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Tracts for the Times

The Tracts for the Times were written by leaders of "the Oxford Movement." The first three Tracts were four-page leaflets published anonymously in 1833. In the first, John Henry Newman sounded a call to clergy of the Church of England to exalt their office because of its "Apolostical Descent." The followers of the Tract writers personally distributed the Tracts throughout the country. The Tracts began to change in character when Edward Bouverie Pusey began to write in 1834. He produced longer theological documents, like Tract 18 on fasting which was signed with his initials. As the Tracts continued, they also included reprints of selections from the writings of the Caroline Divines whom the Tractarians saw as their spritual predecessors. In addition to Newman and Pusey, the Tract writers included John Keble, Richard Hurrell Froude, R.I. Wilberforce (not to be confused with William Wilberforce) Richard William Church, James Bowling Mozley, and Isaac Williams. The Tracts came to a sudden end in 1841 with Tract 90 by John Henry Newman. His attempt to give a "catholic" interpretation to the Thirty-Nine Articles brought a storm of protest and forced an end to the series. They were, nevertheless, very influential on the Church of England in the 19th century, and on what has become known as the "Anglo-Catholic" movement in Anglicanism.

A wonderful web site devoted to the works of the Tractarians and other Anglo-Catholic writings is Project Canterbury. The link below for Tracts for the Times is the edition on the Project Canterbury site.

 


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