Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

Edward Bouverie Pusey’s The Holy Eucharist a Comfort to the Penitent

Though often considered the founder (or at least a founder) of the Anglo-Catholic movement, Edward Pusey himself was never a crypto-Romanist or what would today be considered an Anglo-Catholic. Newman’s departure for Rome deeply affected him, galvanizing his commitment to the English Church, the Prayer Book, and the apostolic Faith. While Pusey did not agree with the charges brought against later Ritualists, he never adopted the elaborate ceremonial that came to characterize the later Anglo-Catholic movement. His goal was to bring the Church Fathers to bear on the Church of England and to restore a high view of the Sacraments in Anglican practice and teaching. He never denied or attempted to rework the Articles of Religion as others did. The Oxford Movement left “Puseyism” in the dust after about six or eight years, and Pusey himself never followed their lead. He was accused of being a Crypto-Romanist by many sides, but always successfully showed himself to be otherwise via Scripture and the Church Fathers.