The Crisis of Colonial Anglicanism

Description

This book offers a bold and unsettling truth: the British Empire and Great Britain are primarily English constructions, with the Church of England benefiting from English enterprise and exploitation, serving as the spiritual arm of the imperial project. English Anglicanism has cast itself as the lead character in its own ‘serious fiction’—the main religious player in a drama of Church and Empire. Yet, in collusion with colonialism, it is now trapped by historical amnesia.

Martyn Percy examines the English interests concealed in appeals to Britishness, showing how slavery, exploitation, classism, and racism upheld elitist and hierarchical worldviews that bolstered both Empire and Church. By viewing the rest of the world as lesser, both institutions have declined in global standing, now reduced to minor national players on the world stage.

Religious, social, and political imperialism thrived on deprecating others, but those once marginalised have fought for equality and independence. Today, the worldwide Anglican Communion faces a new era of moral reckoning.

Reviews

‘In this important, well-researched, wide-ranging book, Martyn Percy gives an unflinching account of the Anglican Communion. Anyone who is rooting for the future of the Church of England—or Anglicanism in any region of the world—must face this exposition of its imperial and colonial entanglements squarely. As Faulkner warned us: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”’ — Timothy Larsen, PhD, Wheaton College, School of Theology Illinois

‘The Crisis of Colonial Anglicanism is a radical and, in many ways, devastating book…. Martyn Percy has examined how disestablishment has become more and more inevitable. The English Church can no longer function as a spiritual empire. As Percy makes clear in this book that all Anglicans worldwide should read, the game is over.’ — James Carley, Distinguished Research Professor of Medieval History, York University Toronto, and Fellow, Royal Society of Canada

‘Martyn Percy explores the undisguised classism and unaccountable hierarchy of colonial Anglicanism in new ways. This is a compelling, original, fresh perspective on privilege and the imposition of a self-serving worldview. Ultimately, he shines a searchlight on the contorted governance of episcopacy since Henry VIII.’ — Sir Iain Torrance PhD, President Emeritus of Princeton Theological Seminary and Pro-Chancellor, University of Aberdeen

‘The Crisis of Colonial Anglicanism is an extraordinary exploration of the complex entanglements between the Church of England and the British Empire. This book challenges readers to confront uncomfortable truths and invites a reckoning with the past. Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the intersections of faith, power, and history is a compelling and enlightening work that promises to shape the understanding of Anglicanism and its future in the modern world.’ — Derrick Lemons, PhD, University of Georgia

Author(s)

Martyn Percy is Provost-Theologian for Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui; Senior Research Fellow at the James Hutton Institute; and Honorary Fellow at the Universities of Edinburgh, London and Oxford. He has written for The Guardian and The Times, and is the only living theologian featured in The Da Vinci Code.