   #copyright

Anglicanism

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Religious movements,
traditions and organizations

   The term Anglican (from medieval Latin ecclesia Anglicana meaning 'the
   English church') is used to describe the people, institutions, and
   churches as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts
   developed by the established Church of England, the Anglican Communion
   and the Continuing Anglican Churches (a loosely affiliated group of
   independent churches which have seceded from the Anglican Communion as
   a result of doctrinal and liturgical differences with its various
   provinces). In some parts of the world, an Anglican is known as an
   Episcopalian.

   The Anglican Communion considers itself to be part of the One, Holy,
   Catholic, and Apostolic Church and as being both Catholic and Reformed.
   For some adherents, it represents a non-papal Catholicism, for others a
   Protestantism without a dominant figure such as a Luther, Knox, Calvin,
   or Wesley. For many Anglicans, self-identity represents some
   combination of the two. The Communion is a theologically broad and
   often divergent affiliation of thirty-eight provinces that are in
   communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Anglican Communion is
   one of the larger Christian denominations in the world, with
   approximately 73 million members .

History

   Part of the series on
   Anglicanism
   Anglican Communion
            Background

   Christianity
   English Reformation
   Apostolic Succession
   Roman Catholicism
   Episcopal polity
              People

   Thomas Cranmer
   Henry VIII
   Richard Hooker
   Elizabeth I
   John Wesley
       Instruments of Unity

   Archbishop of Canterbury
   Lambeth Conferences
   Anglican Consultative Council
   Primates' Meeting
        Liturgy and Worship

   Book of Common Prayer
   High Church · Low Church
   Broad Church
   Oxford Movement
   Thirty-Nine Articles
   Ministry
   Saints in Anglicanism

Pre-Reformation

   Anglicans traditionally date the origins of their Church to the arrival
   in England of the first Archbishop of Canterbury, Saint Augustine of
   Canterbury at the end of the 6th century. However, the origins of the
   English Church extend farther back, Christianity having first gained a
   foothold during the Roman occupation prior to the 5th century, possibly
   as early as the 1st century. The first recorded Christian martyr in
   Britain, Saint Alban, is thought to have lived in the early 4th
   century, and his prominence in Anglican hagiography is reflected in the
   number of parish churches of which he is patron. Irish Anglicans also
   trace their origins back to the founding saint of Irish Christianity (
   Saint Patrick) who was a Roman Briton and pre-dated Anglo-Saxon
   Christianity.

   Anglicans consider Celtic Christianity a forerunner of their church,
   since the re-establishment of Christianity in the early sixth century
   came via Irish and Scottish missionaries, notably Saint Patrick and
   Saint Columba. This distinctive form of Catholic Christianity remained,
   even after the Synod of Whitby in 664 decided that the church
   throughout Britain should conform to the contemporary Roman customs
   introduced by Augustine and other missionaries to the Anglo-Saxons.
   This persistence of Celtic traditions, along with the implementation of
   Pope Gregory I's instructions to Augustine to incorporate pagan customs
   and festivals into religious life and practice, meant that English
   Christianity assumed a distinctive indigenous character

Reformation

   While Anglicans acknowledge that the repudiation of papal authority by
   Henry VIII of England led to the Church of England existing as a
   separate entity, they also stress its continuity with the
   pre-Reformation Church of England. Quite apart from its distinct
   customs and liturgies (such as the Sarum rite), the organizational
   machinery of the Church of England was in place by the time of the
   Synod of Hertford in 672– 673 when the English bishops were for the
   first time able to act as one body under the leadership of the
   Archbishop of Canterbury. The effect of Henry's Act in Restraint of
   Appeals ( 1533) and the Acts of Supremacy ( 1534) was simply to declare
   that the English crown was "the only supreme head in earth of the
   Church of England, called Ecclesia Anglicana," and that the Bishop of
   Rome had no "greater jurisdiction in England than any other foreign
   bishop." The development of the Thirty-Nine Articles of religion and
   the passage of the Acts of Uniformity culminating in the Elizabethan
   Religious Settlement resulted in a Church that is both Catholic and
   Reformed with the English (later British) monarch as its Supreme
   Governor.

   The English Reformation was initially driven by the dynastic goals of
   Henry VIII, who, in his quest for a consort who would bear him a male
   heir, found it expedient to replace papal supremacy with the supremacy
   of the English crown. A close reading of the early legislation,
   limiting itself as it does to questions of temporal and spiritual
   supremacy, suggest that it was not Henry's intention to found a new
   church. He was well-informed enough about history to know that the
   powers he was claiming were those which had been exercised by European
   monarchs over the church in their dominions since the time of
   Constantine the Great, and that what had changed since then had been
   the growth of papal power. The original Acts sought to reverse this by
   placing Henry at the head of the church. Subsequent legislation put a
   decidedly Protestant spin on Henry's agenda, however. The introduction
   of the Great Bible in 1538 brought a vernacular translation of the
   Scriptures into churches, and the Dissolution of the Monasteries by
   1540 brought huge amounts of church land and property under the
   jurisdiction of the Crown, and ultimately into the hands of the English
   nobility. This created vested interests which made a powerful material
   incentive to support a separate Christian church in England under the
   rule of the Crown.

   By 1549, the process of creating a new and distinct national church was
   fully initiated by the publication of the first vernacular prayer book,
   the Book of Common Prayer, and the enforcement of the Acts of
   Uniformity, establishing English as the language of public worship. The
   theological justification for Anglican distinctiveness was begun by the
   Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, the principal author of the
   first Prayer Book, and continued by other thinkers such as Richard
   Hooker and Lancelot Andrewes. Cranmer had studied in Europe and was
   influenced by the ideas of the Reformers John Calvin and Martin Bucer,
   as well as the Roman Catholic theologian Desiderius Erasmus.

