Editorial
Dear Readers, Glad to present the combined edition of Trinity 1 & 2 for 2015. While we are faced with challenges within the country and around the world, it is important to focus on Salvation. Christ has justified us and we need to remain in that relationship with God. This is done through sanctification-how we ought to keep ourselves spotless in this world through the sacramental grace given us by God. We are called to holiness by staying and growing in our relationship with our God - the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Great articles by Bishop Kinner, Fr. Patrick Comerford, Fr. Jason Rice, Deacon Dan Hartshorn and to top it all Fr. Vernon Staley who spells out these terms of predestination, justification, sanctification. Thankful to Anita Matthias who sent us the picture of the Holy Trinity during her recent travels to Europe-Cologne Cathedral, Germany. Great pictures of the gathering our church family in the 2015 Diocesan and Provincial Synods. Let us read, meditate, deepen our faith in the Risen Lord whose second coming we are all awaiting. - Bishop Leo Michael and Holly Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary welcomes you! Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary (HTAS) is owned and administrated by the Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite of the diocese of Holy Trinity and Great Plains. It’s location in Kansas City, mid-America makes travel easy to meet the campus schedule. It forms part of a long tradition of the Holy Catholic Church of Anglican Rite and continues this important work of evangelization of the Kingdom of Christ in the United States of America and beyond its mission
territories. With the advancement of communications, Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary will offer online and on campus training for its students. Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary firmly believes that Good Formation will ensure FRUITFUL Ministry. Keeping in mind the Great Commission of the Lord, HTAS will train its candidates in strong Scriptural foundation, Sacramental worship in the Apostolic Tradition as enunciated in the conservative Anglican Tradition. With qualified faculty and commitment to the cause of priestly formation, Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary is set to impart the traditional Anglican orthodoxy even in the emerging social and pastoral challenges. The seminary will also offer courses for lay students as well. The Seminary primarily serves the Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite while students belonging to other denominations are welcome to participate in our program of study and reflection. The Holy Trinity Anglican Seminary will soon be accredited with a view to conferring the Bachelor’s Degree in Theology. Holy Catholic Church pays special attention to the formation of her ministers. Church directives require that candidate to the priesthood undergo a minimum of three years devoted to an intense and specifically priestly formation. These directives are implemented at this seminary, with particular emphasis on the Anglican traditions of the Holy Catholic Church.
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Congratulations Appointments: Mark Kinner on your assumption of the office of House Representative of Wyoming. Mark is the senior warden of Holy Trinity in Sheridan and member of the Diocesan council of Advice. Publishing: Jake and Holly on your new book release: First and Goal - What Football Taught Me about Never Giving Up this August. Jake is a former NFL player for San Diego Chargers. He now champions the cause of Type 1 Diabetes through his inspiring story. Wedding Bells: Karlie Kinner and David Boomgarden, Jake and Emma Byrne on their marriage. Farewell to Jack and Cyndi Octigan on their move to Wyoming. They were part of the Lawrence Anglican Mission. You will be dearly missed. To all who have newborns and those who are back in school. If we have missed out others please let us know!
Join the Morning and Evening Prayer
Wake up with God. You can join the prayer conference in the rhythm of daily morning and evening prayer. We have dedicated clergy and postulants faithfully hosting the prayer call daily at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm central time. Ask your clergy for the phone number.
In the Koinonia masthead, the circle with the cross in the center symbolizes the paten and the diverse elements which form a whole. The Mosaic represents the great cloud of witnesses and the church tradition. The red in the letters represents the blood of Christ with the font comprised of individual pieces of letters that are not joined until the blood unifies them. Koinonia is the official publication of the Anglican Province of the Holy Catholic Church-Anglican Rite (HCCAR) aka Anglican Rite Catholic Church. It is published quarterly at St. James Anglican Church, 8107 S. Holmes Road, Kansas City, MO 64131. Phone: 816.361.7242 Fax: 816.361.2144. Editors: The Rt. Rev. Leo Michael & Holly Michael, Koinonia header: Phil Gilbreath; email: koinonia@holycatholicanglican.org or visit us on the web at: www.holycatholicanglican.org Cover picture: Photo of the painting of the Blessed Tirnity, Cologne Cathedral Germany by Anita Matthias..
“Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” Genesis 2:24
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he Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is rooted in the Old Covenant with God; its New Covenant expression is in and through Jesus Christ. Jesus’ blessing of the marriage in Cana of Galilee comes out of His human experience in the Holy Family of Nazareth and His divine relationship with His Heavenly Father. The Will of our Creator provides for His Images, boy and girls, to be raised up in sacred families where both receive guidance in being male and female from both father and mother. Here children experience, sense and are taught that they are in reality, “the children of God and inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven”. We are faced with a ‘sexual revolution’, portrayed as progressive thinking; a cultural shift that they say should not bother Christians in the least. A few people see it as minor, almost insignificant theological change that brings us into a broad minded society of equal rights Modernists see the right to abortion, the right to marry anyone, as a new and necessary development that is finally coming to term. They are now approaching a ‘blended’ concept of family life. People are urged to ‘keep up’ with the times ! The truth is that it is not a battle between ‘sexual rights’ and religious liberty, but a real and basic contention between hedonistic (self pleasure) behaviors and the God given self disciplines of the Body of Christ. The entire
doctrine of the Church is being confronted by individual denial and alarming government condescension. Because our personal experience is contained in a relatively short period of time, we tend to think that the present issues revolving around human sexuality are new. The whole range of human obedience and human sin is written for our learning in the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament. For us this is the first part of the revealed Word of God. The whole range of human behavior is there. Read and learn! The second part of the Lord’s revelation to us is in Jesus Christ, Himself, the “only begotten Son of God.” Through His sacrifice and the descent of the Holy Spirit we see God’s forward response to the virtues and sins of our spiritual ancestors in the Early Church. They were surrounded by the same self pleasures, the same negative behaviors and the same challenges from government in a manner that serves as a clear warning to us ! Rome of the 1st Century was given over almost entirely to self-pleasure. Every sexual sin from abortion to open marriage was condoned by the common culture; some pagan religions even encouraged that behavior. (The only place in the Empire where an attempt was made to form any self discipline was in the Roman Army). Emperor Nero had two spouses, both male and one a teenager. He despised the followers of ‘some Christus’ whose very existence was a judgment against him. After the great fire of 64 A.D., he found an excuse to begin the persecutions, killing Christians in every conceivable form of torture including crucifixion and setting their bodies on fire. In this Peter and Paul gave their lives, Peter crucified upside down because he was not worthy to die as Jesus did! In three centuries of off again, on again persecutions, Christian fathers and mothers raised their boys and girls with the inward knowledge that at any time they
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Holy Matrimony of Megan Kinner and LCDR. Alexander Tershko by Bishop Ken Kinner HCCAR at the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel, Annapolis, Maryland could face a horrible death simply because they had ac- Now Christian hearers we must challenge ourcepted Jesus as Lord. selves! You can read in St. Paul’s Romans 1:18-32 For anyone today to revert to the sexual practices the list of sins against God by human disobedience ! Be of people who tried to destroy the Body of Christ is a very careful ! Can any of us say that we are not guilty of a living insult to our obedient forbears and to ‘noble army single one of them? of martyrs’ .. To adopt what the As people redeemed through God’s Son first Christians would not accept we must think and act toward all people as is to say that they were misguided, He did! Jesus befriended prostitutes and sat even foolish! down at table with elite hypocrites. Did this Take courage men and mean that he approved of their life styles? Of women of God. Not one Church course not! What He was doing was estabtoday, Catholic, Orthodox, Evanlishing a familiarity with them so that in His gelical is even considering a decrucifixion they could identify with Him, in nial of Scriptural revelation. His sacrificial love. The old line protestant churches At some point in this short life span most are splitting in half over these ispeople will consider themselves in relation sues. In spite a constant drumbeat to eternity ! When people around us sense in the media about the successes that we have ‘seen the Lord’ some will desire of the new morality (the old immoto see Him too ! rality) there are about 200,000,000 WILL YOU INVITE THEM TO KNEEL American Christians belonging to UNDER THE CROSS WITH YOU? Fr. Jay Rice participating in the march churches that will never deny the Truth. We are part of WHY NOT? YOU JUST MIGHT BE THE MINIS‘the salvation army’ ! TER OF SAVING GRACE FOR THEM. St. Paul wrote: Romans 8: 5-8 “For those who live WILL YOU AND I FAIL JESUS ? Note: My opinion - not part of this witness to the according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of Scriptures is that government sees itself as the the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set ‘leveler of society’, thus seeing ‘marriage’ as a civil contract. Discrimitheir minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind nation is not made for a building permit, a driver’s license, a hunton the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is ing license. Courts have and probably will decide that a so-called life and peace. ‘marriage license’ is just another civil contract that cannot be withheld. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to Why withhold a civil contract from polygamists either, as long as they God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; consenting adults ? --- Better understanding would result if the state would change the name of ‘marriage license’ to a ‘civil union license’. It and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. would at least be honest.
