Petertide (also known as St Peter's Tide ) refers to the Sunday nearest to St Peter's Day on 29 June and to the period around that day.
97-445: In Anglicanism , Petertide is one of two major traditional periods for the ordination of new priests (the other being Michaelmas , around 29 September). Around Penzance in west Cornwall , the period has long been celebrated by Midsummer bonfires and sometimes the burning of effigies of unpopular residents. This Christianity -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Cornwall article
194-612: A via media ('middle way') between Protestantism as a whole, and Catholicism. The faith of Anglicans is founded in the Scriptures and the Gospels , the traditions of the Apostolic Church, the historical episcopate , the first four ecumenical councils , and the early Church Fathers , especially those active during the five initial centuries of Christianity, according to the quinquasaecularist principle proposed by
291-547: A via media , however this can be weighed against his repeated denial of leading a movement or setting up a new church, and may be described as extreme tolerance within Catholic borders . The term via media is frequently claimed by Anglican proponents, though not without debate, as a term of apologetics . The idea of a middle way , was proposed first, early in the Protestant Reformation , as between
388-651: A "decisive change" in Hooker’s hands. Later theologians analysed Hooker's approach to the particular doctrine of justification by faith as a middle way between the predestinationism of the extreme Calvinists and Lutheran and Arminian doctrines. The Oxford Movement recast this via media as a middle way not within Protestantism but between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. Its application to early Anglicanism has remained current in Anglican discourse. Some of
485-695: A 'comfort to the faithful' but warn against over much speculation concerning that doctrine. Indeed a casual reading of the Wurttemburg Confession of 1551, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Scots Confession of 1560, and the XXXIX Articles of Religion reveal them to be cut from the same bolt of cloth. A recent scholarly study points out that, while Richard Hooker 's Law of Ecclesiastical Polity has
582-446: A compromise, but as "a positive position, witnessing to the universality of God and God's kingdom working through the fallible, earthly ecclesia Anglicana ". These theologians regard scripture as interpreted through tradition and reason as authoritative in matters concerning salvation. Reason and tradition, indeed, are extant in and presupposed by scripture, thus implying co-operation between God and humanity, God and nature, and between
679-554: A distinct Christian tradition, with theologies, structures, and forms of worship representing a different kind of middle way, or via media , originally between Lutheranism and Calvinism, and later between Protestantism and Catholicism – a perspective that came to be highly influential in later theories of Anglican identity and expressed in the description of Anglicanism as "catholic and reformed". The degree of distinction between Protestant and Catholic tendencies within Anglicanism
776-509: A divine order of structures through which God unfolds his continuing work of creation. Hence, for Maurice, the Protestant tradition had maintained the elements of national distinction which were amongst the marks of the true universal church, but which had been lost within contemporary Catholicism in the internationalism of centralised papal authority. Within the coming universal church that Maurice foresaw, national churches would each maintain
873-503: A high degree of commonality in Anglican liturgical forms and in the doctrinal understandings expressed within those liturgies. He proposes that Anglican identity might rather be found within a shared consistent pattern of prescriptive liturgies, established and maintained through canon law , and embodying both a historic deposit of formal statements of doctrine, and also framing the regular reading and proclamation of scripture. Sykes nevertheless agrees with those heirs of Maurice who emphasise
970-566: A middle way between Rome and Protestantism itself. In justification of its idea of a via media , the Oxford Movement attributed this position to the works of the Elizabethan theologian Richard Hooker and in particular his book Lawes of Ecclesiastical Polity , which is accepted as a founding work on Anglican theology, a view of Hooker promoted by John Keble , who was one of the first to argue that English theology underwent such
1067-416: A nuanced view of justification, taking elements from the early Church Fathers , Catholicism , Protestantism , liberal theology , and latitudinarian thought. Arguably, the most influential of the original articles has been Article VI on the "sufficiency of scripture", which says that "Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby,
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#17327725684791164-861: A possibility, as other denominational groups rapidly followed the example of the Anglican Communion in founding their own transnational alliances: the Alliance of Reformed Churches , the Ecumenical Methodist Council , the International Congregational Council , and the Baptist World Alliance . Anglicanism was seen as a middle way, or via media , between two branches of Protestantism, Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity. In their rejection of absolute parliamentary authority,
