Charles Williams

"The Descent of the Dove" is an unconventional study of the Church as governed by the activity of the Holy Spirit in history. It the most significant of Williams' theological writings. (Christian)

The Descent of the Dove

A Short History of the Holy Spirit in the Church

Simon Elliott Stegall

A brief history of the Church by one of the Inklings. From reading it, you wouldn't be able to tell that Williams was an Anglican - you would probably think he was a Catholic since he is remarkably kind to the abominable uses of Indulgences in the Renaissance and the bizarre wickednesses of the Popes, but in fact this is just a characteristic of his charity (and more an indication of my own biases- a Catholic would probably be annoyed by his admiration of Luther and Calvin). He is without fail empathetic to every movement of the Church, from Clement to Constantine and even to the heretics; one of his main theses is that the history of the Church is the working out of the "co-inherence" of the Holy Spirit in its people, and therefore he retains tremendous sympathy for the Church in all its pendulum swings, immoralities, and heresies. In part, that is what makes this such a good read. It is about as un-sectarian as is possible. It presents the Fathers, the Popes, and the Reformers in their best possible light, while being totally honest about their shortcomings (humans being what they are), and showing very little preference for any. He critiques Augustine and Aquinas, who are often blindly followed; he defends Calvinists and the Jesuits, at whom many sneer. But always with an even keel and due credit. As far as I can tell, this is an excellent Church history. Oh, also it's short.

The Descent of the Dove

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