Panther and the Hind (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

At a time if division and crisis in the Church of England, its identity and mission have come into question as never before. Its own members, but also the wider community of Christians in both East and West, need to understand its history and the reasons for its present crisis, as well as the distinctive contribution it can make to the Great Church of the future. Aidan Nichols provides a clear summary and analysis of the history of the Church of England by way of a sensitive appraisal of its rich theological tradition. This also gives the reader a firm grasp of the context of the issues currently being discussed by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission. Aidan Nichols, O.P. is a member of the Dominican community at Blackfriars, Cambridge. He is the author is Rome and the Eastern Churches, The Shape of Catholic Theology and many other books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (February 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0567292320
• ISBN-13: 978-0567292322
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,207,858 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good Tour de Force of Anglican Theology, July 18, 2008

By	Quentin D. Stewart (USA) - See all my reviews

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Aidan Nichols does an excellent job of provding one of the few historical theologies of Anglicanism. Anglicanism becomes a dizzying array of complexities as it progresses from the Reformation era to the present. Nichols does a fine job of portraying this complex portrait of Anglicanism fairly even though he himself is Roman Catholic. I enjoyed the work immensely but was surprised to find Nichols relied primarily on secondary sources. That said, this is one of the best historical introductions to Anglicanism out there.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but ..., October 24, 2008

By	Grigorii (New York) - See all my reviews

This is an excellent introduction to Anglicanism for the non-Anglicans!

For those of us who are perplexed and sometimes positively at a loss about the different faces of Anglicanism, Fr. Nichols has provided a guide to begin to understand. Anglicanism - as a united whole - has never existed. There are three distinct, irreconcilable, groups within Anglicanism that do not share a doctrinal/spiritual life. There are Evangelical Protestants, orthodox Catholics, and Liberal Relativist bound my not much more than the name 'Anglican'.

How these theologically divers groups were all forced under one name is part of Fr. Nichol's story. After having read the book in about 3 to 4 days (I have a busy schedule) I am no expert on Anglicanism but at least I have gained a basic understanding why it is that Abp. Rowan Williams feels perfectly at peace visiting Lourdes and venerating the Blessed Virgin, and why a J. I Packer would probably be very reluctant if not totally opposed to doing so. Both are Anglicans but they both have a very different background.

Every once in a while Fr. Nicholas evaluation of something is un-apologetically colored by Roman Catholic beliefs - after all he writes as a Roman Catholic for Roman Catholics. For me, as an Orthodox Christian, such evaluations are interesting observations but limited in usefulness. For example, he will evaluate matters Anglican from the point of view of the "teaching magsisterium" of the Roman Catholic Church (particularly it's Bishops and Pope). Conclusions that, for Fr. Nichols, are definitive need not be so for an Orthodox reader.

On the downside .... Yes there is one, as noted by the previous reviewer. Fr. Nichols relies almost entirely on secondary sources so that his information is almost always second hand. This means, for me, that the book is a great introduction to Anglicanism but clearly limited in usefulness because Fr. Nichols' narrative is only as accurate as are the secondary sources he has used and interpreted. This would have been a 5-start book for me but for lack of using original material I gave 3 stars.

On the whole Fr. Nichols writes honestly, lovingly, and without polemics. In my opinion it is a must-read for non-Anglicans interested to find out what Anglicanism is for the purposes of Ecumenical relations or other such interests.

Dcn. Gregory Wassen

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but perhaps the best available, April 3, 2009

By	Dr. William Campbell (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

In teaching Episcopal/Anglican seminarians, I have been deeply frustrated by the lack of a good single textbook that covers Anglican history in the British Isles from the pre-Reformation period to recent days. J.R.H. Moorman was perhaps a better bishop than he was a scholar; his survey, like his books Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century and A History of the Franciscan Order, is deeply colored by his own prejudices, of which he is not particularly self-critical. Stephen Neill's history -- also written by a bishop with his own preconceptions, rather than a disinterested scholar -- is also becoming dated. There is an enormous amount of excellent scholarship going on right now on Anglican history, but no available one-volume synthesis that I could recommend to my students, other than this one. Because it is written by a non-Anglican, at least it has the advantage of challenging rather than reinforcing some of my students' preconceptions. And while it is indeed heavily reliant on secondary sources, it does at least present a reasonably fresh perspective. Read it for what it is; and if you want primary-source based research, go to a decent library and find narrower, more detailed studies.