1261-520: A reputation as "the classic depiction of the English via media based upon the sound triumvirate of scripture, reason and tradition", the actual term via media nowhere appears in the work (written in English). Hooker's work concerned the form of Protestant church government as an argument against the extreme advocates of Puritanism , arguing that elements of Church of England practice condemned by
1358-800: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy , and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation , in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the largest branches of Christianity , with around 110 million adherents worldwide as of 2001 . Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans ; they are also called Episcopalians in some countries. The majority of Anglicans are members of national or regional ecclesiastical provinces of
1455-540: Is couple to a doctrinal stance that is broadly, but decidedly Reformed. ... The 42 Articles of 1552 and the 39 Articles of 1563, both commit the Church of England to the fundamentals of the Reformed Faith. Both sets of Articles affirm the centrality of Scripture, and take a monergist position on Justification. Both sets of Articles affirm that the Church of England accepts the doctrine of predestination and election as
1552-661: Is known as the English Reformation , in the course of which it acquired a number of characteristics that would subsequently become recognised as constituting its distinctive "Anglican" identity. With the Elizabethan Settlement of 1559, the Protestant identity of the English and Irish churches was affirmed by means of parliamentary legislation which mandated allegiance and loyalty to the English Crown in all their members. The Elizabethan church began to develop distinct religious traditions, assimilating some of
1649-508: Is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." This article has informed Anglican biblical exegesis and hermeneutics since earliest times. Anglicans look for authority in their "standard divines" (see below). Historically, the most influential of these – apart from Cranmer – has been the 16th-century cleric and theologian Richard Hooker , who after 1660
1746-426: Is primarily a treatise on church-state relations, but it deals comprehensively with issues of biblical interpretation , soteriology , ethics, and sanctification . Throughout the work, Hooker makes clear that theology involves prayer and is concerned with ultimate issues and that theology is relevant to the social mission of the church. Via media Via media is a Latin phrase meaning "the middle road" or
1843-590: Is routinely a matter of debate both within specific Anglican churches and the Anglican Communion. The Book of Common Prayer is unique to Anglicanism, the collection of services in one prayer book used for centuries. The book is acknowledged as a principal tie that binds the Anglican Communion as a liturgical tradition. After the American Revolution , Anglican congregations in the United States and British North America (which would later form
1940-528: Is still considered authoritative to this day. In so far as Anglicans derived their identity from both parliamentary legislation and ecclesiastical tradition, a crisis of identity could result wherever secular and religious loyalties came into conflict – and such a crisis indeed occurred in 1776 with the United States Declaration of Independence , most of whose signatories were, at least nominally, Anglican. For these American patriots, even
2037-422: Is used to describe the people, institutions, churches, liturgical traditions, and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a church member in the Anglican Communion. The word is also used by followers of separated groups that have left the communion or have been founded separately from it. The word originally referred only to the teachings and rites of Christians throughout
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#17327725684792134-537: The 1552 prayer book with the conservative "Catholic" 1549 prayer book into the 1559 Book of Common Prayer . From then on, Protestantism was in a "state of arrested development", regardless of the attempts to detach the Church of England from its "idiosyncratic anchorage in the medieval past" by various groups which tried to push it towards a more Reformed theology and governance in the years 1560–1660. Although two important constitutive elements of what later would emerge as Anglicanism were present in 1559 – scripture,
2231-541: The Acts of Union of 1800 , had been reconstituted as the United Church of England and Ireland (a union which was dissolved in 1871). The propriety of this legislation was bitterly contested by the Oxford Movement (Tractarians), who in response developed a vision of Anglicanism as religious tradition deriving ultimately from the ecumenical councils of the patristic church. Those within the Church of England opposed to
2328-643: The Apostles' Creed as the baptismal symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith . Anglicans believe the catholic and apostolic faith is revealed in Holy Scripture and the ecumenical creeds (Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian) and interpret these in light of the Christian tradition of the historic church, scholarship, reason, and experience. Anglicans celebrate