   During the short reign of Edward VI, Henry's son, Cranmer and others
   moved the Church of England significantly towards a more Protestant
   Calvinist position, which was reflected in the development of the
   second Prayer Book ( 1552) and of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion
   (originally numbering forty-two). This reform was reversed abruptly in
   the subsequent reign of Queen Mary, a Roman Catholic who re-established
   papal supremacy. Only under Queen Elizabeth I was the English church
   established as a reformed Roman Catholic Church incorporating aspects
   of Protestant theology.

Post-Reformation

   Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556), Henry VIII's Archbishop of Canterbury and
   principal author of the first and second Books of Common Prayer.
   Enlarge
   Thomas Cranmer ( 1489– 1556), Henry VIII's Archbishop of Canterbury and
   principal author of the first and second Books of Common Prayer.

   In the 16th century religious life was an important part of the cement
   which held society together, and formed an important basis for
   extending and consolidating political power. Differences in religion
   were likely to lead to civil unrest at the very least, with treason and
   foreign invasion acting as real threats. Elizabeth's solution to the
   problem of minimising bloodshed over religion in her dominions was the
   religious settlement most compellingly articulated in the development
   of the 1559 Book of Common Prayer. This version of the prayer book
   combined elements of the Calvinist 1552 version with the traditional
   Catholic liturgy of Sarum, as transcribed in the 1549 version. The
   prayer book revision was buttressed by a revision of the Articles of
   Religion and mediating rubrics concerning vestments and liturgy.
   Elizabeth's goal was a church with a fixed form of worship in which
   everybody was expected to participate, but a belief system that was
   formulated in such a way that most in the theological spectrum would be
   able to give assent. Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles, by the use
   of negative terminology, subtly inverted the Protestant principle that
   all things must be proved from the Scriptures so that only those things
   which could be proved by an appeal to the Scriptures must be believed
   as articles of the faith. The bulk of the population acceded to
   Elizabeth's religious settlement with varying degrees of enthusiasm or
   resignation, but more militant Protestants (the so-called Puritans) and
   those who continued to recognise papal supremacy opposed it, and cracks
   in the façade of religious unity in England appeared.

   For the next century, through the reigns of James I and Charles I, and
   culminating in the English Civil War and the protectorate of Oliver
   Cromwell, there were significant swings back and forth between two
   factions: the Puritans (and other radicals) who sought more
   far-reaching reform, and the more conservative churchmen who aimed to
   keep closer to traditional beliefs and practices. The failure of
   political and ecclesiastical authorities to submit to Puritan demands
   for more extensive reform was one of the causes of open warfare. By
   continental standards the level of violence over religion was not high,
   but the casualties included a king, Charles I and an Archbishop of
   Canterbury, William Laud. Under the Protectorate of the Commonwealth of
   England from 1649 to 1660, Anglicanism was disestablished, presbyterian
   ecclesiology was introduced as an adjunct to the episcopal system, the
   Articles were replaced with the Westminster Confession, and the Book of
   Common Prayer was replaced by the Directory of Public Worship. Despite
   this, about one quarter of English clergy refused to conform.

   With the Restoration of Charles II, Anglicanism too was restored in a
   form not far removed from the Elizabethan version. One difference was
   that the ideal of encompassing all the people of England in one
   religious organisation, taken for granted by the Tudors, had to be
   abandoned. The religious landscape of England assumed its present form,
   with an Anglican established church occupying the middle ground, and
   Roman Catholics and those Puritans who dissented from the
   establishment, too strong to be suppressed altogether, having to
   continue their existence outside the national church rather than
   controlling it. Restrictions and continuing official suspicion
   continued well into the nineteenth century. The Elizabethan Settlement
   failed in that it was never able to win the assent of the entire
   English people, let alone the other peoples of the British Isles. Yet
   as the Anglican form of Christianity is now found all over the world it
   may possibly have succeeded beyond the wildest expectations of anybody
   alive in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Spread of Anglicanism outside England

   The history of Anglicanism since the 17th century has been one of
   greater geographical and cultural expansion and diversity, accompanied
   by a concomitant diversity of liturgical and theological profession and
   practice.

   At the same time as the English reformation, the Church of Ireland was
   also separated from Rome and adopted articles of faith similar to
   England's Thirty-Nine Articles. However, unlike England, the Anglican
   church there was never able to capture the loyalty of the majority of
   the population (who still adhered to Roman Catholicism). As early as
   1582, the Scottish Episcopal Church was inaugurated when James VI of
   Scotland sought to reintroduce bishops when the Church of Scotland
   became fully presbyterian (see Scottish reformation). The Scottish
   Episcopal Church enabled the creation of the Episcopal Church in the
   United States of America after the American Revolution, by consecrating
   in Aberdeen the first American bishop, Samuel Seabury, who had been
   refused consecration by bishops in England, due to his inability to
   take the oath of allegiance to the English crown prescribed in the
   Order for the Consecration of Bishops. The polity and ecclesiology of
   the Scottish and American churches, as well as their daughter churches,
   thus tends to be distinct from those spawned by the English church -
   reflected, for example, in their looser conception of provincial
   government, and their leadership by a presiding bishop or primus rather
   than by a metropolitan or archbishop. The names of the Scottish and
   American churches inspire the customary term Episcopalian for an
   Anglican; the term being used in these and other parts of the world.
   See also: American Episcopalians, Scottish Episcopalians
   The arms of the US Episcopal Church.
   Enlarge
   The arms of the US Episcopal Church.

   At the time of the Reformation the four Welsh dioceses were all part of
   the Province of Canterbury, and remained so until 1920 when the Church
   in Wales was created as a province of the Anglican Communion. The
   intense interest in the Christian faith which characterised the Welsh
   in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was not present in the
   sixteenth, and most Welsh people went along with the Reformation more
   because the English government was strong enough to impose its wishes
   in Wales, rather than out of any real conviction.