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hristian thinking on justification is seen by many theologians as the theological fault line that divides Catholics and Protestants ever since the Reformation in the 16th century. In 2017, many Churches are going to mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting his 95 Theses in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517. Luther insisted: “This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness.” But was Luther correct in asserting this? What do we mean by justification? And what is the classical Anglican theological position on justification? When we talk about justification in theology, we are talking about God removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the same time declaring that a sinner is righteous through Christ’s atoning sacrifice. But the means of justification is an area of significant difference between Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox on the one hand, and Protestants on the other. Broadly speaking, we could say Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox distinguish between initial justification, which occurs at Baptism, and permanent justification, after a lifetime of faith and discipleship. Most Protestants believe that justification is a singular act in which God declares an unrighteous individual to be righteous, an act made possible because Christ was legally “made sin” on the Cross (see II Corinthians 5: 21). Lutherans and Calvinists support their view with some passages (see Acts 16: 14; Ephesians 2: 8 and Philippians 1: 29), while Catholics and Eastern Orthodox rely on others (see Matthew 19: 17; Galatians 5: 19-21; and James 2: 14-26). For the Early Church, the concept of justification was secondary to issues such as martyrdom. The early Patristic writings seldom mention it, and it does not begin
to be developed in the Western Church until the conflict between Augustine and Pelagius. The Eastern Church places less emphasis on justification, and instead talks about “sanctification” or theosis. Martin Luther’s singular change in thinking at the Reformation is the notion of imputed righteousness. This idea suggests the righteousness of Christ was imputed to the believer, who could be justified or declared by God to be not guilty. For Luther, the believer is simul iustus et peccator, “simultaneously righteous and a sinner.” John Calvin, for his part, saw three meanings of “justification” in scripture, none of which meant “to make righteous.” These concepts are unknown for the first 1,500 years of Christian theology, yet justification more than any other one single concept demarcates Catholic theology and Reformation theology. So what was the classical Anglican theological thinking on this great dividing issue? Article 11 of the Articles of Religion or the 39 Articles says: “We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings: Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.” But what does this mean? How is it understood and worked out in classical Anglican theology? Perhaps the best writer to turn to is Richard Hooker (1533-1600), perhaps the greatest Anglican theologian.” Hooker’s emphases on Scripture, Reason and Tradition have shaped and continue to influence Anglican theology. He is often seen as the founding figure in Anglican theological thought, and he is the great defender of the Anglican via media. C. S. Lewis includes him among the great figures of 16th century English literature. Hooker’s masterpiece is The Laws Of Ecclesiastical Polity, which sets out his theological system, and it is foundational for Anglican theology. Although he is unsparing
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in his censure of what he sees as the errors of Rome, Pope Clement VIII said of the book: “It has in it such seeds of eternity that it will abide until the last fire shall consume all learning.” Hooker’s best short work is his sermon, A Learned Discourse of Justification. In an earlier sermon in 1585, he expressed the hope of seeing in Heaven many who had been Roman Catholics on earth. But a prominent Puritan, Walter Travers (1548-1635), took him to task, saying that as Roman Catholics did not believe in Justification by Faith, they could not be justified. Hooker replied at length in his sermon. He agrees with his opponents that the official theology of Rome is defective on this point. However, he defends his assertion that those who do not rightly understand the means that God has provided for salvation may nonetheless be saved. He says: “God is no captious sophister, eager to trip us up whenever we say amiss, but a courteous tutor, ready to amend what, in our weakness or our ignorance, we say ill, and to make the most of what we say aright.” He says: “I doubt not but God was merciful to save thousands of our fathers living in popish superstitions, inasmuch as they sinned ignorantly.” James Kiefer, in his introduction to Hooker’s Learned Discourse on Justification, explains that “this sentence, which today would be fiercely attacked by those who thought it arrogant, narrow, and bigoted, was at the time attacked on opposite grounds.” But at the time it shocked the Puritans, especially Travers, who eventually became Provost of Trinity College Dublin. In response to Travers, Hooker wrote his masterful sermon on justification. So, what is Hooker’s thinking on justification? Responding to attacks In response to the attacks on his Learned Discourse and his Laws, Hooker set out to defend his views in a work that was not completed when he died in 1600 and that is now known as the Dublin Fragments. He explains his views on justification with great care in his Sermon on Justification, his Laws and in the Dublin Fragments. In the Dublin Fragments, Hooker asserts that generally “justification” means “to be made righteous.” More
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particularly, it gives way to two further meanings: “To be justified is to be made righteous. Because therefore, righteousness implies first remission of sins, and secondly a sanctified life, the name is sometime applied severally to the former, sometimes jointly it comprehends both.” So Hooker understands that firstly justification signifies the forgiveness of sins. It is the forensic declaration of God that one is no longer guilty. But he believes “justification” has a second meaning, and asserts that “sometimes jointly [justification] comprehends both” remission of sins and a sanctified life. His use of the words “jointly” and “both” indicates that this second justification is not simply sanctification, but includes also the remission of sins. Hooker argues that Saint Paul spoke of this first justification and Saint James of this second justification. What distinguishes Hooker from the magisterial Reformers is his doctrine of the sacraments. He believes that justification (both first and second) is an effect of the sacraments. In the Dublin Fragments, he defines sacramental grace and then links it with justification. He writes: “Touching Sacraments whether many or few in number, their doctrine is, that ours both signify and cause grace; butt what grace and in what manner? By grace we always understand as the word of God teaches; first, his favour and undeserved mercy towards us; secondly, the bestowing of his Holy Spirit which inwardly works; thirdly, the effects of that Spirit whatsoever but especially saving virtues, such as are, faith, charity, and hope, lastly the free and full remission of all our sins. This is the grace which Sacraments yield, and whereby we are all justified.” The Effect of Baptism In other words, Hooker understood the sacraments to be channels of justifying grace. For example, in Book V in his Laws (chapters 58-61), he puts forward a doctrine of baptismal regeneration that is different from the reformers. He explains how first justification is linked to baptism: “Baptism is a sacrament which God has instituted in his Church to the end that they which receive the same might thereby be incorporated into Christ and so through his most precious merit obtain as well that saving grace of imputation which takes away all former guiltiness, as also that
infused divine virtue of the Holy Ghost which giveth to the powers of the soul their first disposition towards future newness of life.” For Hooker, the imputation of Christ’s righteousness occurs in the very action of Baptism itself, whereby also the Spirit is received by the believer. In Hooker’s sacramental theology, Baptism is the instrumental cause of (first) justification. This position leads Hooker to two conclusions that differ markedly from the magisterial reformers. Firstly, he believes that the very action of infant baptism leads to the child’s sins being actually remitted even if faith is not present. Secondly, when he talks of being justified by faith “alone” he assumes that the sacrament of baptism is included. Hooker believes that the Early Fathers were too harsh in insisting that an infant is damned if he or she dies without Baptism. He believes there are circumstances that make impossible to receive the sacrament, and that God in his grace then extends acceptance.