2425-680: The Celticist Heinrich Zimmer, writes that the distinction between sub-Roman and post-Roman Insular Christianity, also known as Celtic Christianity, began to become apparent around AD 475, with the Celtic churches allowing married clergy, observing Lent and Easter according to their own calendar, and having a different tonsure ; moreover, like the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox churches,
2522-500: The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888. In the latter decades of the 20th century, Maurice's theory, and the various strands of Anglican thought that derived from it, have been criticised by Stephen Sykes , who argues that the terms Protestant and Catholic as used in these approaches are synthetic constructs denoting ecclesiastic identities unacceptable to those to whom the labels are applied. Hence,
2619-511: The Lutheran Book of Concord . For them, the earliest Anglican theological documents are its prayer books, which they see as the products of profound theological reflection, compromise, and synthesis. They emphasise the Book of Common Prayer as a key expression of Anglican doctrine. The principle of looking to the prayer books as a guide to the parameters of belief and practice is called by
2716-682: The See of Rome . In Kent , Augustine persuaded the Anglo-Saxon king " Æthelberht and his people to accept Christianity". Augustine, on two occasions, "met in conference with members of the Celtic episcopacy, but no understanding was reached between them". Eventually, the "Christian Church of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria convened the Synod of Whitby in 663/664 to decide whether to follow Celtic or Roman usages". This meeting, with King Oswiu as
2813-534: The Tractarians , especially John Henry Newman , looked back to the writings of 17th-century Anglican divines, finding in these texts the idea of the English church as a via media between the Protestant and Catholic traditions. This view was associated – especially in the writings of Edward Bouverie Pusey – with the theory of Anglicanism as one of three " branches " (alongside the Catholic Church and
2910-610: The historic episcopate , the Book of Common Prayer , the teachings of the First Four Ecumenical Councils as the yardstick of catholicity, the teaching of the Church Fathers and Catholic bishops, and informed reason – neither the laypeople nor the clergy perceived themselves as Anglicans at the beginning of Elizabeth I's reign, as there was no such identity. Neither does the term via media appear until
3007-464: The "three-legged stool" of scripture , reason , and tradition is often incorrectly attributed to Hooker. Rather, Hooker's description is a hierarchy of authority, with scripture as foundational and reason and tradition as vitally important, but secondary, authorities. Finally, the extension of Anglicanism into non-English cultures, the growing diversity of prayer books, and the increasing interest in ecumenical dialogue have led to further reflection on
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3104-502: The "way between (and avoiding or reconciling) two extremes". Its use in English is highly associated with Anglican self-characterization, or as a philosophical maxim for life akin to the golden mean which advocates moderation in all thoughts and actions. Originating from the Delphic maxim nothing to excess and subsequent Ancient Greek philosophy where Aristotle (384–322 BCE) taught moderation , urging his students to follow
3201-413: The 1627 to describe a church which refused to identify itself definitely as Catholic or Protestant, or as both, "and had decided in the end that this is virtue rather than a handicap". Historical studies on the period 1560–1660 written before the late 1960s tended to project the predominant conformist spirituality and doctrine of the 1660s on the ecclesiastical situation one hundred years before, and there
3298-401: The 16th-century Reformed Thirty-Nine Articles form the basis of doctrine. The Thirty-Nine Articles played a significant role in Anglican doctrine and practice. Following the passing of the 1604 canons, all Anglican clergy had to formally subscribe to the articles. Today, however, the articles are no longer binding, but are seen as a historical document which has played a significant role in
3395-592: The 1830s, the Church of England in Canada became independent from the Church of England in those North American colonies which had remained under British control and to which many Loyalist churchmen had migrated. Reluctantly, legislation was passed in the British Parliament (the Consecration of Bishops Abroad Act 1786) to allow bishops to be consecrated for an American church outside of allegiance to
3492-473: The Anglican churches and those whose works are frequently anthologised . The corpus produced by Anglican divines is diverse. What they have in common is a commitment to the faith as conveyed by scripture and the Book of Common Prayer , thus regarding prayer and theology in a manner akin to that of the Apostolic Fathers . On the whole, Anglican divines view the via media of Anglicanism not as
