What is Anglicanism?
by the Rev. Joel Allen Prather
Catholic?
Protestant?
Yes!
The Real QuestionS


“Did the Anglican Church begin
with the Protestant Reformation or
earlier?”
“Wasn’t it started because the
King wanted a divorce?”
What is Anglicanism?



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“The Anglican Way was not created
in the sixteenth century since
the Ecclesia Anglican [English
Church] had existed for many
centuries; but it took particular
shape, form and content in the
middle
of the sixteenth century.”
What is anglicanism?

“Anglicanism has never
considered itself to be a sect or
denomination originating in the
sixteenth century. It continues
without a break the [English Church]
founded by St. Augustine thirteen
centuries and more ago, though
nowadays that branch of the Church
has spread far beyond the borders of
England.”
Christianity Arrives in England
First Mention of Christians
in Britain…

“… all the limits of the Spains, and the
diverse nations of the Gauls, and the
haunts of the Britons – inaccessible to
the Romans, but subjugated to Christ.”


~ Tertullian circa 200 A.D.
Also mentioned by Origen circa 240 A.D.
The Church is established in
England by the 4th century
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British bishops attended the Council of
Arles (France) in 314A.D. and…
Assented to the decisions of the Council of
Nicaea in 325 A.D
There are documented bishoprics in
London, York and Lincoln circa 300 A.D
St. Alban
CIRCA 304 a.d.

“In this country occurred the suffering of St.
Alban…”
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
~ the Venerable Bede
First individual Christian named in England
The Martyrdom of St. Alban
The evangelization of
the british isles
“Not Angles, but angels!”

Pope Gregory the Great, 540-604 A.D.
St. Augustine of Canterbury

597-664 A.D.
The evangelization of
the british isles
The evangelization of
the british isles
St. Aidan of Lindisfarne
d. 561 A.D.

“Whether in town or country, he always traveled on foot unless
compelled by necessity to ride; and whatever people he met on his
walks, whether high or low, he stopped and spoke to them. If they
were heathen, he urged them to be baptized; and if they were
Christians, he strengthened their faith, and inspired them by word
and deed to live a good life and to be generous to others.”

~ the Venerable Bede
Origins of Celtic Christianity
Hallmarks of
Celtic Christianity

v
s
.
Hallmarks of
Celtic Christianity

vs.
Hallmarks of
Celtic Christianity

vs.
Hallmarks of
Celtic Christianity

v
s.
The Synod of Whitby
circa 664 A.D.
The Synod of Whitby
The Synod of Whitby

“The strands of Irish and continental influence were
interwoven in every Kingdom and at every stage of the
process by which England became Christian.”
Anglican Identity

“But by choosing in favor of Rome, the
Church of England brought herself in
touch with the blood-stream of the
Catholic Church and could henceforth play
her full part in the life of Christendom.”
Anglican Identity
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Independent
Nationalistic
Devoted to the Faith of the universal
Church
Biblical
Missional
FAST
FORWARD
TO
th
THE 16
CENTURY
The Reformation


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The Church has existed in England since the 3rd
century with its unique character (independent,
nationalistic, “Catholic”, biblical & missional)
however…
“it took particular shape, form and content in
the middle of the sixteenth century.”
But…
What About Henry’s Divorce?
Henry’s Divorce is Merely a Symptom

“The Reformation in England, however,
had a different character. The appeal had
an important political twist: we will resist
papal authority partly because of papal
corruptions, but, to no small degree,
because we will not be subjected to any
foreign authority, temporal or spiritual.”
English Hearts and Minds

“In his own inner life the average Englishman of the later
Middle Ages was undoubtedly deeply religious…the English as a
whole were a religious nation and impressed visitors as such.
Moreover they were becoming more educated and more
intelligent…This educated laity formed an important element
among those who were conscious of abuses and keen for
reform. Men were aware that big changes were taking place –
social, economic, national and international – and were anxious
to see a Church alive both to its responsibilities and
opportunities.”
Henry says good-bye to rome

