• E. L. Mascall and the Anglican opposition to the ordination of women as priests, 1954-1978

    Author(s):
    Peter Webster (see profile)
    Date:
    2023
    Group(s):
    British History
    Subject(s):
    History--Religious aspects--Christianity, Women--Religious aspects--Christianity, Anglo-Catholicism, Theology, Doctrinal, Priesthood--Catholic Church, Christian union, Mascall, E. L. (Eric Lionel), 1905-1993, Evangelicalism--Church of England--History of doctrines, Church of England, Anglican Communion
    Item Type:
    Article
    Permanent URL:
    https://doi.org/10.17613/9kwj-e845
    Abstract:
    This article examines the grounds on which the Anglican philosopher and theologian Eric Mascall opposed the ordination of women, in a series of influential publications from the 1950s to the 1970s. It examines their basis in Mascall’s understanding of the church, the Incarnation and the ontological status of the sexes. It examines the particular atmosphere of the Anglo-Catholicism of the period, convulsed by ecumenical advance at the Second Vatican Council and (as Anglo-Catholics understood it) the danger of moves towards the Protestant denominations in England. Whilst Mascall allowed that women priests might one day be embraced by the worldwide church, together, the peculiar atmosphere of the period seemed to make it the least auspicious time to make what would be a unilateral and far-reaching decision. The article also situates Mascall’s interventions in a wider realignment of conservatives, both evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics, within the Church of England.
    Notes:
    This is a manuscript accepted for publication in Studies in Church History, following revisions after peer review but before copy-editing. It will appear in revised and final form in volume 59 (summer 2023). The version of record will be found at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-church-history
    Metadata:
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    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Publisher:
    Cambridge University Press
    Pub. Date:
    2023
    Journal:
    Studies in Church History
    Volume:
    59
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    12 months ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved

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