ABSTRACT
The high standard of scholarship among Caroline Divines allowed a particularly intense engagement with Roman Catholic theologians, inclining them towards a narrative of moderation which anticipated the ‘Via Media’. Their way of doing theology gave priority to scripture, but also recognised the need to interpret it within the Church – in ways that ARCIC itself was to embrace. Their championing of the notion of ‘adiaphora’ (that agreement is only necessary on essential points) is central to Anglican methodology, and their investigation of early church doctrine (important, too, for ARCIC) provides common ground.
