What Constitutes an Anglican?

Discussion in 'Questions?' started by Botolph, Nov 1, 2021.

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  1. Botolph

    Botolph Well-Known Member

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    Now I intend no disrespect here, however I thought I would open this question up for discussion.

    One member recently used the phrase 'an Anglican, i.e., as a Christian in communion with Canterbury' in a post, and I am pretty sure until a few years ago that was my understanding.

    On the Anglicans Online website we read:

    TheAnglicanCommunion.jpg
    AN ANGLICAN CHURCH IS categorised by its relationship to the See of Canterbury. There are four kinds of relationships that a church can have to that See, and hence to the rest of the Anglican Communion.
    • The Anglican Communion itself
      Those churches that are listed by the Secretariat of the Anglican Communion Office as being part of it. All of these churches are in full communion with the See of Canterbury, and recognize the Archbishop of Canterbury. We list these churches geographically: see Australia, New Zealand, Canada, UK Ireland and Europe, USA, Hong Kong, Japan, and World. The ANGLICAN.ORG web site has links to all administrative components of the entire Anglican church, here.
      The Archbishop of Canterbury is generally considered the honorary head of the Anglican Communion or primus inter pares (first amongst equals).
    • The Compass Rose Society provides financial support for the the ministry of the Archbishop of Canterbury throughout the Anglican Communion. The Society takes its name from the symbol of the Anglican Communion. It was established in 1997.
    • Churches that are 'in full communion' with the See of Canterbury
      Churches in full communion, as defined by the 1958 Lambeth Conference, but which are not culturally or denominationally Anglican. We list those churches on our In Full Communion page.
    • Churches that "have intercommunion" with the Anglican church
      The 1958 Lambeth Conference recommended "that where between two Churches not of the same denominational or confessional family, there is unrestricted communio in sacris, including mutual recognition and acceptance of ministries, the appropriate term to use is 'full communion,' and that where varying degrees of relation other than 'full communion' are established by agreement between two such churches, the appropriate term is 'intercommunion.' " We do not list these churches at Anglicans Online.
    • Churches that are, by policy, not in communion with the See of Canterbury
      Paradoxically, these are the denominations liturgically and culturally most similar to the member churches of the Anglican Communion. In general the not-in-communion Anglican churches have broken away from the Anglican church because of disagreement over some doctrinal issue, and the property of not being in communion with Canterbury is part of their identity. We list these churches on our Not in the Communion page.

    On this site in the section on Anglican Orthodoxy we read:

    Orthodoxy on Anglican Forums is defined in the above manner. Members are divided into those who solemnly profess the Faith, and those who do not. Only the members who make this profession* are considered Anglicans for the purposes of this site, and an Anglican tag visually identifies them, as those who follow the example of the Divines and Apostles.

    *This seems to mean subscribing (1579 form) to the 39 Articles and the the Act of Uniformity (1662 form)
    The Anglican Communion website https://www.anglicancommunion.org/ does not essentially define who an Anglican is, but rather simply speaks of the Anglican Communion.

    The Gafcon website speaks of Gafcon within the Communion:

    There are some 85 million Christians in the worldwide Anglican Communion spread across 40 regional churches, known as Provinces. Gafcon is a global movement within the Communion which represents the majority of all Anglicans.

    https://www.gafcon.org/about/global-movement

    In the end we have a broad range of statements. Many members on this site display their religion as Anglican or Episcopalian and some have signed on the the declaration of the formula and also display an Anglican Badge and I gather have some additional privileges. I have not, for my own reasons, and I don't believe that makes me any less an Anglican, and I accept and understand that the site seeks to promote a standard of 'Anglican Orthodoxy', for which I have a deal of sympathy.
     
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  2. Shane R

    Shane R Well-Known Member

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    In the early days of the Continuing churches, when the movement was dominated by one body called the Anglican Church in North America -which bares no relation to the current body using that name- several of the bishops who were consecrated in Denver, Colorado, USA attempted to attend Lambeth 1978. They were not seated nor recognized. One can only think that in those days of somewhat slower communication a goodly part of the global Communion had no clue who they were. By the late 1980s the Continuing churches had fractured to the point that, in all honesty, they did not merit the attention of the global Communion. And soon after that the mother church, the Church of England herself, began women's ordination and it was clear there would never be full communion.

