Zarys dziejów duchowości anglikańskiej (I)

Abstract

This first part of the paper on Anglican spirituality covers its history and main trends before the Reformation. Christianity was present in England long before St Augustine but it is he who is regarded as the Apostle of England. The English spirituality has since been shaped by the Benedictine influence with its stress on the harmonized balance between prayer and labour. It was however St Anselm in whom “English spiritual theology is embodied and potentially formed” (M. Thornton). After him it was the 14th century when the English mysticism saw its remarkable development. Of the 14th century spiritual writers the following are outstanding: Richard Rolle, the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing, Walter Hilton, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe. What is common to their writings is that they all wrote as individuals to individuals; that English was the language they used; that they all wrote with directness and purpose; that their writings are some kind of personal testimony, they are not text-books. It is also worth mentioning the impact of the Celtic Christianity on English spirituality. The other part of the paper will present the development of English Anglican spirituality after the Reformation.