An Analytic Anglican: The Philosophical Theology of William P. Alston

Observers of Anglicanism have often remarked on the traditions relative dearth of theologians. Biblical scholars, patristic scholars, and liturgical scholars, yes-but systematic theologians, no.1 This seems particularly true in the United States, where one is hard pressed to think of a single contemporary Episcopal theologian who has exercised a significant, formative influence on the discipline as a whole.2 In the past generation, figures such as Paul Tillich (Lutheran), Karl Barth (Reformed), and the Niebuhrs (German Evangelical) dominated the thinking of Episcopal theologians. And the present is hardly different from the past. Today, Episcopalians still look to Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Roman Catholics, Anabaptists, the Orthodox, and perhaps Anglicans from other provinces to provide the substance of our theological training.

By contrast, over the past thirty years the field of philosophy of religion has been strongly influenced by Episcopalians, one or two ordained, but mostly lay. Whereas their theological counterparts have been educated within seminaries, divinity schools, and departments of theology or religion, these scholars have been formed primarily by secular departments of philosophy. Rather than grand system-building, they are concerned with basic issues of conceptual analysis and clarification.3 Nevertheless, such Episcopal philosophers are often surprisingly forthcoming about their theological convictions and ecclesial identity as Anglicans. Several are converts to the Episcopal Church who care deeply about the doctrinal integrity and intellectual substance of their adopted denomination. Thus, among the most important and influential philosophers of religion in the world one must include-at the very least-Marilyn McCord Adams (formerly of UCLA and Yale, now Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford), Peter van Inwagen (Notre Dame), and William P. Alston (Syracuse). There is also a wider penumbra of significant Episcopal philosophers who, while not necessarily at the discipline-shaping level of these three, have still made considerable contributions.4

Of these Episcopal philosophers, William Alston is notable both for his immense influence on the field and for his articulation of explicit Anglican commitment. In this review article, I will sketch the outline of his career, summarize the salient features of his work, and highlight its significance for Episcopal theological reflection. In so doing, I hope to draw attention to a neglected intellectual resource which is both for and of the Episcopal Church-namely, its many philosophical lay members.

An Analytic Anglican

If they are close readers, many Episcopalians will have already come across Alston's name in the widely used reference volume The Study of Anglicanism. In A. S. McGrades survey of the historic Anglican commitment to reason, only two Americans are mentioned: Hans Frei and William Alston. Near the end of the chapter-and thus at the culmination of his discussion of contemporary developments-McGrade refers to Alston's work in the epistemology of religious experience by observing that "an analytic philosophy not compelled to identify intelligence with scepticism can argue for the cognitive value of 'Christian mystical perceptual practice.'"5 Likewise, in a chapter titled "The Anglican Tradition" in Blackwell's A Companion to Philosophy of Religion, Alston is the only American mentioned by name. The author, Brian Hebblethwaite, writes that "within the remarkable Society of Christian Philosophers in the United States . . . there are to be found a number of Episcopalians, some of whose names will feature elsewhere in this volume, most notably that of William Alston (b. 1921), whose major study in the epistemology of religion, Perceiving God (1991), exemplifies a quintessentially Anglican penchant for unashamed natural theology."6 Both McGrade and Hebblethwaite single out Alston's book Perceiving God for special consideration. While I will discuss this book briefly toward the end of this review article, let me here pause to observe that Alston's endorsement of natural theology is rather more nuanced than Hebblethwaite's comments would suggest.

William Payne Alston was born in 1921 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Although brought up as a Methodist, he writes that his "undoubtedly imperfect recollection of this particular religions ambiance was that it was perfunctory and lacking in warmth of conviction."7 This noncompelling early religious experience, combined with a certain rationalist outlook, led him to "abandon ship" as an adolescent. He studied music at Centenary College in Shreveport with a primary focus on the piano. While his professional interests gradually shifted from music to philosophy, his love of music remained, and in fact contributed to his eventual (re)conversion to Christianity in general and Anglicanism in particular.

During his doctoral studies in philosophy at the University of Chicago, one of Alstons primary teachers was the great Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000). Hartshornes "process theology" is, of course, one of the most important schools in twentieth-century American theology and is considered an important alternative to the so-called "classical theism" of Thomas Aquinas. One of Alston's signal achievements is a rapprochement between these two competing systems-a rapprochement he attributes, if somewhat facetiously, to his preference for the Anglican via media.8