Review: "Our Church"

Our Church:  a Personal History of the Church of England by Christian and philosopher, Roger Scruton, is a fascinating and unusual read.  There is memoire – as the reader learns about Scruton’s belief in the Church of England.  There is history – as Scruton explains how the church came to be and how it different from other churches (denominations).  And there is theology – as Scruton explains what the church believes and why its beliefs are more acceptable to him than others are. 

In contradistinction to non-Christians, Scruton states that Christians “accept Christ as one Person of the Holy Trinity and the living Word of God” (176).  And he states that “Christians are better fitted to endure [persecution] than most religious believers.  Their model and example is a man who was ‘despised and rejected’, and although they are commanded to love their neighbors, they also know that the person who commanded this was crucified for doing so” (186).

As far as the denomination itself, one might find the sum of his attachment to the Church of England in that other denominations were “nothing, for me, save doctrine” (105).  The liturgy of the Church of England makes up an essential part of the expression of Scruton’s belief.

Throughout the book, Scruton argues that the Church is not something that is invented but coalesces around the foundation of doctrine or practice – that is, the Church exists, first, as a community (12).  The beliefs and rituals of the Church make for a “strict compliance to a community-forming code” (54).  The Church, then, is organic and only exists in community.

Scruton has not written an apology, per se, for the Church of England against other denominations, so there is not an intensive comparison amongst them.  He does, however, look both historically and doctrinally at the Puritans who thrived at the same time as the formation of the Church of England – and he does not care for them – which is not a surprise.  (Though his dismissal of the Puritan understanding of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as a “merely symbolic ritual” falls short of their explanation of “real presence,” and, thus, Scruton is in error here.)

This is an unusual and largely sound work of memoir and historical theology.  I believe I understand more about the Church of England and Roger Scruton having read it – and it encourages me to read more of his work.  However, as always, don’t assume authors are always correct.
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