   Anglicanism spread outside of the British Isles by means of emigration
   as well as missionary effort. English missionary organisations such as
   USPG - then known as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
   Foreign Parts, the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge
   (SPCK) and the Church Missionary Society (CMS) were established in the
   seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to bring Anglican Christianity to
   the British colonies. By the nineteenth century, such missions were
   extended to other areas of the world. The liturgical and theological
   orientations of these missionary organisations were diverse. The SPG,
   for example, was influenced by the Catholic Revival in the Church of
   England, while CMS was influenced by the Evangelicalism of the earlier
   Evangelical Revival. As a result, the piety, liturgy, and polity of the
   indigenous churches they established came to reflect these diverse
   orientations.
   Arms of the Anglican Church of Australia.
   Enlarge
   Arms of the Anglican Church of Australia.

   The growth of the twin "revivals" in nineteenth century Anglicanism -
   Evangelical and Catholic - were hugely influential. The Evangelical
   Revival informed important social movements such as the abolition of
   slavery, child welfare legislation, prohibition of alcohol, the
   development of public health and public education. It also led to the
   creation of the Church Army, an evangelical and social welfare
   association and informed piety and liturgy, most notably in the
   development of Methodism. The Catholic Revival, arguably, had a more
   penetrating impact. It succeeded in transforming the liturgy of the
   Anglican Church, repositioning the Eucharist as the central act of
   worship in place of the daily offices, and reintroducing the use of
   vestments, ceremonial, and acts of piety (such as Eucharistic
   adoration) that had long been prohibited in the English church and (to
   a certain extent) in its daughter churches. It also had an impact on
   Anglican theology, especially through the Christian socialism of such
   Catholic Revival figures as Frederick Denison Maurice, Charles Gore,
   and - later - William Temple.

Organisation

Principles of governance

   Contrary to popular misconception, the British monarch is not the
   constitutional "Head" of the Church of England, nor does he or she have
   any role in provinces outside England and Wales. The role of the crown
   in the Church of England is practically limited to the appointment of
   bishops, including the Archbishop of Canterbury. This process is
   accomplished through collaboration with and consent of ecclesial
   representatives (see Ecclesiastical Commissioners). The monarch has no
   constitutional role in Anglican churches in other parts of the world,
   although the prayer books of several countries where she is head of
   state maintain prayers for her as sovereign.

   A characteristic of Anglicanism is that it has no international
   juridical authority. All thirty-nine provinces of the Anglican
   Communion are independent, each with their own primate and governing
   structure. These provinces may take the form of national churches (such
   as in Canada, Uganda, or Japan) or a collection of nations (such as the
   West Indies, Central Africa, or South Asia). Within these Communion
   provinces may exist subdivisions called ecclesiastical provinces, under
   the jurisdiction of a metropolitan. All provinces of the Anglican
   Communion consist of dioceses, under the jurisdiction of a bishop. In
   the Anglican tradition, bishops must be consecrated according to the
   strictures of apostolic succession, which Anglicans consider one of the
   marks of catholicity. Apart from bishops, there are two other orders of
   ordained ministry: deacon and priest. No requirement is made for
   clerical celibacy and women may be ordained as deacons in almost all
   provinces, as priests in some, and as bishops in a few provinces.
   Anglican religious orders and communities, suppressed in England during
   the Reformation, have re-emerged since the mid-nineteenth century, and
   now have an international presence and influence.

   Government in the Anglican Communion is synodical, consisting of three
   houses of laity (usually elected parish representatives), clergy, and
   bishops. National, provincial, and diocesan synods maintain different
   scopes of authority, depending on their canons and constitutions.
   Anglicanism is not congregational in its polity: It is the diocese, not
   the parish church, which is the smallest unit of authority in the
   church, and bishops must give their assent to resolutions passed by
   synods. (See Episcopal polity).

The Archbishop of Canterbury

   The Archbishop of Canterbury has a precedence of honour over the other
   primates of the Anglican Communion, and for a province to be considered
   a part of the Communion means specifically to be in communion with the
   See of Canterbury. The Archbishop is, therefore recognised as primus
   inter pares, or first amongst equals even though he does not exercise
   any direct authority in any province outside England, of which he is
   chief primate. The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, as
   former Archbishop of Wales, is the first appointed from outside the
   Church of England since the Reformation.

   As "spiritual head" of the Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury
   maintains a certain moral authority, and has the right to determine
   which churches will be in communion with his See. He hosts and chairs
   the Lambeth Conferences of Anglican Communion bishops, as well as the
   Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting. He acts as president of the
   secretariat of the Anglican Communion Office, and its deliberative
   body, the Anglican Consultative Council.

International bodies

   The Anglican Communion has no international juridical organisation. All
   international bodies are consultative and collaborative, and their
   resolutions are not legally binding on the independent provinces of the
   Communion. There are three international bodies of note.
    1. The Lambeth Conference is the oldest international consultation. It
       was first convened by Archbishop Charles Longley in 1867 as a
       vehicle for bishops of the Communion to "discuss matters of
       practical interest, and pronounce what we deem expedient in
       resolutions which may serve as safe guides to future action." Since
       then, it has been held roughly every ten years. Invitation is by
       the Archbishop of Canterbury.
    2. The Anglican Consultative Council was created by a 1968 Lambeth
       Conference resolution, and meets biennially. The council consists
       of representative bishops, clergy, and laity chosen by the
       thirty-eight provinces. The body has a permanent secretariat, the
       Anglican Communion Office, of which the Archbishop of Canterbury is
       president.
    3. The Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting is the most recent
       manifestation of international consultation and deliberation,
       having been first convened by Archbishop Donald Coggan in 1978 as a
       forum for "leisurely thought, prayer and deep consultation."

