45
Medleys Intellectual Context
74
Medley the Ecclesiologist
95
The Sacraments and Ritualism
114
Authority and Church Government
138
Conclusion
171
Glossary
222
Index
240
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 203 - ay) deserve grace of congruity : yea, rather for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of Sin.
Page 203 - Works done before the grace of Christ, and the inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the school-authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea rather, for that they are not done as God 72 hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.
Page 59 - And here it is to be noted, that such Ornaments of the Church and of the Ministers thereof, at all Times of their Ministration, shall be retained, and be in use, as were in this Church of England, by the Authority of Parliament, in the Second Year of the Reign of King Edward the Sixth.
Page 225 - I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, given unto us; ordained by Christ himself; as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assurens thereof.
Page 209 - Transubstantiation (or the change of the Substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ ; but it is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many Superstitions.
Page 54 - Lord should vouchsafe to us such a favour, you may come to us in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ...
Page 59 - EVERY minister saying the public prayers, or ministering the sacraments, or other rites of the church, shall wear a decent and comely surplice with sleeves, to be provided at the charge of the parish.
Page 60 - But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering. 16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God...
Page 83 - ... whereupon to rest a searching and restless spirit ; or a terrace for a wandering and variable mind to walk up and down with a fair prospect ; or a tower of state for a proud mind to raise itself upon; or a fort or commanding ground for strife and contention; or a shop for profit or sale; and not a rich storehouse for the glory of the Creator and the relief of man's estate.
Page 209 - Supper, the bread and wine are not changed in substance from being the same with that which is served at ordinary tables ; but in respect of the sacred use whereunto they are consecrated, such a change is made that now they differ as much from common bread and wine as heaven from earth.

Bibliographic information