Caroline Divines

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The Caroline Divines were influential theologians and writers in the

Theology and outlook

The corpus produced by the Caroline divines is diverse. What they have in common is a commitment to the faith as conveyed by Scripture and the Book of Common Prayer, thus regarding prayer and theology in a manner akin to that of the Apostolic Fathers and other later Christian writers.^[2] On the whole, the Caroline Divines view the via media of Anglicanism not as a compromise but "a positive position, witnessing to the universality of God and God's kingdom working through the fallible, earthly ecclesia Anglicana."^[3] These theologians regarded Scripture as authoritative in matters concerning salvation, although they drew upon tradition and reason as well, the latter in the form of deductive logic and the former with special reference to the Church Fathers. Politically, the Caroline Divines were royalists but primarily of a constitutional, rather than absolutist, bent.

Their promotion of more elaborate ceremonial and their valuation of visual beauty in art and church architecture was variously labelled as "popish", "Romish", or “

Prominent exponents

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Within the Anglican tradition, there have been certain theological writers whose works have been considered standards for faith, doctrine, worship, and spirituality. These are often commemorated in

Thomas Ken (July 1637 – 19 March 1711), English priest, was the most eminent of the English non-juring bishops, and one of the fathers of modern English hymnology. His Three Hymns (1700) contains the original version of the hymn 'Praise God from whom all blessings flow', which continues to be sung during offertories around the world, especially in Anglican churches.^[13] Ken later left the Church of England during the Nonjuring schism, which developed in response to the invasion of England by the Dutch prince William III. However, as a Nonjuror, Ken remained deeply tied to the Anglican tradition. Nonjurors did not abandon Anglicanism but instead maintained allegiance to the exiled king James II of England. The political counterpart to the Nonjuror schism was Jacobitism. Both ended in the latter half of the eighteenth century with the death of Charles Edward Stuart, the last Stuart claimant to the throne. Nonjuror liturgical, theological, and devotional writing proved to have a considerable impact upon the Anglican tradition, in part due to the influence of the nineteenth-century Oxford Movement.

William Laud

Archbishop

Thomas Sprat (1635 – 20 May 1713), was an English priest. Having taken orders he became a prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral in 1660. In the preceding year he had gained a reputation by his poem To the Happie Memory of the most Renowned Prince Oliver, Lord Protector (London, 1659), and he was afterwards well known as a wit, preacher, and man of letters.

His chief prose works are the Observations upon Monsieur de Sorbier's Voyage into England (London, 1665), a satirical reply to the strictures on Englishmen in

Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor (1613 – 13 August 1667) was a priest in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of writing.

Taylor was educated at

George Herbert (1593–1633) was a Welsh-born priest who served at the rural parish of Fugglestone St Peter near Salisbury, but is primarily known as a skilled orator and poet. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge in 1609 with the intention of becoming a priest, but instead he became the university's Public Orator and attracted the attention of James I. He served in the Parliament of England in 1624 and briefly in 1625. After the death of James I, Herbert renewed his interest in ordination. He gave up his secular ambitions in his mid-thirties and took holy orders in the Church of England, spending the rest of his life as rector at Fugglestone St Peter. He died at age 39 of consumption in 1633 during the reign of Charles I.

Although he is generally considered a poet rather than a divine, he was a devoted priest and his thought is palpably in line with that of the Caroline divines. His poetry was championed by the later Oxford Movement and notably influenced the piety of the movement through his influence on figures like John Keble.^[16]

References