    Much has changed since those days. It is rare indeed to find an English or Canadian parish that has a Prayer Book service. Common Worship and the Book of Alternative Services have supplanted the authorized BCPs. There are ACNA parishes that play fast and loose with the liturgy as well. And some of the GAFCON favorites are being taken over by charismatics or wantonly flaunt the rubrics. It seems to me that Anglicanism has always been more united by common prayer than anything else, until the last 40 years. Points to think about.
     
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  3. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    It is going to be a long hard fight for all denominations to maintain orthodoxy in the future, at least in the West.
     
  4. strelitziaflower

    strelitziaflower Member

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    The church of England should NOT be irradiated, that would be just plain wrong.

    There is an Anglican branch that is working fruitfully and closely with Rome to establish full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

    Yes, it is a very complex issue.

    @bwallac2335 Why did you reject your beautiful Catholic faith; it's not junk.
     
  5. Stalwart

    Stalwart Well-Known Member Anglican

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    What constitutes an Anglican:
    -One gospel.
    -Two testaments.
    -Three creeds.
    -Four councils.
    -Five first centuries.

    Even if there were no Anglican tradition, or if the Church of England never became distinct from the rest of Roman Catholicism and an anglican identity never emerged during the middle ages, the above principle would still be correct.

    Now I would go further, and say that the above principle describes not just Anglicanism, but Catholicism. What it means to be a Catholic is to subscribe to those principles above.

    However since the word Catholicism is highly contested by a powerful Bishop from a city in Italy, we retain the claim to being Catholic but also propose an ancillary word, "Anglican" which means the same thing, but uses the specific history of a particular Church as our keystone, since there is where those principles were codified.

    And if that particular Church falls (as any church may, and all churches eventually will, given concupiscence and original sin), it is very possible that the Church of England can stop being Anglican. As indeed has been the case, for some time now.
     
  6. Lowly Layman

    Lowly Layman Well-Known Member

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    I think it's problematic to hinge the standard of Anglicanism on the Archbishop. In the first place, it runs counter to the logic behind the Anglican reformation (see Jewel's critique of the office of pope in his Apologia). Also it is anachronistic, given the logic behind Article 37, which says that a national church ought not to be subject to any foreign jurisdiction.

    And of course, there is the very real danger, as any traditionalist catholic will tell you, of a current or future holder of the office of Archbishop of Canterbury abandoning the Anglican faith and formularies in favor his/her personal agenda.

    I think this chronic need to square who is and who ain't an Anglican was nicely resolved in 1870 with the passage of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral. Jmo
     
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  7. strelitziaflower

    strelitziaflower Member

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    If the Anglican church is known as a "bridge" between Roman Catholics and Protestants, what is meant by this?
     
  8. Stalwart

    Stalwart Well-Known Member Anglican

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    I tend to like the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, and think it fits within the formula in my post, from Lancelot Andrewes.

    However there has been some criticism of the Quadrilateral from traditionalist circles, namely that it is not sufficient to prevent heterodoxy or heteropraxy.


    Typically people by this mean that it has the features from both. It is strongly Scripture-centric, indeed does not recognize any sources of revelation other than Scripture. And it is also heavily historic-tradition centric, indeed does not recognize a way of being Church that isn't found in history, especially the patristic era.

    So if you are a Protestant who needs more history than 99% of Protestantism, you'll like us for the Scripture element and get everything else you need about history. And if you're Roman Catholic and need your church to look like the church has always looked, you'll like us for that but also get the 100% certainty that comes from being rooted to scripture.
     
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  9. Lowly Layman

    Lowly Layman Well-Known Member

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    I think that's a fair criticism, @Stalwart

    But to be honest, no document will avoid these pitfalls since a document, no matter how carefully worded, depends on flawed people to accept it, interpret it correctly, and enforce it uniformly. And no document is free from the possibility of modification or unfaithful construction by those in leadership.
     
  10. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    Why did you reject your beautiful Catholic faith; it's not junk.? I have no clue what you mean here
     
  11. strelitziaflower

    strelitziaflower Member

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    Why are you Anglican?

