Reasonable Radical?: Reading the Writings of Martyn Percy

One of the most interesting voices in the Academy and the Church today is Martyn Percy. Percy the Dean of Christ Church Oxford and a leading voice in the Anglican Communion is both theologically orthodox yet deeply unconventional. While remaining engaged in the scholarly community Percy writes with clarity and passion on topics that range from ecclesiology to music from sexuality to the Trinity from advertising to ministerial training--he is a polymath. This book is two books in one. The first half contains a series of articles (written both by church leaders and academics) that serve as substantial critical introductions to Percys thought. In the second half the reader gets to hear from Percy himself in a collection of wide-ranging material from his corpus. While producing a dialectical engagement of some depth (as Percy offers written responses to his interlocutors) this volume should prove useful for a variety of communities beyond academic circles especially ones engaged with contemporary issues facing ecclesiology churches and the wider Anglican Communion. This volume exemplifies the approach which distinguishes Martyn Percys work: open interdisciplinary and generative of new connections and approaches. --Linda Woodhead Professor Lancaster University An excellent introduction to a theologian who represents the best of contemporary Anglican thought with a deep spirituality firmly rooted in reality. --Keith Ward Professor University of Oxford If the church is permanently in crisis--necessarily so in light of its eschatological character--then it requires lucid and shrewd interpreters like Martyn Percy to mediate its critical engagement with society. This collection is therefore both timely and ambitious in its scope insights and humanity and the balance is impressive and substantial. It takes some courage to be so liberal in todays Anglican Communion but Percys work shows how relevant that struggle remains. --Gareth Jones Professor School of Theology Charles Sturt University In these wide-ranging and fascinating essays the reader is invited to explore the many and multi-faceted contributions of Martyn Percy--priest practical theologian and sociologist of religion--and the open generous Anglicanism that lies at the heart of all his work. --Jane Shaw Professor Stanford University Ian S. Markham is the Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and Professor of Theology and Ethics. He is the author of numerous books. Joshua Daniel is a candidate for Holy Orders in the Diocese of Arkansas and a seminarian at Virginia Theological Seminary. He completed his PhD on Wittgenstein and Religion at the University of Arkansas in 2015.