3589-807: The Asia-Pacific. In the 19th century, the term Anglicanism was coined to describe the common religious tradition of these churches and also that of the Scottish Episcopal Church , which, though originating earlier within the Church of Scotland , had come to be recognised as sharing this common identity. The word Anglican originates in Anglicana ecclesia libera sit , a phrase from Magna Carta dated 15 June 1215, meaning 'the English Church shall be free'. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans . As an adjective, Anglican
3686-772: The Book of Common Prayer, and the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion—expresses a theology in keeping with the Reformed theology of the Swiss and South German Reformation." The Most Rev. Peter Robinson, presiding bishop of the United Episcopal Church of North America , writes: Cranmer's personal journey of faith left its mark on the Church of England in the form of a Liturgy that remains to this day more closely allied to Lutheran practice, but that liturgy
3783-475: The British Crown (since no dioceses had ever been established in the former American colonies). Both in the United States and in Canada, the new Anglican churches developed novel models of self-government, collective decision-making, and self-supported financing; that would be consistent with separation of religious and secular identities. In the following century, two further factors acted to accelerate
3880-663: The Canadian and American models. However, the case of John Colenso , Bishop of Natal , reinstated in 1865 by the English Judicial Committee of the Privy Council over the heads of the Church in South Africa, demonstrated acutely that the extension of episcopacy had to be accompanied by a recognised Anglican ecclesiology of ecclesiastical authority, distinct from secular power. Consequently, at
3977-434: The Catholic Church does not regard itself as a party or strand within the universal church – but rather identifies itself as the universal church. Moreover, Sykes criticises the proposition, implicit in theories of via media , that there is no distinctive body of Anglican doctrines, other than those of the universal church; accusing this of being an excuse not to undertake systematic doctrine at all. Contrariwise, Sykes notes
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4074-634: The Celtic churches operated independently of the Pope's authority, as a result of their isolated development in the British Isles. In what is known as the Gregorian mission , Pope Gregory I sent Augustine of Canterbury to the British Isles in AD 596, with the purpose of evangelising the pagans there (who were largely Anglo-Saxons ), as well as to reconcile the Celtic churches in the British Isles to
4171-533: The Church of Sweden an evangelical-catholic church was to Archbishop Söderblom the fact that the Reformation in Sweden was a 'church improvement' and a 'process of purification' which did not create a new church. As a national church, the Church of Sweden succeeded in bringing together medieval Swedish tradition with the rediscovery of the gospel which the Reformation brought with it. Archbishop Söderblom included
4268-631: The Church." After Roman troops withdrew from Britain , the "absence of Roman military and governmental influence and overall decline of Roman imperial political power enabled Britain and the surrounding isles to develop distinctively from the rest of the West. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core. What resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices." The historian Charles Thomas , in addition to
4365-470: The Consolation of Theology (1418) about the via media et regia : the middle and royal way. Divine providence and human free will each have a mediating relation on the other: God saves those who humbly condemn themselves as incapacitated but seek him. The middle and royal way is of hope between despair and presumptuousness. Erasmus of Rotterdam's irenic but anti-fanatic approach is often classed as
4462-687: The English Established Church , there is no need for a description; it is simply the Church of England, though the word Protestant is used in many legal acts specifying the succession to the Crown and qualifications for office. When the Union with Ireland Act created the United Church of England and Ireland, it is specified that it shall be one "Protestant Episcopal Church", thereby distinguishing its form of church government from
4559-533: The English Church is marked by discontinuities. The idea of the Anglican middle way may also be associated to the teachings of theologians such as Martin Bucer , Thomas Cranmer and Heinrich Bullinger who advocated a religious solution in which secular authority would hold the ring in the religious dispute, and ensure political stability. Anglicanism, which emerged out of the English Reformation,
4656-657: The English bishop Lancelot Andrewes and the Lutheran dissident Georg Calixtus . Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as "containing all things necessary for salvation" and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith. Reason and tradition are seen as valuable means to interpret scripture (a position first formulated in detail by Richard Hooker ), but there is no full mutual agreement among Anglicans about exactly how scripture, reason, and tradition interact (or ought to interact) with each other. Anglicans understand