United Churches

   In the Indian subcontinent most Anglican churches have entered into
   formal union with Protestant denominations while remaining part of the
   Anglican Communion. These agreements, which date from the 1940s and
   50s, led to the creation of the Church of North India, the Church of
   South India, the Church of Pakistan and the Church of Bangladesh. The
   united churches maintain an episcopal and synodical structure and
   consecrate bishops in apostolic succession. As a percentage of the
   total population in the region, these united churches are not
   significant, but aside from Bangladesh, they are numerically very
   substantial.

   Those which did not join with the union agreements in South Asia
   retained the name Anglican Church of India or adopted a similar one
   using the word "Anglican." The total membership of these churches has
   been estimated at 800,000. Most have recently entered into communion
   with churches of the Continuing Anglican Movement and have North
   American parishes.

Anglican Churches outside the Anglican Communion

   There are a number of jurisdictions which identify themselves as
   "Anglican" but are not in communion with Canterbury. They therefore are
   outside the Anglican Communion. Several, such as the Free Church of
   England and the Reformed Episcopal Church in the United States left the
   Anglican Communion in the 1800s in reaction to the inroads of the
   Catholic Revival and the controversy over ritualism which it produced
   in the church.

   Later, during the 1960s and 70s, disagreements with certain provincial
   bodies — chiefly in North America and in the United Kingdom — over such
   issues as prayer book revision, the remarriage of divorced persons, the
   ordination of women, and the acceptance by the church of homosexual
   relationships led to another and quite different schism. These Anglican
   churches are usually termed " Continuing Anglican churches" because of
   their determination to preserve (or "continue") the episcopate in
   Apostolic Succession, whereas the older Reformed Episcopal churches
   maintained the lineage of bishops without accepting the idea that
   sacraments are valid only if administered by clergy in such a lineage.

   There are also independent jurisdictions unrelated to the preceding
   schisms. The Church of England in South Africa is conservative,
   long-established, and has a substantial membership. It is separate from
   the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, which is part of the Anglican
   Communion. Other churches, however, have adopted the Anglican name, the
   Book of Common Prayer, Anglican vestments, and — in some cases — the
   Thirty Nine Articles of Religion, but have no historic connection to
   the Anglican Communion. Unlike the socially conservative Continuing
   Anglican churches and the Church of England in South Africa, some of
   these tiny jurisdictions are openly oriented towards the Gay and
   Lesbian community and do ordain women clergy.

   Given the range of concerns and the grounds for schism, there is as
   much diversity in the theological and liturgical orientations of the
   Free Churches, the Continuing Anglican churches, and the independent
   Anglican bodies as there is among churches of the Anglican Communion.
   Some are Evangelical, others charismatic and Evangelical, and yet
   others are Anglo-Catholic. What they have in common is a conviction
   that mainstream Anglicanism in North America, the United Kingdom, and
   elsewhere has departed from acceptable principles of belief and/or
   practice.

Doctrine

Catholic and Reformed

   Rather than theological disagreement, the origin of Anglicanism was
   based on questions of jurisdiction - namely, the belief that national
   churches should be autonomous. The effort to create a national church
   in continuity with its traditions, but inclusive of the doctrinal and
   liturgical insights of the Reformation was joined by a real concern to
   make the institution as hospitable as possible to people of different
   theological inclinations, so as to maintain social peace and cohesion.
   The result has been a movement with a distinctive self-image among
   Christian movements. The question often arises whether the Anglican
   Communion should be identified as a Protestant or Catholic church, or
   perhaps a distinct branch of Christianity altogether.

   The distinction between Protestant and Catholic, and the coherence of
   the two, is routinely a matter of debate both within specific Anglican
   Churches and throughout the Anglican Communion by members themselves.
   Since the Oxford Movement of the mid-19th century, many churches of the
   Communion have embraced and extended liturgical and pastoral practices
   dissimilar to most Reformed Protestant theology. This extends beyond
   the ceremony of High Church services to even more theologically
   significant territory, such as sacramental theology (see Anglican
   sacraments). Nevertheless, while Anglo-Catholic practices, particularly
   liturgical ones, have become much more mainstream within the
   denomination over the last century, there remain many areas where
   practices and beliefs remain on the more Protestant or Evangelical
   side.

Guiding principles

   Richard Hooker (1554–1600), one of the most influential figures in
   shaping Anglican theology and self-identity
   Enlarge
   Richard Hooker (1554–1600), one of the most influential figures in
   shaping Anglican theology and self-identity

   Unlike other Christian movements, Anglican doctrine is neither
   established by a magisterium, nor derived from the theology of an
   eponymous founder (such as Lutheranism or Calvinism), nor summed up in
   a confession of faith (beyond those of the creeds). Instead, the
   earliest Anglican theological documents are its prayer books, which
   were themselves the products of profound theological reflection and
   compromise. It is within the Book of Common Prayer that Anglican
   doctrine was originally expressed in the selection, arrangement, and
   composition of prayers and exhortations, the selection and arrangement
   of daily scripture readings (the lectionary), and in the stipulation of
   the rubrics for permissible liturgical action and any variations in the
   prayers and exhortations. The principle of looking to the prayer books
   as a guide to the parameters of belief and practice is called by the
   Latin name lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of
   belief"). Within the prayer books are the so-called fundamentals of
   Anglican doctrine: The Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, the scriptures (via
   the lectionary), the sacraments, daily prayer, the catechism, and
   apostolic succession in the context of the historic threefold ministry.

   Beyond the prayer books of various provinces, however, there are other
   important principles that have had an impact on Anglican belief. The
   earliest are contained within the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, as
   they appear in their final, 1604 form. Historically, Anglican clergy
   had to take an oath of subscription to the Articles, although the
   practice has become uncommon. Despite this, they have never been
   considered binding, but rather advisory. The degree to which each of
   the articles has remained influential varies. Arguably, the most
   influential of them has been Article VI on the "sufficiency of
   Scripture," which states that "Scripture containeth all things
   necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may
   be proved thereby, 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 also look for authority in their so-called "standard divines"
   (see below). Historically, the most influential of these - apart from
   Cranmer - has been the sixteeth century cleric and theologian Richard
   Hooker. Hooker's description of Anglican authority as being akin to a
   three-legged stool of 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.

