Michael Ramsey

My study of Michael Ramsey, archbishop of Canterbury, is available from Amazon, in hardback, paperback, ebook PDF, ebook Epub.

From the reviewers:

“This is a book to relish. For all Michael Ramsey fans this is a must-buy.”
(Robin Gill, Theology)

“… the best introduction to Michael Ramsey’s archiepiscopacy at Canterbury currently available, and should be read by everyone interested in the state of the ChRamsey - coverurch of England in the 1960s … eminently readable … a fine addition to the literature.’
(Sam Brewitt-Taylor, Reviews in History)

“This is an excellent book in every way. It is well researched and lucidly written, revealing a perceptive sympathy with the subject. It is a fine supplement to Owen Chadwick’s ‘Life’ of Michael Ramsey, and it also sheds much light on the social, ethical and religious environment in which Ramsey was archbishop. It helps to explain the particular difficulties that have assailed each of his successors as Archbishop of Canterbury, and it is a valuable contribution to an interesting series that draws on the archives of Lambeth Palace.”
(Douglas Dales, author of Glory – the spiritual theology of Michael Ramsey, on Amazon)

“As you read Webster, the debates and challenges become contemporary, and you wonder how the Archbishop’s staff will swerve around the next pothole in the road…. [the book] has brought [its] in some ways unworldly subject alive in a vivid and well-documented way. It is good to hear Ramsey’s voice again. His vision of a Reformed Catholicism lives on, despite everything.’
(Peter Sedgwick, TLS)

From the back cover:

“A very judicious and comprehensive survey of the thought of one of Anglicanism’s greatest figures, with a sympathetic assessment of his impact on public discussion and decision in Britain during his time as Archbishop. Peter Webster has done an exemplary job in digesting a large amount of primary material, and this is a fine contribution to the understanding of an era as well as of a man.”
(Rowan Williams, master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and archbishop of Canterbury from 2002-12)

“This is a sparkling and broad-ranging introduction to a fascinating archbishop, written with crisp prose and crystal clarity. Peter Webster is a discerning guide, deep in the sources, and offers a sympathetic reading which sheds new light upon Anglican politics in the long 1960s.”
(Dr Andrew Atherstone of Wycliffe Hall Oxford, biographer of Justin Welby)

It is part essay, part edition of sources (list here). The essay is shaped like this:

Introduction

The church and the churches
Introduction / The Anglican Communion / The World Council of Churches / Orthodoxy / Rome, and Roman Catholics in England / Intercommunion / The Anglican-Methodist Unity Scheme

The church and the state
Introduction / Monarchy / Freedom for the church ? / Crown Appointments / Synodical government / The House of Lords / The Church and State Commission (1970) / The Worship and Doctrine Measure (1974)

The church and the moral law
Introduction / Capital punishment / The family / Pornography / Theatre censorship / Divorce / Abortion / The Sexual Offences Act 1967 / Conclusion

The missionary church in time of crisis
Introduction / Providence, history and eschatology / Crisis in the language of the Church: prayer book revision / Crisis in theology: Honest to God / National crisis and Days of Prayer / Northern Ireland

The prophetic church
Introduction / Nuclear arms and Christian pacifism / Vietnam / Southern Rhodesia / South Africa / Immigration

Conclusion