Announcing a New Name

"A Mere Christian on the Anglican Way"

Dear readers,

I'm excited to announce that this newsletter, formerly known as "Great Books & Big Ideas," is being renamed "A Mere Christian on the Anglican Way."

This new title better reflects the focus that has naturally emerged in my writing – exploring the richness of the Christian tradition through the particular lens of Anglicanism.

The term "Mere Christian" comes, of course, from C.S. Lewis, who used it to describe the core Christian faith shared across denominations and centuries. In his introduction to "Mere Christianity," Lewis compared this faith to a great hall from which doors open into several rooms:

I hope no reader will suppose that 'mere' Christianity is here put forward as an alternative to the creeds of the existing communions... It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms... It is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals.

The Anglican Way is my room in this great house – the tradition I inhabit and love. But I recognize it as just one expression of the broader Christian faith.

As the Anglican Church in North America beautifully puts it: to be Anglican "is not to embrace a distinct version of Christianity, but a distinct way of being a 'Mere Christian,' at the same time evangelical, apostolic, catholic, reformed, and Spirit-filled."

This newsletter will continue to explore great books and big ideas, but with a more explicit focus on the Anglican tradition and its place within the broader Christian heritage. We'll delve into prayer book spirituality, the wisdom of Anglican theologians past and present, and the ways this tradition speaks to contemporary challenges.

For those who have followed "Great Books & Big Ideas" primarily for discussions of literature and intellectual history, fear not – these will continue, but now more explicitly connected to the Christian tradition that has shaped so much of Western thought.

In the spirit of Lewis's famous essay "On the Reading of Old Books," we'll continue to let "the clean sea breeze of the centuries" blow through our minds, engaging with voices from the past who can correct the characteristic blindness of our own age.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Whether you're a lifelong Anglican, a curious inquirer, or someone who simply enjoys thoughtful engagement with ideas, I hope you'll find something valuable here.

Grace and peace,

Bryan Hollon