Anglican eucharistic theology varies between the different philosophical assumptions of realism and nominalism. Whereas realism links the signs of the Eucharist with what they signify in a real way, nominalism sees these signs as reminders only of past and completed transaction. This book begins by discussing the multifomity of the philosophical assumptions underlying Anglican eucharistic theology and goes on to present extensive case study material which exemplify these different assumptions from the Reformation to the Nineteenth century. By examining the multiformity of philosophical assumptions this book avoids the hermeneutic idealism of particular church parties and looks instead at the Anglican eucharistic tradition in a more critical manner.

History has not been kind to Symon Patrick. His fifty years of ministry spanned the closing years of Cromwell’s rule and the start of Queen Anne’s reign, and ranged from service as a Church of England minister in two fashionable London parishes to appointment as the “latitudinarian” Bishop of Ely. He influenced a major change in the character of the Established Church, as it moved from a confrontational fundamentalism to the broad tolerance that exists today. Patrick, recognised by his contemporaries as one of the three or four leading clergy of his generation, wrote over one hundred books that helped to define his Church, such as his pastoral work The Heart’s Ease, his devotional The Parable of the Pilgrim and his biting polemic against nonconformism, A Friendly Debate. This book assesses the significance and quality of Patrick’s contribution to the Church of England, carefully placing it against the background of the history and politics of the time and suggesting why his reputation faded after his death. Puritanism, Latitudinarianism, pilgrimage, women’s religion and spirituality, and prose style are all topics touched on here.