4753-560: The Latin name lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief"). Within the prayer books are the fundamentals of Anglican doctrine: the Apostles' and Nicene creeds, the Athanasian Creed (now rarely used), the scriptures (via the lectionary), the sacraments, daily prayer, the catechism , and apostolic succession in the context of the historic threefold ministry. For some low-church and evangelical Anglicans,
4850-537: The Nordic Lutheran Churches, chiefly the national churches of Sweden , Finland and Norway , likewise consider themselves as via media churches. The latter professes its faith as "truly catholic, truly reformed, truly evangelical", a statement likewise echoed in the Canons of the Church of Sweden which states that the faith, confession and teachings of the Church are understood as an expression of
4947-484: The Orthodox Churches) historically arising out of the common tradition of the earliest ecumenical councils . Newman himself subsequently rejected his theory of the via media , as essentially historicist and static and hence unable to accommodate any dynamic development within the church. Nevertheless, the aspiration to ground Anglican identity in the writings of the 17th-century divines and in faithfulness to
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#17327725684795044-714: The Prayer Book is still acknowledged as one of the ties that bind Anglicans together. According to legend, the founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea and is commemorated at Glastonbury Abbey . Many of the early Church Fathers wrote of the presence of Christianity in Roman Britain , with Tertullian stating "those parts of Britain into which the Roman arms had never penetrated were become subject to Christ". Saint Alban , who
5141-404: The Presbyterian polity that prevails in the Church of Scotland . The word Episcopal ("of or pertaining to bishops") is preferred in the title of the Episcopal Church (the province of the Anglican Communion covering the United States) and the Scottish Episcopal Church , though the full name of the former is The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America . Elsewhere, however,
5238-403: The Protestant traditions of Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity ; subsequently by Richard Hooker as between Puritan and rump Roman Catholic practises; then by Bishop Hall as between the Calvinist and Arminianist beliefs; and finally by the Tractarians as between Roman Catholicism and the Magisterial Reformers . Historian Hugh Trevor-Roper has argued that the doctrinal history of
5335-552: The Puritans, in particular the Book of Common Prayer and the institution of bishops , are proper and accord with Scripture. Bishop of Norwich Joseph Hall (1574–1656) wrote a book Via Media: The Way of Peace, in the five Busy Articles, Commonly Known by the Name of Arminius (1619) in which he argued that Article 6 of the 39 Articles , Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation , precluded adopting officially any doctrine like irresistible grace that were not clear or explicit in Scripture. Two centuries later,
5432-497: The Tractarians, and to their revived ritual practices, introduced a stream of bills in parliament aimed to control innovations in worship. This only made the dilemma more acute, with consequent continual litigation in the secular and ecclesiastical courts. Over the same period, Anglican churches engaged vigorously in Christian missions , resulting in the creation, by the end of the century, of over ninety colonial bishoprics, which gradually coalesced into new self-governing churches on
5529-422: The apostolic church, apostolic succession ("historic episcopate"), and the writings of the Church Fathers , as well as historically, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion and The Books of Homilies . Anglicanism forms a branch of Western Christianity , having definitively declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement . Many of the Anglican formularies of
5626-450: The basis for the modern country of Canada) were each reconstituted into autonomous churches with their own bishops and self-governing structures; these were known as the American Episcopal Church and the Church of England in the Dominion of Canada . Through the expansion of the British Empire and the activity of Christian missions , this model was adopted as the model for many newly formed churches, especially in Africa, Australasia , and
5723-426: The catholic Christian faith. It further states that this does not serve to create a new, confessionally peculiar interpretation, but concerns the apostolic faith as carried down through the traditions of the Church. These sentiment of these churches as a via media are expressed outright in the Common Statement of the Porvoo Communion , a communion of European Anglican and Nordic and Baltic Lutheran churches: What made
5820-429: The change was mostly political, done in order to allow for the annulment of Henry VIII's marriage, the English Church under Henry VIII continued to maintain Catholic doctrines and liturgical celebrations of the sacraments despite its separation from Rome. With little exception, Henry VIII allowed no changes during his lifetime. Under King Edward VI (1547–1553), however, the church in England first began to undergo what
