Essays Catholic and Critical

This collection of fifteen essays by liberal catholics of the Church of England was edited by Edward Gordon Selwyn. It was published in 1926. It was an effort to take seriously both the catholic tradition and critical scholarship. The contributors felt compelled to “think out afresh the content and the grounds of their religion.” They believed that two factors necessitated rethinking the Christian faith. These factors were the renewed interest in catholic unity and authority, and the increasing information being discovered by the critical movement in biblical studies. Among the contributors were Alfred Edward John Rawlinson, Lionel Spencer Thorton, Edwyn C. Hoskyns, John Kenneth Mozley, and Will Spens. This volume inspired a group of Episcopal priests to publish a similar collection of essays entitled Liberal Catholicism and the Modern World (1934).