righteous at one and the same time, then the Church is both visible and invisible. For the reformers, the visible Church is identified by two marks: the pure gospel or word and the sacraments rightly administered. However, Hooker speaks of the Church as being both a “society” and as the “mystical” Church, and he points to three different marks identifying the visible church: one Lord, one faith and one Baptism. In his Learned Discourse, he finds the foundation of this one faith in the New Testament, but believes there are many who hold to that foundation although not seen in the visible Church. Those who deny Christ are not part of the visible Church, but he distinguishes between those who err in “ignorance” and those who err in “stubbornness.” The ignorant are unaware that they hold to error and yet desire to know the truth, while the stubborn are aware of their errors yet persist in them. In this way, Hooker includes Rome within the visible Church, for Rome does not deny the foundation directly, and he concludes that many who died in the Church of Rome before the Reformation are saved. In Hooker’s ecclesiology, justification by faith alone is not The effect of the Eucharist the article by which the visible Church If first justification is the stands or falls. He holds that the Church effect of Baptism, Hooker believes was there before the Reformation and second justification is the effect of has always been there since Christ. the Eucharist: “We receive Christ Hooker’s sacramental theology and Jesus in Baptism once as the first ecclesiology are very different from the beginner, in the Eucharist often as magisterial reformers. Instead, he embeing by continual degrees the finisher of our life. By baptism therefore we receive Christ Je- braces the best of Church tradition, and he draws widely, sus and from him that saving grace which is proper unto from the Early Church Fathers to the Scholastics and the Baptism. By the other sacrament wee receive him also im- Reformers. Our knowledge of Hooker’s life comes mainly from parting therein himself and that grace which the Eucharist his biography by Izaak Walton, who was also the biograproperly bestows.” His sacramental theology has two elements. Firstly, pher of George Herbert and John Donne. Hooker is one the believer is said to be “in Christ” – by external imputa- of the first “high churchmen” in a tradition that includes tion. Secondly, Christ is said to be “in” the believer – by Lancelot Andrewes, John Donne and William Laud, and that continued through John Keble, EB Pusey and Charles internal impartation. Calvin believes the sacraments impart grace be- Gore to this day in Anglicanism. cause they are a subset of the word, which strengthens and nourishes faith. They are visible words are there to increase (Rev’d Canon Professor) Patrick Comerford is Lecturer in Anglicanism, Liturgy and Church History, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and a faith. On the other hand, Hooker places the sacraments canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. www.patrickcomerford.com side-by-side with the word as a means of grace in their own right. They are not simply a subset of the word, although they function as signs of God’s promises. The Reformation understanding of justification also transformed ecclesiology. If a believer is sinful and
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Diocesan and Provincial Synod 2015 St. James Holy Catholic Church Kansas City
Subconditione Consecration of Bishop Luis Carlos Garcia Medina
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Diocesan and Provincial Synod 2015 St. James Holy Catholic Church Kansas City
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Diocesan and Provincial Synod 2015 St. James Holy Catholic Church Kansas City
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Diocesan and Provincial Synod 2015 St. James Holy Catholic Church Kansas City
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Holy Baptisms at St. Joseph of Glastonbury Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite in Wichita, Kansas Koinonia 12
St. Joseph of Glastonbury Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite in Wichita, Kansas
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Congrats Representative Hon. Mark Kinner
We are blessed to have a dear member of ours, now a Representative Hon. Mark Kinner !
Mark Kinner is a faithful member of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Sheridan Wyoming and also the senior Warden of the same. His wife Tibbie Kinner serves on the Altar Guild and their family has been a wonderful blessing to our dear church in Sheridan, Wyoming. Congratulations and God’s blessings!
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Corpus Christi Anglican Church in Rogers of Northwest Arkansas 0n 14 ACRES Close to LAKE ATALANTA just .8 miles away! G RE AT for Yout h C a mp & RE TR EAT C a b i n s ! ! !