5917-406: The decennial Lambeth Conference , chairs the meeting of primates , and is the president of the Anglican Consultative Council . Some churches that are not part of the Anglican Communion or recognised by it also call themselves Anglican, including those that are within the Continuing Anglican movement and Anglican realignment . Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible , traditions of
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#17327725684796014-423: The development of a distinct Anglican identity. From 1828 and 1829, Dissenters and Catholics could be elected to the House of Commons , which consequently ceased to be a body drawn purely from the established churches of Scotland, England, and Ireland; but which nevertheless, over the following ten years, engaged in extensive reforming legislation affecting the interests of the English and Irish churches; which, by
6111-464: The dominant influence in Britain as in all of western Europe, Anglican Christianity has continued to have a distinctive quality because of its Celtic heritage." The Church in England remained united with Rome until the English Parliament, though the Act of Supremacy (1534) declared King Henry VIII to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England to fulfill the "English desire to be independent from continental Europe religiously and politically." As
6208-450: The final decision maker, "led to the acceptance of Roman usage elsewhere in England and brought the English Church into close contact with the Continent". As a result of assuming Roman usages, the Celtic Church surrendered its independence, and, from this point on, the Church in England "was no longer purely Celtic, but became Anglo-Roman-Celtic". The theologian Christopher L. Webber writes that "Although "the Roman form of Christianity became
6305-400: The forms of Anglican services were in doubt, since the Prayer Book rites of Matins , Evensong , and Holy Communion all included specific prayers for the British royal family. Consequently, the conclusion of the War of Independence eventually resulted in the creation of two new Anglican churches, the Episcopal Church in the United States in those states that had achieved independence; and in
6402-417: The future. Maurice saw the Protestant and Catholic strands within the Church of England as contrary but complementary, both maintaining elements of the true church, but incomplete without the other; such that a true catholic and evangelical church might come into being by a union of opposites. Central to Maurice's perspective was his belief that the collective elements of family, nation, and church represented
6499-564: The hierarchy, sacraments and liturgy. (A hypothesis, a substitute for direct evidence and hard reasoning) is the Via Media, a possible road, lying between a mountain and a morass, to be driven through formidable obstacles, if it is to exist, by the boldness and skill of the engineers. It is projected and planned for a definite necessity, the necessity of the Anglican position, except for which it would never have been imagined; and, as many other projects and plans, it may be made to look very fair on paper. Newman's tracts in particular used
6596-488: The historic episcopate . Within the Anglican tradition, "divines" are clergy of the Church of England whose theological writings have been considered standards for faith, doctrine, worship, and spirituality, and whose influence has permeated the Anglican Communion in varying degrees through the years. While there is no authoritative list of these Anglican divines, there are some whose names would likely be found on most lists – those who are commemorated in lesser feasts of
6693-423: The incompleteness of Anglicanism as a positive feature, and quotes with qualified approval the words of Michael Ramsey : For while the Anglican church is vindicated by its place in history, with a strikingly balanced witness to Gospel and Church and sound learning, its greater vindication lies in its pointing through its own history to something of which it is a fragment. Its credentials are its incompleteness, with
6790-407: The innumerable benefits obtained through the passion of Christ; the breaking of the bread, the blessing of the cup, and the partaking of the body and blood of Christ as instituted at the Last Supper . The consecrated bread and wine, which are considered by Anglican formularies to be the true body and blood of Christ in a spiritual manner and as outward symbols of an inner grace given by Christ which to
6887-473: The instigation of the bishops of Canada and South Africa, the first Lambeth Conference was called in 1867; to be followed by further conferences in 1878 and 1888, and thereafter at ten-year intervals. The various papers and declarations of successive Lambeth Conferences have served to frame the continued Anglican debate on identity, especially as relating to the possibility of ecumenical discussion with other churches. This ecumenical aspiration became much more of
6984-588: The international Anglican Communion , which forms the third-largest Christian communion in the world, after the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church , and the world's largest Protestant communion. These provinces are in full communion with the See of Canterbury and thus with the archbishop of Canterbury , whom the communion refers to as its primus inter pares ( Latin , 'first among equals'). The archbishop calls