“Although concern for religious reform
and national interests underlay the
motivation for an independent English
church, it was Henry’s well-known desire
to shed Catherine of Aragon in order to
marry Ann Boleyn that precipitated the
break with Rome.”
What about the divorce?
Unique Features of
the English Reformation
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While the Church in England was asserting its
independence it was also declaring its devotion to the
historic Faith and Practice.
Parliament “made it clear that the Church in England was
anciently and would continue to be the Church of
England” and that it had no intention to “decline or vary
from…the ancient Catholic faith of Christendom.”
Unlike the Continental Reformers, the Church of
England’s Reformation was not a radical Reformation
which put away anything resembling the Roman Church.
So what did the English
Reformation look like?
“What do Anglicans believe?”
►
“The Church of England reformed the medieval
form of Catholicism which it inherited, and it
reformed itself by the Gospel…Unlike Protestant
Churches in Switzerland and Scotland, however,
the Church of England maintained the Catholic
Order of the Threefold Ministry, government by
bishops (under the godly monarch), and the
Catholic tradition of an authorized liturgy.”
38
“What do Anglicans believe?”
39
“What do Anglicans believe?”
►
“Anglicanism is not a theological system and
there is no writer whose work is an essential part
of it either in respect of content or with regard to
the form of its self-expression…The absence of an
official theology in Anglicanism is something
deliberate which belongs to its essential nature,
for it has always regarded the teaching and
practice of the undivided Church of the first five
centuries as a criterion.”
40
One Canon
…of Scripture



►
Testament
►
 Apostle’s Creed

 Nicaea I
 325 A.D.
Two Testaments
Old Testament
New
Three Creeds
Nicene Creed Athanasian Creed
Four Councils
Constantinople I
Ephesus Chalcedon
381 A.D.
431 A.D.
451 A.D.

 Five Centuries
41
The thirty-nine Articles
►
“They give with exactness, balance, and
fulness the supreme voice of our Church
on all matters covered therein.”
42
The thirty-nine articles

“Though The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion as a Statement of
Faith has a similar taste, feel and look to the Confessions of Faith
produced by the Lutheran and Reformed (Presbyterian) Churches, it
does not have precisely the same role and function as they. This
doctrinal statement is not to be regarded as the stand-alone
Confession of Faith of the Church of England…(it) is one formulary
of three” along with the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal
43
The thirty-nine articles
► Articles
►
►
►
I—VIII: The Faith
Articles I – V articulate the Creedal
statements concerning the nature of God,
manifest in the Holy Trinity.
Articles VI and VII deal with Scripture
Article VIII discusses the essential
Creeds.
44
The thirty-nine articles
► Articles
IX—XVIII: Personal Religion
►
►
“Dwell on the topics of sin, justification, and
the eternal disposition of the soul. Of particular
focus is the major Reformation topic of
justification by faith. The Articles in this section
and in the section on the Church plant
Anglicanism in the via media of the debate,
portraying an Economy of Salvation where good
works are an outgrowth of faith, and there is a
role for the Church and for the sacraments.”
45
The thirty-nine articles
► Articles
►
XIX—XXXI: Corporate Religion
“This section focuses on the expression
of faith in the public venue – the
institutional church, the councils of the
church, worship, ministry, and sacramental
theology.”
46
The thirty-nine articles
► Articles
XXXII—XXXIX: Miscellaneous
►
►
These articles concern clerical celibacy,
excommunication, traditions of the Church,
and other issues not covered elsewhere.
47
Richard hooker
1554-1600 A.D.
► “The
Via Media” and the “Three-Legged
Stool”
48
The three-legged stool
►Scripture
~ Tradition ~ Reason
►
►
“What Scripture doth plainly deliver, to that first place
both of credit and obedience is due; the next whereunto is
whatsoever any man can necessarily conclude by force of
reason; after these the voice of the Church
succeedeth. That which the Church by her ecclesiastical
authority shall probably think and define to be true or
good, must in congruity of reason over-rule all other
inferior judgments whatsoever.”
49
► ~ Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity
The three-legged stool
50
Via Media
►
Hookers Laws were a defense of the Church of
England against both Puritanism and Roman Catholicism
and he “sought to bring peace after much strife.” 51
Episcopacy
► “…the
office of a bishop in the (Anglican)
church represents a partial continuation of
the office of an apostle.”
52
Suggested Reading
53
Suggested Reading
►
The Anglican Formularies
and Holy Scripture
 by Peter Toon
►
Our Anglican Heritage
► by John W. Howe
54
Suggested Reading
►
Looking At The Episcopal
Church
► by William Sydnor
►
An Introduction to the
Episcopal Church
► by J.B. Bernardin
55
Suggested Reading
►
Beyond Smells & Bells:
The Wonder and Power of
Christian Liturgy
► by Mark Galli
►
The Prayer Book Through
the Ages
► by William Sydnor
56
Suggested Reading
►
A History of the Church in
England
► by J.H.R. Moorman
►
►
The Ecclesiastical History
of The English People
► by the Venerable Bede
58