   Finally, the extension of Anglicanism into non-English cultures, the
   growing diversity of prayer books, and the increasing interest in
   ecumenical dialogue has led to further reflection on 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 Holy 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 the historic episcopate, locally adapted.

Anglican divines

   Within the Anglican tradition, there have been certain theological
   writers whose works have been considered standards for faith, doctrine,
   worship, and spirituality. 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
   the Church, and those whose works are frequently anthologized.

   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 a compromise, but "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, is extant in and presupposed by Scripture, thus
   implying co-operation between God and humanity, God and nature, and
   between the sacred and secular. Faith is thus regarded as
   incarnational, and authority as dispersed.

   Among the early Anglican divines of the sixteenth and seventeenth
   centuries, the names of Thomas Cranmer, John Jewel, 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 is primarily a treatise on Church-state relations, but it
   also 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 also that theology is relevant to the social
   mission of the church.

   The eighteenth century saw the rise of two important movements in
   Anglicanism: Cambridge Platonism, with its mystical understanding of
   reason as the "candle of the Lord," and the Evangelical Revival, with
   its emphasis on the personal experience of the Holy Spirit. The
   Cambridge Platonist movement evolved into a school called
   Latitudinarianism, which emphasized reason as the barometer of
   discernment and took a stance of indifference towards doctrinal and
   ecclesiological differences. The Evangelical Revival, influenced by
   such figures as John Wesley and Charles Simeon, re-emphasized the
   importance of justification through faith and the consequent importance
   of personal conversion. Some in this movement, such as Wesley and
   George Whitefield, took the message to the United States, influencing
   the First Great Awakening, and also created an Anglo-American movement
   called Methodism that would eventually break away from the Anglican
   churches.

   By the nineteenth century, there was a renewed emphasis on the
   teachings of the earlier Anglican divines: Theologians such as John
   Keble, Edward Bouverie Pusey, and John Henry Newman had widespread
   influence in the realm of polemics, homiletics, and theological and
   devotional works. Their work is largely credited with the development
   of the Oxford Movement, which sought to reassert Catholic identity and
   practice in the Anglican Church. Through such works as The Kingdom of
   Christ, Frederick Denison Maurice played a pivotal role in inaugurating
   another movement, Christian socialism. In this, Maurice transformed
   Hooker's emphasis on the incarnational nature of Anglican spirituality
   to an imperative for social justice. Also in the nineteenth century,
   Anglican biblical scholarship began to assume a distinct character,
   represented by the so-called "Cambridge triumvirate" of Joseph
   Lightfoot, F.J.A. Hort, and Brooke Foss Westcott. Their orientation is
   best summed up by Lightfoot's observation that "Life which Christ is
   and which Christ communicates, the life which fills our whole beings as
   we realise its capacities, is active fellowship with God."
   A priest in Anglican choir habit. Normally worn at non-Eucharistic
   liturgies and offices, the vesture is also worn by many "low church" or
   evangelical Anglicans to preside at the Eucharist
   Enlarge
   A priest in Anglican choir habit. Normally worn at non-Eucharistic
   liturgies and offices, the vesture is also worn by many "low church" or
   evangelical Anglicans to preside at the Eucharist
   An Anglican priest in eucharistic vestments. Many Anglican clergy vest
   in a similar way to Roman Catholic clergy, especially at the Eucharist.
   While the chasuble is often considered to be more "high church" by some
   Anglicans, the alb and stole have become common vesture.
   Enlarge
   An Anglican priest in eucharistic vestments. Many Anglican clergy vest
   in a similar way to Roman Catholic clergy, especially at the Eucharist.
   While the chasuble is often considered to be more "high church" by some
   Anglicans, the alb and stole have become common vesture.

   The twentieth century is marked by figures such as Charles Gore, with
   his emphasis on natural revelation, William Temple's focus on
   Christianity and society, and J.A.T. Robinson's provocative discussions
   of deism and theism. Outside England, one sees such figures as William
   Porcher DuBose, William Meade, and Charles Henry Brent in the United
   States. More recently, theologians such as Jeffrey John, N.T. Wright,
   and Rowan Williams have added to the mix.

Ordained ministry

   Like the Orthodox and Catholic churches (but unlike most Protestant
   churches), the Anglican Communion maintains the three-fold ministry of
   deacons, priests, and bishops. Bishops of the church are members of the
   historic episcopate, and derive their authority through apostolic
   succession — an unbroken line of bishops that can be traced back to the
   apostles of Jesus of Nazareth. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox
   Churches either do not recognize the apostolic succession in Anglican
   orders or do not consider that any existing line of succession among
   Anglicans confers validity. In contrast, the Anglican Communion
   recognizes Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox ordinations as valid.
   Outside the Anglican Communion, Anglican ordinations (at least of male
   priests) are recognized by the Old Catholics, many Lutherans, other
   Protestants, and various Independent Catholic Churches.

Churchmanship

   An eastward-facing high mass, an Anglo-Catholic liturgical phenomenon
   which appeared in Anglicanism following the Catholic Revival of the
   nineteenth century
   Enlarge
   An eastward-facing high mass, an Anglo-Catholic liturgical phenomenon
   which appeared in Anglicanism following the Catholic Revival of the
   nineteenth century

   "Churchmanship" can be defined as the manifestation of theology in the
   realms of liturgy, piety, and - to some extent - spirituality. In
   Anglicanism diversity in this respect has tended to reflect the
   diversity in the movement's Protestant and Catholic identity. Different
   individuals, groups, parishes, dioceses, and provinces may identify
   more with one or the other, or some balance of the two.

