Betjeman

by Gardner, Kevin J.

• ISBN13: 9781602582545
• ISBN10: 1602582548
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-10-01
• Publisher: Baylor Univ Pr

Summary

A household name in Great Britain, John Betjeman was a public literary figure who openly declared his Christian faith and championed the social and aesthetic joys of Anglicanism as unique to English identity. Through poetry in  newspapers and on radio and television broadcasts, Betjeman celebrated the cultural significance of the Church of England well beyond its religious role. Although a steadfast proponent for Christianity and the Church, Gardner explains, Betjeman nevertheless struggled mightily to believe the faith, and he was forthcoming with his own spiritual failures. In this master study of his writings, Gardner deems Betjeman to be the poet of the Church of England--and demonstrates his works to be a vital part of Anglicanism's living traditions.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Eternity Contained in Time: The Paradoxes of Betjeman's Anglicanism	p. 15
Doubt Inserts the Knife: The Absence of God and the Anxiety of Eternity	p. 51
In the Vapory Incense Veil: Nature, Eros, and Spiritual Mystery	p. 85
Dear Old, Bloody Old England: Sacramental Politics and Anglican Pastoralism	p. 119
The Chain-Smoking Millions and Me: Anglican Culture and the Community of Faith	p. 155
Notes	p. 187
Bibliography	p. 225
Index	p. 237
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