yellow zebra lines show the proximity of the church property to Lake Atlanta L e t ’s inve s t L E T ’ S B U I LD FO R O U R YO UT H
Lake Atalanta includes • Lake Atalanta Bait Shop, with paddle boats, canoes and fishing boat rentals. • Two parks: The city park on the lake has 17
• • • • •
Above photo courtesy of Restore Lake Atalanta organization from Facebook. The renovation has begun this July, and Rogers Park authority. Photos of the church grounds by Fr. Jason Rice
acres with two ADA accessible restrooms, large stage area, 27 picnic tables, two-mile walking trail with 18 exercise stations, large reflection pond with fountain, pavilion, miniature golf course and a 100-year-old cabin available for small groups. Built in 1936, it is the second oldest park in Rogers. Amenities: an Olympic-size swimming pool with water slide and concessions. A 4,000-square-foot banquet facility can be rented for groups. There is also an 8,000-square-foot special event building that seats 680 with tables, chairs and kitchen available. Below the Lake Atalanta Dam is a park that was completed in 1987. Full of beautiful mature trees, it contains 12 picnic tables, open area, and is also connected to the two-mile walking trail. Source Rogers and Benton County
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ears ago a popular evangelical Christian wrote a book titled Decide for Yourself: A Theological Workbook (For People Who Are Tired of Being Told What to Believe). The main point of the book was to get people to examine scripture and come to their own conclusions about what to believe doctrinally. Deciding what you like is all well and good – when it comes to eating lunch or buying cars, but when it comes to theological beliefs, wisdom would suggest a better approach, I think. A safer route would be to rely upon the faith once delivered by the Apostles to Church and as articulated by the Seven Ecumenical councils. Since the Reformation of the 16th century, however, various aberrant theological options have gained credibility among Christians, untethering doctrine from the Church’s authority and allowing individuals to formulate their own doctrinal beliefs and then promote those beliefs as Biblical. The magisterial reformers Luther, Calvin, Melachthon, and Zwingli are an excellent example of this error. The Reformers often called into question settled Scriptural doctrine by appealing to the slogan sola scriptura. By this they tried to draw a distinction between what they said the Church believed and taught and what they said the Bible taught. In reality all they did is replace the Church’s authority and set up their own beliefs as the authority. Evangelicals, the grandchildren of those reformers, inherited their perspective. The Reformers complaints are too many to survey here as the scope of this little essay will focus on just one theological doctrine: justification by faith as understood by evangelicals. And the question we want to answer is this: what is the Evangelical view of justification by faith, and how does it differ from the Apostle’s faith once delivered to the church. Actually, evangelicals hold differing views of justification by faith, but most would accept the follow-
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ing definition found on the website Theopedia: “Justification is the doctrine that God pardons, accepts, and declares a sinner to be "just" on the basis of Christ's righteousness (Rom 3:24-26; 4:25; 5:15-21) which results in God's peace (Rom 5:1), His Spirit (Rom 8:4), and salvation. Justification is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ apart from all works and merit of the sinner (cf. Rom 1:18-3:28). (Theopedia.com/justification) Common features inherent to the evangelical understanding of the doctrine of justification as the article found on Theopedia states include: 1. Justification is a legal act, wherein God deems the sinner righteous on the basis of Christ's righteousness. Unlike sanctification, justification is not a process, but is a one-time act, complete and definitive. 2. The word justification is not always used in the same sense. Some even speak of a fourfold justification as a justification from eternity, a justification from the resurrection, a justification in final judgment – as these are all true. 3. God's act of justification may be seen to involve a double imputation. On the one hand, the sin and guilt of the believer are imputed to Christ. On the other hand, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the believer, whereby he is declared righteous. 4. Justification is seen in two parts: (1) The sinner is forgiven on the basis of Christ's righteousness. The pardon does not merely cover sins already committed – but reaches to all sins. (2) The sinner is adopted as a child of God. God places them within his household, giving them all the rights of heirs and children (Rom 8:17, 1 Peter 1:4). From this you can see, for example, how easy it was for evangelicals to develop the doctrine “once saved, always saved” or “perseverance of the saints”. As Anglicans, we can certainly agree with much of this definition; though we believe it is incomplete. It is incomplete in that most evangelicals have accepted
the doctrinal innovations of the magisterial reformers over and above that of the church of the first 10 centuries. And in doing this they are not in conformity with what the Church and the Bible taught. So what was the consensus of the early church? Anglican Father Francis J. Hall, STD, makes the following five points about justification in his book Theological Outlines. 1. Justification…is our being accounted righteous by God because of the merits of Christ and by reason of our living faith in Him. It is not, however, a forensic imputation of righteousness merely, having no moral basis in us; for the state of grace upon which the possibility of justifying faith depends, and of which it is the evidence, is the root and commencement of sanctification and of our growth in righteousness. We are accounted for what, by the grace of Christ, we have begun to become. It is analogous to reckoning a child at the value of the man who is growing in him. 2. The subjective cause of justification is a living faith…in Jesus Christ. The necessary fruit and evidence of such faith consists of repentance and good works, springing from love, which is its formative element. If we say that “we are justified by faith only,” we should mean (a) by a living faith, as above described; (b) that such faith, in view of the potentialities of growth in righteousness which it contains, is by itself the sufficient subjective cause of our being at once accounted righteous in Christ. I should not mean either that no other factors enter into the mystery, or that growth in righteousness is unnecessary for ultimate salvation. 