   The range of Anglican belief and practice became particularly divisive
   during the 19th century when some clergy were disciplined and even
   imprisoned on charges of ritualism while, at the same time, others were
   criticized for engaging in public worship servuces with ministers of
   Reformed churches. Resistance to the growing acceptance of so-called
   Catholic ceremonial by the mainstream of Anglicanism and the
   unwillingness of the mainstream churches to require adherence to the
   existing regulations against certain of the elements of this Catholic
   "Revival" ultimately led to schism, with the creation of the Free
   Church of England in England (1844) and the Reformed Episcopal Church
   in North America (1873).

   Anglo-Catholic (and some Broad Church) Anglicans undertake public
   liturgy in a fashion that resembles that of the contemporary Roman
   Catholic Church, in sometimes an even more traditional manner (e.g., an
   "eastward orientation" at the altar). The Eucharist may be conducted by
   priest, deacon, and subdeacon dressed in their traditional vestments,
   using incense and sanctus bells, and with "secret prayers" said by the
   presiding celebrant. Such churches may practice Eucharistic adoration,
   such as solemn benediction of the reserved sacrament. In terms of
   personal piety, such Anglicans may recite the rosary and angelus, be
   involved in a devotional society dedicated to "Our Lady" (the Blessed
   Virgin Mary), and seek the intercession of the saints. In recent years,
   prayer books of several provinces have, out of deference to a greater
   agreement with Eastern Conciliarism (and a perceived greater respect
   accorded Anglicanism by Eastern Orthodoxy than by Roman Catholicism),
   instituted a number of historically Eastern and Oriental Orthodox
   elements in their liturgies, including introduction of the Trisagion
   and deletion of the filioque clause from the Nicene Creed.

   For their part, those Evangelical (and some Broad Church) Anglicans who
   emphasise the Protestant nature of the Church stress the Reformation
   theme of salvation by grace through faith. They emphasize the two
   dominical sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist, viewing the other five
   as "lesser rites." Such Anglicans tend to take the inerrancy of
   Scripture literally, adopting the view of Article VI that it contains
   all things necessary to salvation in an explicit sense. Worship in
   churches influenced by these principles tends to be significantly less
   elaborate, with greater emphasis on the Liturgy of the Word (the
   reading of the scriptures, the sermon, and the intercessory prayers).
   The Order for Holy Communion may be celebrated bi-weekly or monthly (in
   preference to the daily offices), by priests attired in choir habit
   rather than Eucharistic vestments. Ceremonial may be in keeping with
   the restrictive provisions of the Ornaments Rubric of the historic
   English prayer books — no candles, no incense, no bells, and a minimum
   of manual action by the presiding celebrant (such as touching the
   elements at the Words of Institution).

   In recent years, there has been a surge of charismatic worship among
   Anglicans. Both Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals have been affected by
   this movement such that it is not uncommon to find typically
   charismatic postures, music, and other themes evident during the
   services of otherwise Anglo-Catholic or Evangelical parishes.

   The spectrum of Anglican beliefs and practice is too large to be fit
   into these labels. Many Anglicans locate themselves somewhere in the
   spectrum of the Broad Church tradition, and consider themselves an
   amalgam of Evangelical and Catholic. Such Anglicans stress that
   Anglicanism is the " via media" (middle way) between the two major
   strains of Western Christianity. Via media may also be understood as
   underscoring Anglicanism's preference for a communitarian and
   methodological approach to theological issues rather than relativism.

Social issues

   Anglican concern with broader issues of social justice can be traced to
   its earliest divines. Richard Hooker, for instance, wrote that "God
   hath created nothing simply for itself, but each thing in all things,
   and of every thing each part in other have such interest, that in the
   whole world nothing is found whereunto any thing created can say, 'I
   need thee not.'" This, and related statements reflect the deep thread
   of incarnational theology running through Anglican social thought - a
   theology which sees God, nature, and humanity in dynamic interaction,
   and the interpenetration of the secular and the sacred in the make-up
   of the cosmos. Such theology is informed by a traditional English
   spiritual ethos, rooted in Celtic Christianity, and reinforced by
   Anglicanism's origins as an established church, bound up by its
   structure in the life and interests of civil society.

   Repeatedly, throughout Anglican history, this principle has reasserted
   itself in movements of social justice. For instance, in the eighteenth
   century the influential Evangelical Anglican William Wilberforce, along
   with others, campaigned against the slave trade. In the nineteenth
   century, the dominant issues concerned the adverse effects of
   industrialisation. Frederick Denison Maurice was a leading figure
   advocating reform in this respect, founding so-called "producer's
   co-operatives" and the Working Men's College. His work, instrumental in
   the establishment of the Christian socialist movement, influenced later
   Anglo-Catholics such as Charles Gore, who wrote that "the principle of
   the incarnation is denied unless the Christian spirit can be allowed to
   concern itself with everything that interests and touches human life."

   Anglican focus on labour issues culminated in the work of William
   Temple in the 1930s and 40s. The effects of the two world wars led to a
   growing interest in issues of peace among some Anglicans, such as Vera
   Brittain and Evelyn Underhill. While never actively endorsed by the
   Anglican Church, many Anglicans unofficially have adopted the
   Augustinian " Just War" doctrine, reinforced by Article XXXVII of the
   Thirty-Nine Articles, which states that "it is lawful for Christian
   men, at the commandment of the Magistrate, to wear weapons, and serve
   in the wars." Lambeth Conference resolutions, along with those of
   various provinces, have in recent years sought to provide a clearer
   position by repudiating modern war and have developed statements
   asserting a preference for non-violent resistance.
   Desmond Tutu (born 1931), former Primate of the Anglican Church of the
   Province of South Africa, and a leading figure in the successful fight
   against apartheid
   Enlarge
   Desmond Tutu (born 1931), former Primate of the Anglican Church of the
   Province of South Africa, and a leading figure in the successful fight
   against apartheid

   After World War II, the focus on social issues became increasingly
   diffuse. On the one hand, the growing independence and strength of
   Anglican churches in the global south brought new emphasis to issues of
   global poverty, the inequitable distribution of resources, and the
   lingering effects of colonialism. In this regard, figures such as
   Desmond Tutu and Ted Scott were instrumental in mobilising Anglicans
   worldwide against the apartheid policies of South Africa. On the other
   hand, rapid social change in the industrialised world during the
   twentieth century compelled the church to examine issues of gender,
   sexuality, and marriage.

