Patrick's Blog

Dec 25 Reading Log

Last Edited: Wed Dec 31 02:34:34 UTC 2025


This is the first in a series of monthly (or so) reflections on the readings I'm doing on a particular theme. Over the past month, I read books about the 39 articles.

Titles

A Theological Introduction to the 39 articles

**Recommendation: If you're interested in a Liberal Anglo-Catholic systematic, yes.

Full review here

Tract 90 + some other literature

Recommendation: If you're interested in a historical snapshot that helps explain why anglicanism today is the way that it is.

Full review here

The Faith we Confess

Recommendation: If you want to hear an evangelical interpret the articles.

Full review here

Reflection

In one sense, it hasn't been a very fruitful month. Sure, I have a better understanding of the articles, but as I talked about in my Bicknell post, I raised more questions than I answered. How do I reconcile the concept of Original Sin with an Evolutionary Theory of the origin of man? Bicknell recommended an essay collection called Lux Mundi which I believe covers at least a few of these issues. For now, however, I'll be shifting my focus a bit before picking Lux Mundi back up. I'll be trying to do morning/evening prayers every day (or at least one of them), so I'll be "living in the prayer book" and trying to learn the end-result of Anglican theology.

Next month's plans

The theme of next month is: Anglican Narratives. Really it's christian narratives because of some Roman Catholic inclusions, but the majority of these were written by Anglicans. I'm including a mixture of poetry and prose, but it's all narrative.

TitleAuthorArticle linkDays (approx)
The Dream of GerontiusJohn Henry NewmannTODO1
Four QuartetsT.S. ElliotTODO1
The Rime of the Ancient MarinerSamuel Taylor ColeridgeTODO1
The Letter from beyond(Anita/Claire)TODO0.33
The Lion the Witch and the WardrobeC.S. LewisTODO2.66
Till We have FacesC.S. LewisTODO5
Aurora LeighElizabeth Barrett BrowningTODO8
PhantastesGeorge MacDonaldTODO10
The Golden KeyGeorge MacDonaldTODO2

This works out to 31 days of reading, which doesn't on the surface provide any buffers, The Golden Key is only long because I'm counting pages of a children's book. Furthermore, some of the narratives will fly by faster than the denser theology I've been reading. This'll speed things along and provide buffers/ensure my make-up days aren't so bad at all.