Reading List and Resources

Recommended Reading List:

These are books, articles, and other theological writings that I have read and recommend:

(Work in Progress)

Books:

The Cruelty of Heresy: An Affirmation of Christian Orthodoxy, Christopher FitzSimons Allison, Harrisburg, Morehouse, 1994. (This book discusses the many heresies of the early Christian church and how they have relevance in today’s world.)

Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

The Confessions of St. Augustine, Augustine of Hippo

Servers and Services: Instructions for Serving Anglican Liturgies, Greig S. Dunn, ABC Publishing, 1986. (I found this a quite useful book, for servers mainly, but even if you want to understand the choreography of the altar party.)

St. Augustine’s Prayer Book, Revised Edition, eds. David Cobb and Derek Olsen, Forward Movement, 2012

God with Us: the companionship of Jesus in the challenges of life. Herbert O’Driscoll, Cowley Publications, 2002 (This was an interesting read, using nothing but gospel passages about Jesus’s life, Rev’d O’Driscoll connects Christ with our daily lives.)

Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer, Rowan Williams, Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2014 (A simple book written for laity about the four most important things of being Christian. A stark difference from Anglican Identities.)

Anglican Identities, Rowan Williams, Bloomsbury Academic, 2004 (I’ve been told that Rowan Williams can be hard to read as he is such a well-read and educated man. This book was an example of such. In this book, he delves into a number of Anglican theologians that have shaped Anglicanism. However, each chapter is a lecture that he delivered at some point in his life, so the target audience was those with a high level of theological understanding (Williams refers to a bunch of other theologians by surname only without any other “introduction” as who they are and expects you to know. I didn’t particularly enjoy this book, but I learned a lot from it.)

Anglo-Catholic Book List (These book recommendations are for the more Anglo-Catholic types, as the average Anglican may not enjoy them):

The Parson’s Handbook, Percy Dearmer

The Catholic Religion, Vernon Staley

Ritual Notes (Can any Anglo-Catholic reading list be complete without a mention of Ritual Notes?)

Articles:

“The Orphan Child of the Book of Alternative Services,” Gordon Maitland, Prayer Book Society of Canada News Letter (Lent 2024) (This article discusses the “rarely” used BAS traditional language eucharistic rite found in the Book of Alternative Services.)

Reading Wish List:

These are books that are on my “to read” list:

Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton

Being Human: Bodies, Minds, Persons, Rowan Williams

Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life, Rowan Williams

A Guide to the Sacraments, John Macquarrie

Principles of Christian Theology, John Macquarrie

Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Richard Hooker

A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis

The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis

Reflections on the Psalms, C.S. Lewis

The Anglican Spirit, Michael Ramsey, Dale Coleman Ed.