   This led to Lambeth resolutions countenancing contraception and the
   remarriage of divorced persons. It also led to most provinces approving
   the ordination of women. More recently, it has led some jurisdictions
   to permit the ordination of individuals in same-sex relationships and
   to authorise rites for the blessing of same-sex unions. More
   conservative elements within Anglicanism (primarily African churches
   and factions within North American Anglicanism) are opposed to these
   changes. Some liberal and moderate Anglicans see this opposition as
   representing a new fundamentalism within Anglicanism. The lack of
   social consensus among and within provinces of diverse cultural
   traditions has resulted in considerable conflict and even schism
   concerning some or all of these developments.

   These latter trends reflect a countervailing tendency in Anglicanism
   towards insularity, reinforced perhaps by the "big tent" nature of the
   movement, which seeks to be comprehensive of various views and
   tendencies. The insularity and complacency of the early established
   Church of England has tended to influence Anglican self-identity, and
   inhibit engagement with the broader society in favour of internal
   debate and dialogue. Nonetheless, there is significantly greater
   cohesion among Anglicans when they turn their attention outward.
   Anglicans worldwide are active in many areas of social and
   environmental concern.

Religious life

   A small yet influential aspect of Anglicanism is its religious orders
   and communities. Shortly after the beginning of the Catholic Revival in
   the Church of England, there was a renewal of interest in
   re-establishing religious and monastic orders and communities. One of
   Henry VIII's earliest acts was their dissolution and seizure of their
   assets. In 1841 Marion Rebecca Hughes became the first woman to take
   the vows of religion in communion with the Province of Canterbury since
   the Reformation. In 1848, Priscilla Lydia Sellon became the superior of
   the Society of the Most Holy Trinity at Devonport, the first organised
   religious order. Sellon is called "the restorer, after three centuries,
   of the religious life in the Church of England." For the next one
   hundred years, religious orders for both men and women proliferated
   throughout the world, becoming a numerically small but
   disproportionately influential feature of global Anglicanism.

   Anglican religious life at one time boasted hundreds of orders and
   communities, and thousands of religious. An important aspect of
   Anglican religious life is that most communities of both men and women
   lived their lives consecrated to God under the vows of poverty,
   chastity and obedience (or in Benedictine communities, Stability,
   Conversion of Life, and Obedience) by practising a mixed life of
   reciting the full eight services of the Breviary in choir, along with a
   daily Eucharist, plus service to the poor. The mixed life, combining
   aspects of the contemplative orders and the active orders remains to
   this day a hallmark of Anglican religious life. Another distinctive
   feature of Anglican religious life is the existence of some
   mixed-gender communities.

   Since the 1960s there has been a sharp decline in the number of
   professed religious in most parts of the Anglican Communion, especially
   in North America, Europe, and Australia. Many once large and
   international communities have been reduced to a single convent or
   monastery comprised of elderly men or women. In the last few decades of
   the 20th century, novices have for most communities been few and far
   between. Some orders and communities have already become extinct. There
   are however, still several thousand Anglican religious working today in
   approximately 200 communities around the world, and religious life in
   many parts of the Communion - especially in developing nations -
   flourishes.

   The most significant growth has been in the Melanesian countries of the
   Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. The Melanesian
   Brotherhood, founded at Tabalia, Guadalcanal, in 1925 by Ini Kopuria,
   is now the largest Anglican Community in the world with over 450
   brothers in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the
   Philippines and the United Kingdom. The Sisters of the Church, started
   by Mother Emily Ayckbowm in England in 1870, has more sisters in the
   Solomons than all their other communities. The Community of the Sisters
   of Melanesia, started in 1980 by Sister Nesta Tiboe, is a growing
   community of women throughout the Solomon Islands. The Society of Saint
   Francis, founded as a union of various Franciscan orders in the 1920s,
   has experienced great growth in the Solomon Islands. Other communities
   of religious have been started by Anglicans in Papua New Guinea and in
   Vanuatu. Most Melanesian Anglican religious are in their early to mid
   20s — vows may be temporary and it is generally assumed that brothers,
   at least, will leave and marry in due course — making the average age
   40 to 50 years younger than their brothers and sisters in other
   countries. Growth of religious orders, especially for women, is also
   marked in certain parts of Africa.

Ecumenism

   Anglican interest in ecumenical dialogue can be traced to the rise of
   the Oxford Movement, with its concern on reunion of the churches of
   "Catholic confession." This desire to work towards full communion with
   other denominations led to the development of the Chicago-Lambeth
   Quadrilateral, approved by the Third Lambeth Conference of 1888. The
   four points (the sufficiency of scripture, the historic creeds, the two
   dominical sacraments, and the historic episcopate) were proposed as a
   basis for discussion, although they have frequently been taken as a
   non-negotiable bottom-line for reunion.

World Council of Churches

   Ecumenical dialogue has been particularly fruitful in three realms. The
   first is the World Council of Churches and its predecessors, in which
   Anglicans have been involved from the first. Anglican representatives
   were particularly engaged in the development of the seminal Faith and
   Order paper, Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, which sought to develop
   common ground concerning these issues.

Roman Catholic Church

   Michael Ramsey, 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, meets with Pope Paul VI
   in Rome, March, 1966.
   Enlarge
   Michael Ramsey, 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, meets with Pope Paul VI
   in Rome, March, 1966.