    I believe that it is a wise thought to pray for the dead in purgatory "Maccabees" (Apocrypha). Unfortunately purgatory is no longer acknowledged anymore by Anglicans.

    Anything that brings people to God is holy!

    I was just curious, maybe I'm stepping out of line here (I feel embarrassed that I asked, now I must explain).
     
  12. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    I am Anglican because I believe it is the purest expression of the faith when it is faithful.
     
  13. strelitziaflower

    strelitziaflower Member

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    Fair enough.

    What do you mean by purity? Should purity be our goal as Christians? I think we need to combat secularism.

    I don't think being nice to people is a good goal to have because God is not a gentle pushover. The Civil Rights Movement had to happen, and happened with civil disobedience.

    In terms of wisdom, maybe a mature person would be kind to someone that he or she is able to help and whom help is received and wanted.

    I really like the phrase: "helping someone in spiritual pain". Even small actions done in humility are certainly good.
     
  14. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    By purity I mean that Anglicanism does not have all the add ons that were added to the faith during the years. It is catholic without all of that.
     
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  15. ZachT

    ZachT Well-Known Member

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    And, for the things we have tacked on over the years, we don't claim they are necessary - they're just good.
     
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  16. Botolph

    Botolph Well-Known Member

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    Is Gafcon opposed to women in ministry?
    Most certainly not. Ordained women have been involved in Gafcon from its inception, and ordained women serve in our leadership. Gafcon Australia welcomes anyone who can affirm the Jerusalem Declaration as members.
    https://www.gafconaustralia.org/frequently-asked-questions-faq/
     
  17. Botolph

    Botolph Well-Known Member

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    OK: I missed this one, and I should not have. The Jerusalem Declaration says:
    1. We rejoice in the gospel of God through which we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God first loved us, we love him and as believers bring forth fruits of love, ongoing repentance, lively hope and thanksgiving to God in all things.

    2. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading.

    3. We uphold the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as expressing the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

    4. We uphold the Thirty-nine Articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God’s Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today.

    5. We gladly proclaim and submit to the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humanity’s only Saviour from sin, judgement and hell, who lived the life we could not live and died the death that we deserve. By his atoning death and glorious resurrection, he secured the redemption of all who come to him in repentance and faith.

    6. We rejoice in our Anglican sacramental and liturgical heritage as an expression of the gospel, and we uphold the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to be translated and locally adapted for each culture.

    7. We recognise that God has called and gifted bishops, priests and deacons in historic succession to equip all the people of God for their ministry in the world. We uphold the classic Anglican Ordinal as an authoritative standard of clerical orders.

    8. We acknowledge God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family. We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married.

    9. We gladly accept the Great Commission of the risen Lord to make disciples of all nations, to seek those who do not know Christ and to baptise, teach and bring new believers to maturity.

    10. We are mindful of our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation, to uphold and advocate justice in society, and to seek relief and empowerment of the poor and needy.

    11. We are committed to the unity of all those who know and love Christ and to building authentic ecumenical relationships. We recognise the orders and jurisdiction of those Anglicans who uphold orthodox faith and practice, and we encourage them to join us in this declaration.

    12. We celebrate the God-given diversity among us which enriches our global fellowship, and we acknowledge freedom in secondary matters. We pledge to work together to seek the mind of Christ on issues that divide us.

    13. We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.

    14. We rejoice at the prospect of Jesus’ coming again in glory, and while we await this final event of history, we praise him for the way he builds up his church through his Spirit by miraculously changing lives.

      https://www.gafcon.org/about/jerusalem-statement
     
  18. Lowly Layman

    Lowly Layman Well-Known Member

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    To be classically Anglican imo is to be catholic in it purest sense, reformed of all the medieval accretions and protestant excesses.
     
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  19. Botolph

    Botolph Well-Known Member

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    I also am a fan of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral. It was devised at a time of great hope of oecumenical dialogue, and sought to identify the essential core limits in oecumenical dialogue, if you like these are the deal breakers. Since then of course it seems it has not been enough to keep Anglican together.
     
  20. Invictus

    Invictus Well-Known Member

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    Its one shortcoming is the lack of any mention of the Prayer Book.
     
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