Who were the Tractarians? What was the Oxford Movement? Was this a good, necessary, and salutary development for the Anglican Church? Or not?

C. Jay is away today, but Jared is joined by Dr. Charles Erlandson, his former professor and mentor at Cranmer Theological House to discuss the Oxford Movement of the nineteenth century.

For some new to Anglicanism (like Jared in his early days), the first impression of the Oxford Movement is that it was the source of all evils in modern Anglicanism: liberalism, pride flags, and everything else. And why? Because it was an Anglo-Catholic movement! But Jared began to read and learn, over time, that there’s more nuance than he had suspected. Was the Oxford Movement truly an Anglo-Catholic movement? Did it open the door to liberalism in the church? What can we learn from the Tractarians today?

Join us on Canterbury Trails today as Jared and Dr. Erlandson discuss all this and much more, including the Oxford Movement as a catholic revival and reaction against the excesses of Evangelicalism; the Oxford Triumvirate of John Keble, John Henry Newman, and Edward Pusey; Keble’s poetic works and links to Romanticism; Newman’s infamous Tract 90 and eventual conversion to the Roman Catholic Church; the Oxford Movement and the Thirty-Nine Articles; et cetera.

Our guest, the Rev. Dr. Charles Erlandson, is head of the department of church history at Cranmer Theological House and assistant rector at Good Shepherd Reformed Episcopal Church in Tyler, TX. He is the author of Orthodox Anglican Identity: The Complexity of Religious Identities in a Post-Modern World, among other books, and is working on a new book on English history. Visit him online at:

https://gsrec.org/ (Good Shepherd Reformed Episcopal Church)

https://www.cranmerhouse.org/ (Cranmer Theological House)

Image of Anglo-Saxon map by Hel-hama - Own work using:InkscapeSource: England and Wales at the time of the Treaty of Chippenham (AD 878). From the Atlas of European History, Earle W Dowe (d. 1946), G Bell and Sons, London, 1910 (see: File:England-878ad.jpg), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19885072

Few hot button issues are hotter than the question of the Jewish people and antisemitism. But that’s the very question on the table in today’s episode of Canterbury Trails.

Our listeners know this podcast is dedicated to the cultural apologetic for Anglicanism, so why are we talking about this subject? We're responding to a recent article in The Christian Post (“New Antisemitism Rising Among Christians is Heresy”) written by a prominent Anglican professor, Dr. Gerald McDermott.

And here’s the problem: McDermott’s article adopts a Zionist perspective—a perspective in opposition to the historic views of the Church—then equates rejection of his Zionism to antisemitism, which he then defines as a heresy.

We’re not looking for a fight, but we are looking to shift the terms of this debate.

To help answer this inflammatory article, our hosts, Jared Lovell and C. Jay Engel, have invited Father Ricky McCarl of Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Harrisburg as today’s guest. Father Ricky serves as vicar of the church, and as a hospice chaplain. His uncle was a Palestinian and a Christian who witnessed firsthand a lot of appalling history in that part of the world—and he shared those stories with Father Ricky as a young man.

The article sets the narrative right up front: “antisemites” who disagree with McDermott’s Zionism are heretics in the tradition of Marcion, Arius, and Pelagius. But “antisemitism” increasingly has no meaning. To some, the Christian desire to see Jewish people come to Jesus is itself antisemitic. None of our hosts or guests are antisemitic or are promoting hatred or violence against the Jews. Nor do they believe Jews are behind every bad thing that happens in the world.

Instead, contra McDermott, they believe we can condemn murder and hatred of Jews without entering into theological error concerning the nature of the Jewish people and covenant.

The point of this episode is not to create controversy or sow division by picking a juicy topic to talk about, but rather, to promote peace: to suggest that maybe we should not be calling those who hold positions that have been held throughout the history of the church heretics and antisemites.

Visit Father Ricky online at Good Shepherd Anglican Church: https://www.goodshepherdanglican.net/

Read Professor McDermott’s article on antisemitism: https://www.christianpost.com/voices/new-antisemitism-rising-among-christians-is-heresy.html

By Hel-hama - Own work using:InkscapeSource: England and Wales at the time of the Treaty of Chippenham (AD 878). From the Atlas of European History, Earle W Dowe (d. 1946), G Bell and Sons, London, 1910 (see: File:England-878ad.jpg), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19885072

In Episode 17 of Canterbury Trails, Jared and C. Jay discuss an important upcoming conference sponsored by Jared’s church: Building Generational Wealth: Preparing Heirs for the Unexpected Journey. But this is no mere promo video: join us as our hosts engage in a fascinating conversation about the conference topic and related matters: vocation, the Medieval view of wealth, intergenerational living, and how such a way of life can be a catalyst of cultural continuity in a world of cultural liquidation.

What Christians need today is an older understanding of the economy that transcends the transactional; and a definition of wealth that moves beyond mere money. True Wealth includes the family itself. Modern individualism has lost this understanding. But there is a strong English tradition that approaches wealth and the community in this forgotten way. This way is fundamentally Burkean: a social contract between the living, the dead, and those yet unborn.

Christians in America today, Evangelicals specifically, struggle to think except in terms of individualism. But shared memories and shared experiences are a type of generational wealth. Skills, even of an artistic nature, are wealth that can be passed on to children. And so much more.

Don’t miss this conversation! And remember that we're just scratching the surface of what will be covered in the plenary sessions and workshops of the upcoming Generational Wealth conference. This is the fifth conference sponsored by Grace Anglican Church: previous conferences have covered Anti-Fragility; Tolkien, Beauty, and Natural Law; The Medieval Mind; and The Modern World (the Real Dark Age). This Generational Wealth conference is perhaps the most practical one yet. Make plans now to joins us in Scranton, PA, October 9–11, 2025. For more information, visit the website at https://thegenerationalwealthconference.com. And note that there is an early bird discount if you register before the end of August.

Image of Anglo-Saxon map by Hel-hama - Own work using:InkscapeSource: England and Wales at the time of the Treaty of Chippenham (AD 878). From the Atlas of European History, Earle W Dowe (d. 1946), G Bell and Sons, London, 1910 (see: File:England-878ad.jpg), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19885072