The Crisis of Colonial Anglicanism

Description

This book offers a bold and unsettling truth: the British Empire and Great Britain are primarily English constructions, and the Church of England benefited 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

‘An extraordinary exploration of the complex entanglements between the Church of England and the British Empire. Percy critically examines how the Anglican Church served as both a spiritual arm and a moral justification for imperial expansion while grappling with its enduring legacy of complicity in slavery and colonialism. A compelling and enlightening work that promises to shape our understanding of Anglicanism and its future.’ — Derrick Lemons, Director of the Center for Theologically Engaged Anthropology, University of Georgia

‘A brave, honest and compelling account of the realities of the effect of colonialism on Anglicanism past and present.’ — Tom Greggs, Director of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton University

‘A provocative contribution to the scholarship and public debates about colonialism and the postcolonial world order.’ — Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval & Early Modern History, Queen Mary and author of Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary

‘If you thought that the days of imperialism and empire were over, Percy’s book shows that the long-term effects are still very much in evidence in the Church of England and that they continue to infect global Anglicanism.’ — Professor Angela Berlis, University of Bern

‘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.’ — James Carley, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Medieval History, York University, Toronto

‘Percy exposes the Church’s monarchical role in conquering and subordinating people the world over and it sacralised complicity with slavery, classism, racism, sexism and homophobia.’ — Brian Douglas, editor of Journal of Anglican Studies, Charles Sturt University

‘A searching use of history for a pre-post-mortem on the Anglican Church that was tied to monarchy and empire from its origins under Henry VIII.’ —  Simon Szreter, Professor of History and Public Policy, University of Cambridge

‘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

‘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

Author(s)

Martyn Percy is Provost-Theologian for Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui; Professor of Religion and Culture, University of Saint Joseph, Macao; Research Professor, Institute of Old Catholic Theology, University of Bern; Senior Research Fellow at the James Hutton Institute; and Canon Theologian to the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe. He has written for The Guardian and The Times, and is the only living theologian featured in The Da Vinci Code.