3. The final cause of justification is “the glory of God and of Christ, and eternal life.” The efficient cause is the Holy Spirit, by whom we receive grace to believe and to advance in righteousness. The meritorious cause is the death of Jesus Christ for our sins. The instrumental cause is Baptism, whereby we are incorporated into the Body of Christ which is the source of justifying grace. The formal cause, or standard of reference and fruit of justifying grace, is the righteousness of God, in so far as it can and ought to become our won righteousness by our spiritual growth in Christ. 4.…our being put in a state of saving grace, our “justification,” is not due to any preexisting merit in us, and also that no good works of ours can have a wage value sufficient to earn eternal life. But they erred when they denied that we either can obtain, or need to acquire, any kind or degree of merit which can determine our future reward. …eternal life is a gift which is excessively disproportionate to any possible wage merit
of ours. But the good works which we perform by the grace of Christ are truly meritorious in so far as they are vital elements of our spiritual growth, and become evidences of our spiritual fitness to receive the gift of eternal life. We are to be judged, and everlastingly rewarded, according to our deeds – that is, according to the personal merit which they declare. That the righteous God will admit us to a full enjoyment of Him without our deserving this reward, that is, in the sense of possessing personal holiness and moral fitness for heaven, is a supposition contrary to righteousness. 5. Our justification puts us in a state of salvation, Baptism being the instrument by which we then receive the grace of life eternal. But this mystery initiates and presupposes a process of sanctification and growth in righteousness, without the actualization of which ultimate salvation is impossible. And this actualization depends upon our persevering cooperation with justifying grace – a cooperation which we can fail to give, and with fatal results. So, what possible harm can there be in holding to the Evangelical view of the doctrine of justification by faith? After all, volumes have been written on the subject and none agree completely. But the danger as I see it is this: church doctrine is biblical truth as understood by the church and is not the beliefs of just one person, and ignoring biblical truth no matter how seemingly insignificant is neither safe nor wise. Additionally, beliefs have consequences. For example, because of a faulty view of justification by faith many well-meaning Christian teachers today teach the doctrine “once saved, always saved.” Rather than giving insecure souls the assurance of their salvation so they might go on to spiritual maturity without fear of rejection by God, this aberrant teaching instead gives many the license to sin with seeming impunity. After all, they reason, they are saved and regardless what they do they will go to heaven when they die. What was supposed to be helpful to spiritual growth instead becomes a detriment. A safer and wiser course is to listen to the blessed Apostle Paul who reminds us in Ephesians 4, “…be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive…” but instead, as Jude instructs us, “…earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3) The faith handed down to us by the Apostles and the fathers of the church is the faith we must continue in. May we be found faithful in this charge. <>< <><<><
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In order to take us to the true teaching of the Catholic Faith in the Anglican Tradition (Anglo-Catholic Tradition) the following chapter is an excerpt from Vernon Staley’s The Catholic Religion available in the public domain. 1. PREDESTINATION AND ELECTION ALMIGHTY God, our Heavenly Father, “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” He does nothing in time, which He has not” purposed in Himself ” in eternity. It has pleased God to make known to us His eternal purpose to “gather together in one all things in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:9-10) I This Divine purpose of gathering together the elect into one Body, and thus bringing them to eternal life in Christ, is called” Predestination” and” Election,” Predestination does not mean that some souls are fore-ordained to eternal life, and others to eternal death, for there is no purpose of God to bring any man to eternal ‘death. God” will have ALL men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”(1 Tim 2:4) There is a purpose in everything, both in the order of nature and in that of grace. In the order of grace, Predestination corresponds to some extent with Providence in the order of nature. An acorn is naturally predestined to produce an oak, but it may fail to realize that purpose; all acorns do not produce oaks. If it does fail, it misses its predestined end. So the soul is predestined to a life of grace and obedience here, leading to a life of glory hereafter: but it may fail, and miss the mark. The laws which determine the germination and growth of an acorn are observed, the oak will be produced from it. In like manner if the soul obeys God, and corresponds with His grace, it will come to eternal life. God who calls and elects, also bids us “to make our calling and election sure.”(2 St. Peter 1:10) God is “not willing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance.(2 Pet 3:9) Therefore,
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if any man is lost, it is of his own fault. God has predestinated us “to be conformed to the image of His Son,” (Rom 8:29) but no man can be conformed to the image of Christ against his own will. Hence it is said that we are” elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto OBEDIENCE and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ,”(1 St. Peter 1:2) Sin alone, deliberately chosen, persevered in, and unrepented of, shuts out of heaven: and no man need sin unless he chooses. Nothing is accounted sin by God, unless it might have been avoided. God causes no one to sin. We sin because we “frustrate the grace of God,”(Gal 2:21) and” receive the grace of God in vain.” (2 Cor 6:1)The very fact that the grace of God is offered to all men, proves that He does not will that anyone should either sin or be lost. God does not elect all men to the same position in His kingdom. He gives to some ten talents, to others five, to others two; but He gives to all one talent, and to everyone grace to correspond to his vocation. If God bestows His grace in a way which seems to us unequal, yet to no one does He give less grace than is .necessary for salvation. The lot of each soul in eternity will depend upon the use made of that grace. Everyone is called to, and is capable of, salvation, but God alone knows those who will “ make their calling and election sure.” (2 St. Peter
