An artful explication of certain crucial points of the Oxford Movement. Written on the Feast of Saint Matthias, 1839, this volume (composed as a letter to the Bishop of Oxford) is a defense of the author against charges that he was teaching doctrines of Rome rather than adhering to the Formularies of the Church of England. Here, Pusey acknowledges the sufficiency of Holy Scripture for salvation, while making clear that this is not mutually exclusive with the rightful authority of the Church. He affirms the doctrine of Justification as put forth by the 39 Articles of Religion, while making clear the necessity of good works by man. He addresses the Sacraments at length, giving particular attention to the Eucharist, in which he clearly rejects the doctrine of Rome, and speaks to the various aspects of the ministry of Priests, which the Oxford Movement held in high regard.
Quoting widely from Scripture, Tracts for the Times, the Early Church Fathers, his own writings and other sources, Pusey gracefully defends the work of the Oxford Movement. He describes the movement as the via media (the middle way), and distinguishes it from the Church of Rome and radical reformers. The letter may be best summarized by the final words of the title given to an appendix: “Showing that to Oppose Ultra-Protestantism is Not to Favour Popery.”