7081-400: The last century, there are also places where practices and beliefs resonate more closely with the evangelical movements of the 1730s (see Sydney Anglicanism ). For high-church Anglicans, doctrine is neither established by a magisterium , nor derived from the theology of an eponymous founder (such as Calvinism ), nor summed up in a confession of faith beyond the ecumenical creeds , such as
7178-404: The man Christ Jesus: man, mediator, and way. Because if there is a via media between him who strives and that to whom he strives, there is hope of reaching it. Boethius has been associated with a variant of the term: Non est medium via (There is no middle way) discussing a life tending to the godly or tending to the bestial. [2] French theologian and humanist Jean Gerson wrote in his On
7275-486: The mid-16th century correspond closely to those of historical Protestantism . These reforms were understood by one of those most responsible for them, Thomas Cranmer , the archbishop of Canterbury , and others as navigating a middle way between two of the emerging Protestant traditions, namely Lutheranism and Calvinism . In the first half of the 17th century, the Church of England and the associated Church of Ireland were presented by some Anglican divines as comprising
7372-407: The mid-19th century revived and extended doctrinal, liturgical, and pastoral practices similar to those of Roman Catholicism. This extends beyond the ceremony of high church services to even more theologically significant territory, such as sacramental theology (see Anglican sacraments ). While Anglo-Catholic practices, particularly liturgical ones, have become more common within the tradition over
7469-404: The middle road between extremes, the via media was the dominant philosophical precept by which Ancient Roman civilisation and society was organised. Augustine 's The City of God (chapter 11) uses the phrase via media in the sense of a way connecting two opposing extremes, rather than in the sense of a golden mean or Goldilocks principle . This is the mediator between God and men,
7566-480: The more well-known and articulate Puritan movement and the Durham House Party, and the exact extent of continental Calvinism among the English elite and among the ordinary churchgoers from the 1560s to the 1620s are subjects of current and ongoing debate. In 1662, under King Charles II , a revised Book of Common Prayer was produced, which was acceptable to high churchmen as well as some Puritans and
7663-485: The parameters of Anglican identity. Many Anglicans look to the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888 as the sine qua non of communal identity. In brief, the quadrilateral's four points are the scriptures as containing all things necessary to salvation; the creeds (specifically, the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds) as the sufficient statement of Christian faith; the dominical sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion ; and
7760-593: The phrase was used by John Henry Newman in setting out his influential views on Anglicanism , as part of the argument he brought forward with the Tractarian movement. Via Media was the title of a series of the Tracts for Today , published by Newman around 1834 and expanded into published lectures. Newman, at that time, claimed that Anglican Church is, or could be, Catholic because it adopts Reformation theology without Roman accretions, but Apostolic because it kept
7857-494: The repentant convey forgiveness and cleansing from sin. While many Anglicans celebrate the Eucharist in similar ways to the predominant Latin Catholic tradition, a considerable degree of liturgical freedom is permitted, and worship styles range from simple to elaborate. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), the collection of services which worshippers in most Anglican churches have used for centuries. It
7954-515: The sacred and secular. Faith is thus regarded as incarnational and authority as dispersed. Amongst the early Anglican divines of the 16th and 17th centuries, the names of Thomas Cranmer , John Jewel , Matthew Parker , Richard Hooker , Lancelot Andrewes , and Jeremy Taylor predominate. The influential character of Hooker's Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity cannot be overestimated. Published in 1593 and subsequently, Hooker's eight-volume work
8051-519: The shaping of Anglican identity. The degree to which each of the articles has remained influential varies. On the doctrine of justification , for example, there is a wide range of beliefs within the Anglican Communion, with some Anglo-Catholics arguing for a faith with good works and the sacraments. At the same time, however, some evangelical Anglicans ascribe to the Reformed emphasis on sola fide ("faith alone") in their doctrine of justification (see Sydney Anglicanism ). Still other Anglicans adopt
8148-416: The six signs of catholicity: baptism, Eucharist, the creeds, Scripture, an episcopal ministry, and a fixed liturgy (which could take a variety of forms in accordance with divinely ordained distinctions in national characteristics). This vision of a becoming universal church as a congregation of autonomous national churches proved highly congenial in Anglican circles; and Maurice's six signs were adapted to form
