`Ethos' and the Oxford Movement At the Heart of Tractarianism [Hardcover]

James Pereiro provides a new key for a fuller and proper understanding of the Oxford Movement. Although references toethosconstantly surface in the writings and correspondence of the Tractarians, the study of the theory of religious knowledge which it implies has so far been neglected. Pereiro explores the pre-Tractarian historical circumstances, the intellectual roots of the Movement, the formation of the concept ofethos, and the influence it had in the ideological and historical development of the Movement. He also discusses in detail the formation of Newman's theory of development of Christian doctrine: the intellectual clash of ideas from which Newman's theory emerged, and the vital role played by the concept ofethos. The two appendices publish some manuscript sources of great interest for the history of Tractarianism: S. F. Wood's early theory of development of doctrine, and the negative reactions of Newman and Manning; and a long narrative description of the Oxford Movement written by Wood at the request of Newman and Pusey.

Pereiro's book is the result of extensive archival research and a thorough knowledge of the primary and secondary sources. ...Here is a fine work of history by a scholar who treats the past with the care and respect it deserves. --Chronicles

James Pereiro is Chaplain of Grandpont House and member of the History Faculty, Oxford University.