   The second concerns dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church. Long-term
   hostility between the two Communions was engendered by resistance among
   some English to the declaration of royal supremacy, and attempts to
   coerce conformity to Anglican worship. This culminated in the brief
   restoration of papal supremacy during the reign of Mary I.
   Subsequently, Pope Pius V's excommunication of Elizabeth I in 1570 and
   authorisation of rebellion against her contributed to official
   suspicion of the allegiances of English Catholics. This, combined with
   a desire to assert the claims of the established church, led to the
   promulgation of restrictive laws against their civil and religious
   rights. These restrictions were only relieved through legislation in
   the 19th century, cumulatively known as Catholic Emancipation.

   At the end of the nineteenth century, the Catholic Church rejected the
   Anglican claims of apostolic succession, and in response to such claims
   made at the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral published Apostolicae Curae,
   an 1896 papal bull, which declared Anglican ordinations "absolutely
   null and utterly void." Despite the agreement reached by the Anglican
   Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) on the doctrine of the
   ministry in their Elucidation of 1979, this judgement was reaffirmed by
   Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, when he asserted
   Apostolicae Curae as an example of the infallible teaching office of
   the Catholic Church.

   Some attempts at dialogue began in 1915, when Pope Benedict XV approved
   a British Legation to the Vatican, led by an Anglican with a Catholic
   deputy. However, discussion of potential reunion in the ' Malines
   Conversations' eventually collapsed in 1925. Continued efforts resulted
   in the spread of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in both
   churches (and others), and the visit of George Bell, Bishop of
   Chichester, to Cardinal Montini of Milan, later Pope Paul VI .

   Real rapprochement was not achieved until the warming of Catholic
   attitudes to ecumenism under the leadership of Pope John XXIII, whose
   foundation of the " Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity"
   encouraged Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher to make a historic, though not
   entirely official, visit to the Vatican in 1960. Subsequently the
   Bishop of Ripon, John Moorman, led a delegation of Anglican observers
   to the Second Vatican Council. In 1966, Archbishop Michael Ramsey made
   an official visit to Pope Paul VI, and in the following year, the
   Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission was established. Its
   first project focused on the authority of Scripture, and the Commission
   has since produced nine agreed statements. Phase One of ARCIC ended in
   1981 with the publication of a final report, Elucidations on Authority
   in the Church. Phase Two has been ongoing since 1983. The most recent
   agreed statement dealt with Marian theology, and was published in 2004.

   Despite the productivity of these discussions, dialogue is strained by
   the developments in some provinces of the Communion primarily
   concerning the ordination of women, and the ordination of those in
   public same-sex sexual relationships as priests and, in one case, a
   bishop ( Gene Robinson). More progress has been made with respect to
   Anglican churches outside the Communion.

   Pope John Paul II made Pastoral Provision for a small number of
   Anglican Use parishes in the United States. These are Roman Catholic
   parishes which are allowed to retain some features of the Book of
   Common Prayer in worship. Additionally, one of the Continuing Anglican
   Churches is currently attempting to achieve the recognition of Rome
   without abandoning its independence as the Anglican Use parishes chose
   to do.

   Roman Catholic Canon Law forbids Catholics to receive the Anglican
   Eucharist (canon 844 §2) and permits Roman Catholic ministers to
   administer to an Anglican the sacraments of Eucharist, Penance and
   Anointing of the Sick, only in danger of death or some other grave and
   pressing need, and provided the Anglican cannot approach an Anglican
   minister, spontaneously asks for the sacrament, demonstrates the faith
   of the Roman Catholic Church in respect of the sacrament and is
   properly disposed (canon 844 §4).

Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches

   In 1994, the Porvoo Communion was formed, bringing the Anglican
   churches of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland and the Episcopal
   churches of Portugal and Spain into full communion with the Lutheran
   churches of Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Lithuania.
   In 2001, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran
   Church in Canada achieved full communion , as did the Episcopal Church
   in the United States and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America .
   In addition, full communion agreements have been reached between
   various ecclesiastical provinces and smaller, mostly Catholic
   denominations, such as the Old Catholic Church after the Bonn Agreement
   of 1931.

Other Protestant denominations

   Outside the context of the World Council of Churches, direct
   consultations with Protestant churches other than Lutherans have, for
   the most part, been less fruitful. Movements toward full communion
   between the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada
   were derailed because of the issue of episcopacy and the mutual
   recognition of ordained ministry (specifically, apostolic succession).
   The same issue blocked the first attempt at a covenant between the
   Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain, but such a
   covenant was eventually signed in 2003 .

   The issue of apostolic succession, as well as the willingness of some
   North American dioceses to offer partnership blessings and priestly
   ordination to people in same-sex sexual relationships, have hindered
   dialogue between Anglicans and evangelical Protestant denominations.

Orthodox Churches

   Dialogue has also been less fruitful with churches of the Orthodox
   Communion. The International Commission of the Anglican-Orthodox
   Theological Dialogue was only established in 1999, and the Anglican
   Oriental Orthodox International Commission was established three years
   later. So far, most common ground has been established only concerning
   matters of the historic creeds. In a move parallel to the parishes of
   the pastoral provision in the Roman Catholic Church a small number of
   United States Anglicans have been received into certain jurisdictions
   of the Orthodox Church while retaining the use of a revision of the
   Prayer Book liturgy authorised for use in the Orthodox Church by
   Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow in the early twentieth century.

   Regarding mutual recognition of ministry, the Eastern Orthodox Churches
   are reluctant to even consider the question of the validity of holy
   orders in isolation from the rest of the Christian faith, so in
   practice they treat Anglican ordinations as invalid. Thus the
   favourable judgement expressed by the Ecumenical Patriarch of
   Constantinople in 1922 and communicated by him to other Eastern
   Patriarchs (some of whom, including the Russian Patriarch, signed a
   contrary declaration in 1948) is in practice without effect. The
   Eastern Orthodox Church classifies Anglican clergymen who join it as
   laypeople, and, if they are to function as clergy, administers
   ordination to them.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanism"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
