A few weeks ago a survey was sent out to our congregation following on this workshop. One of the questions asked was ‘Is Anglicanism important to you? Why/why not?’
It has been fantastic to read through people’s replies to that question.
I think it’s fair to say that for many people there’s a confusion about what relevance Anglicanism has for our church practice today.
This post will look at the roots of Anglicanism and the next post will look at 4 classic hallmarks of evangelical Anglicanism that still give shape to our worship today.
What Anglicanism isn’t
Despite what’s commonly said, the Anglican Church didn’t begin so that King Henry VIII could get a divorce. He used an already established movement for political gain. The Anglican Church began because a great movement of the Spirit was sweeping across Europe. This movement had 3 aspects to it.
What Anglicanism is
1. Protestant
As the name suggests this was a protest movement directed at what many saw as gross errors in the teaching of the 16th Century Roman Catholic Church, particularly the selling of indulgences and the authority of the Pope. The selling of indulgences involved paying money to priests to pray for dead.
2. Reformed
This protest movement was seeking to reform the church back to its biblical roots. The reformation was widespread and tapped into grassroots concerns with the above mentioned teachings of the church.
There are 3 key leaders within this movement that helped give shape to Anglicanism, even as we know it today.
Martin Luther - The man who in 1517 famously nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. The trigger for this act of protest was the selling of indulgences. However, Martin Luther’s influence on Anglicanism was really his insistence that justification (God’s act of declaring a sinner righteous before him) was by God’s grace alone through faith alone. That is, no one could be made righteous before God by any work other than God’s grace.
You can see this in Article XI of the 39 Articles (see below):
XI. Of the Justification of Man. We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.
John Calvin - John Calvin was a French theologian and pastor based in Geneva and was hugely significant as a leader of the reformation movement. Calvin’s chief influence to the reformation was his insistence on the sovereignty of God, particularly in the way salvation played out. This is seen in a number of the articles of religion found in the Anglican book of Common Prayer.
XVII. Of Predestination and Election. Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore, they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God, be called according to God's purpose by his Spirit working in due season: they through Grace obey the calling: they be justified freely: they be made sons of God by adoption: they be made like the image of his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ: they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity.
Thomas Cranmer - Cranmer was the most significant leader of the reformation in England. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of King Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I, who had him put to death. Cranmer represented a middle way between Luther and Calvin. His theological convictions were shaped by both men but were toned down a little.
His contribution to the Anglican Church was immense. He led the establishment of the church of England as independent of the authority of the Pope.
One of his lasting legacies was the production of the Book of Common Prayer and the 39 Articles of Religion. The book of Common of Prayer was designed to give a reformed shape to Anglican Worship. While we don’t hold the prayer book in our hands during our church service today our worship services still maintain a prayer book shape to them.
3. Evangelical.
Evangelical has become a funny word that means different things to different people. At the end of the day though the word simply means ‘of the gospel.’ These days it’s not a given that being an Anglican means you’re also an evangelical but when you study the protestant and reformed roots of the Anglican Church it’s hard not to see an evangelical shape to its convictions.
There are 4 classic hallmarks of evangelicalism…but we’ll look at these in the next post.