1.10)
II. GRACE AND FREEWILL. The soul of man is the seat of Freewill. Freewill is that great gift of God to man,whereby he is able to choose good or “evil, The possession of Freewill raises man above all the creatures around him, and makes him capable of corresponding with God’s Grace. The soul would be incapable of either moral goodness or moral evil, unless it was free to choose one or the other. Without Freewill we should be mere machines, not moral agents created in the image of God. There could be no
responsibility in the sight of God for our actions, unless our wills were unfettered. Nothing teaches more forcibly the exceeding blessedness and greatness of a free obedience, than the consideration that it was only possible at the risk of sin and rebellion. By the fall, the faculties of the soul were seriously disordered, and the will became enfeebled, and prone to an evil choice. To remedy this defect God bestows Grace upon the soul. Grace is a spiritual gift of God, which makes man acceptable to Him, and able to serve Him. Grace enlightens the mind, cleanses the heart, and strengthens the will, uniting us with all the powers of our life to God. Grace is the free gift of God, bestowed on us for the sake of Jesus Christ, wrought in us by the Holy, Ghost, to enable us to know and to do the will of God. (Liddon’s University Sermons p.44) The Grace of God corrects the natural bias of the will in fallen man towards evil. The earth upon which we live has two distinct motions. The earth revolves upon its axis once a day, and it journeys round the sun once a year. If it only moved round upon its axis, it would fly off into space to its destruction.. The attraction of the sun upon the earth as. it turns upon its axis, checks this tendency to wander away, and keeps the earth in its appointed ‘path. It is thus with the movements of the will acting under Grace; only with this difference, that Grace does not constrain ‘or force the will, for Grace may be resisted. Grace attracts, persuades, and aids the will to a right choice. As St. Augustine says,-” Not Grace alone, nor man alone, but Grace working with man, will save:” and again” He who created thee without thee, will not save thee without thee.” When we see the lid of a casket forced open, and the hinges torn away, we look upon the work of the spoiler; but when we see the casket gently unlocked by the key, and the contents brought out, we note the hand of the owner. Grace does not work by violence in opening the heart, forcing or crushing the free action of the will. This is not the method of Him who comes not as a plunderer to His prey, but as a possessor to His treasure. The will is not blinded by Grace,but it is enlightened, and the whole man is enabled to act with I the glorious liberty of the children of God.(Romans 8:21). Grace does not enslave the will, but enfranchises it.
the new birth, recorded in St. John 3. 1-14. Regeneration is the being born again II of water and of the Spirit.” It is the act of God the Holy Ghost upon the soul in Baptism,—a single definite act which can never be repeated. In Baptism, God gives the soul the new birth,or, in other words, regenerates it. In Regeneration we receive a new nature, and pass out from the natural into the supernatural order of things. This new nature is as a seed planted within the soul, and it is intended to grow and to bear fruit.’ Conversion, as we shall see in the next section, consists in the conscious turning of the will to God. It is the act of man, through grace, as he accepts the mercy and the love offered by Jesus Christ. .Thus we see that Regeneration and Conversion are quite distinct, since a converted man is not necessarily a regenerated man. ,..From a comparison of Acts 9, 9 with Acts22, 13, 16, we learn that St. Paul was not baptised until three days after his conversion. In his case, Conversion preceded the new birth. St. John does not, in his Gospel, tell of the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, but he records a very full explanation of its meaning in the words o£ our Lord to Nicodemus.” In this passage our Lord declares that, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God j” and He explains this statement by adding, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of Ged.” Thus “to be born of water and of the Spirit,” is the same as “to be born again.” Now the joining together of ” water” and” the Spirit,” can only refer to baptism. To be “born of water and of the Spirit,” cannot mean” to be converted,”for the use of water has no part in Conversion. If our Lord had said, “ Except a man be born of the Spirit” only, we might have been in doubt whether He meant Conversion or not ; but since He said “of water and of the Spirit,” there can be no doubt as to His meaning. Hooker writes,- “Of all the ancient (writers), there is not one to be named that ever did otherwise expound or allege the place” (i.e, St. John iii.5) “ than as implying external baptism.” (Ecclesiastical Polity 5. 59.3) St. Paul uses an expression which confirms this interpretation. In his epistle to Titus’ he writes, “According to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of Regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” The word here used for “washing ‘J means a “bath,” which implies III. REGENERATION. the use of water. So here again, Regeneration, or the There is much confusion in many minds con- new birth, is associated with the use of water,-the bath cerning Conversion and Regeneration. This confusion of the font. The first words that the priest is directed arises in a great measure from a misapprehension of to say after baptizing a child and receiving it into the our Lord’s words to Nicodemus as to the necessity of Church, are these,-” Seeing now, dearly beloved breth-