8245-409: The tension and the travail of its soul. It is clumsy and untidy, it baffles neatness and logic. For it is not sent to commend itself as 'the best type of Christianity,' but by its very brokenness to point to the universal Church wherein all have died. The distinction between Reformed and Catholic, and the coherence of the two, is a matter of debate within the Anglican Communion. The Oxford Movement of
8342-418: The term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity . In its structures, theology, and forms of worship, Anglicanism emerged as a distinct Christian tradition representing a middle ground between Lutheran and Reformed varieties of Protestantism ; after the Oxford Movement , Anglicanism has often been characterized as representing
8439-485: The theology of Reformed churches with the services in the Book of Common Prayer (which drew extensively on the Sarum Rite native to England), under the leadership and organisation of a continuing episcopate. Over the years, these traditions themselves came to command adherence and loyalty. The Elizabethan Settlement stopped the radical Protestant tendencies under Edward VI by combining the more radical elements of
8536-603: The title to pay homage to the inception of the Thirty-Nine Articles and in so doing claim that the Tractarian movement was of the same vein as early Church of England scholars and theologians. They examined the Elizabethan Settlement and reinterpreted it as a compromise between Rome and Reform. The Tractarians promoted the idea of Anglicanism as a middle way between the extremes of Protestantism and Catholicism , which became later an idea of Anglicanism as
8633-620: The traditional sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, or the Mass . The Eucharist is central to worship for most Anglicans as a communal offering of prayer and praise in which the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are proclaimed through prayer, reading of the Bible, singing, giving God thanks over the bread and wine for
8730-463: The traditions of the Church Fathers reflects a continuing theme of Anglican ecclesiology, most recently in the writings of Henry Robert McAdoo . The Tractarian formulation of the theory of the via media between Protestantism and Catholicism was essentially a party platform, and not acceptable to Anglicans outside the confines of the Oxford Movement . However, this theory of the via media
8827-422: The world in communion with the see of Canterbury but has come to sometimes be extended to any church following those traditions rather than actual membership in the Anglican Communion. Although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century. In British parliamentary legislation referring to
8924-515: Was also a tendency to take polemically binary partitions of reality claimed by contestants studied (such as the dichotomies Protestant-"Popish" or " Laudian "-"Puritan") at face value. Since the late 1960s, these interpretations have been criticised. Studies on the subject written during the last forty-five years have, however, not reached any consensus on how to interpret this period in English church history. The extent to which one or several positions concerning doctrine and spirituality existed alongside
9021-522: Was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches, which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world. In 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer , the then archbishop of Canterbury . While it has since undergone many revisions and Anglican churches in different countries have developed other service books,
9118-691: Was executed in AD 209, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. For this reason he is venerated as the British protomartyr . The historian Heinrich Zimmer writes that "Just as Britain was a part of the Roman Empire, so the British Church formed (during the fourth century) a branch of the Catholic Church of the West; and during the whole of that century, from the Council of Arles (316) onward, took part in all proceedings concerning
9215-406: Was increasingly portrayed as the founding father of Anglicanism. Hooker's description of Anglican authority as being derived primarily from scripture, informed by reason (the intellect and the experience of God) and tradition (the practices and beliefs of the historical church), has influenced Anglican self-identity and doctrinal reflection perhaps more powerfully than any other formula. The analogy of
9312-499: Was originally seen as a via media between two forms of Protestantism— Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity . Thomas Cranmer , the Archbishop of Canterbury who played a chief role in shaping Anglicanism, sought a middle way between Lutheranism and Calvinism, though he was closer to Calvinism. Historic Anglicanism is a part of the wider Reformed tradition, as "the founding documents of the Anglican church—the Book of Homilies,
9409-418: Was reworked in the ecclesiological writings of Frederick Denison Maurice , in a more dynamic form that became widely influential. Both Maurice and Newman saw the Church of England of their day as sorely deficient in faith; but whereas Newman had looked back to a distant past when the light of faith might have appeared to burn brighter, Maurice looked forward to the possibility of a brighter revelation of faith in
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