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ren, that this child is regenerate.” THEREFORE, EVERY PERSON WHO HAS BEEN RIGHTLY BAPTISED, HAS, THROUGH THE SPIRIT, BEEN BORN AGAIN • We must not think that because a person has been born again, he will necessarily be saved. Regeneration is not final salvation, but it places the soul in such a relation to God as to make salvation possible. The germ of the new life, implanted in the soul at baptism, needs to be cared for and developed. The new life in Christ is as a seed within the soul, which needs to be watered and tended, that it may live and grow until sin is destroyed, and the new life is perfected. There are thus two forces at work in the soul of the regenerate man. Good and evil meet in the baptised, and one or other must in the end prevail. The issue of the conflict depends upon the will, working with or against grace. IV. CONVERSION. There are two words used in the New Testament which describe the process whereby a man passes from a state of habitual sin to a state of holiness. These words are” Repentance ..and” Conversion.” The first of these is most frequently used in the New Testament, but it is of the latter that we are now about to speak. The word “Conversion” means a turning with or towards a person instead of a turning away from him, hence, a change of purpose. A converted man is one who having turned away from God, is now turned towards Him. Having hidden his face from God and walked away from Him, he has now turned round, and is facing Him, or walking with Him. We speak of such an one as a changed man, i.e. one who has changed the aim or purpose of his life; and this great change we call Conversion. Conversion consists in the conscious yielding of the heart, mind, and will to God. It is the willing acceptance of the mercy, truth, and love of God. Conversion may take place before baptism, leading a person to seek the new birth in that Sacrament; or it may take place after baptism, when one who has been born again in baptism, but has never striven to live well,may turn from evil and begin to do better. In the case of a baptised person, Conversion may be regarded as the willing acknowledgment of the baptismal vows, and the conscious acceptance of his position as the child of God by adoption and grace. Conversion may be sudden, or.it may be gradual. Sudden Conversion is the instantaneous passage” from darkness to light,” without any intervening twilight,a violent change in the soul’s history. Such conversions are rare, and we may regard them as the exception rather than the rule. The cases of the penitent thief, the jailer at
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Philippi, and that of St. Paul, fall under the head of sudden Conversion. Lacordaire, the great French preacher, in describing his own Conversion, said,- “I seem to see a man who is making his way along, as it were, by chance, and with a bandage over his eyes; it is a little loosened-he catches a glimpse of the light-and, at the moment when the handkerchief falls, he stands face to face with the noon-day sun.” “This touch of grace was in him so vivid that he never lost ‘the memory of it. On his death-bed he described this sublime moment with just the same emotion.. . . Every Christian knows this state, more or less, but Conversion is not ordinarily produced in the way of sudden illumination, like a flash of lightning in a dark night, but rather under the form of growing daylight, like that which precedes the sunrise.” The majority of earnest people find it impossible to say when they first consciously yielded up the heart to God. The life of such has been a succession of gentle changes and renewals, each bringing the soul nearer to Him. The process of Conversion in these cases has been -decidedly gradual, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.(St. Mark 4:28) 2 Because a man is once converted it does not follow that he is safe. A converted man may fall from his state of grace and salvation and become a backslider, and so need converting again. St. Paul was undoubtedly converted on the road to Damascus, yet he often speaks as though conscious of the possibility of falling away. (1 Cor 9:27) 10:12 Phil 2:12,13) a Conversion, like Repentance, is not a solitary act, but a lifelong, continual process, a daily passing from death unto life, under the influ-ence of the grace of God. For not until the will of man corresponds completely and perpetually to the will of God, will Conversion be really effectual. “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” (St. Matt 10:22)
V. WHAT IS JUSTIFICATION Justification is the act of God upon the soul whereby He cleanses it, and endows it with righteousness by uniting it to Christ. Christ “died to destroy the rule of the devil in us,and He rose again to send down the Holy Spirit to rule in our hearts, and to endow us •with perfect righteousness,” (Homily on the Resurrection)2 The term Justification describes the state of man in this life as redeemed by Christ, and united to Him, in contrast with His state by nature. By sin, original and actual, we are at enmity with God; by our union with Christ this enmity is done away, we are made God’s children and treated as such, and so gradually fitted for heaven. Thus, the state of Justification is much the same as the state of
grace, i.e. the state in which God’s favour rests upon the soul, and His help assists it. Justification is not the office of man but of God: for man cannot make himself righteous by his own works. “ It is God that justifieth.’ (Rom 8:33). Justification proceeds from the love of God, which is the first or moving calm of our Justification.” We love Him, because He first loved us.” (1 john 4:19) We are justified by God” only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” (Art.11) His death and passion being tire meritorious cause of bur Justification. God justifies us by II the grace of Christ, and the inspiration ‘of His Spirit.” 1 This action of the Holy Spirit is the efficacious cause of our Justification, endowing us with perfect righteousness. The Sacraments are the instrumental cause of Justification on God’s part j they are the Divinely-appointed instruments by which God” doth work invisibly in us.” (Article XIII) In order that the soul may receive sacramental grace savingly, it is necessary to approach the Sacraments with faith and repentance. If faith is the opening and stretching forth of the hand of the soul to receive God’s gift of Justification, repentance is the cleansing of that hand. _When we say that we are justified by faith and repentance, we do not mean that faith or repentance justify of themselves; but rather that they are the conditions upon which we are united to Christ by Justification. Faith apprehends and appropriates the merits of Christ, and thus it is said that we are “justified by faith.” (Rom 5:1) A holy life is the evidence of a true repentance, and a lively faith in Christ. Justification does not mean that God regards us as holy when we are not really so. “They that keep holiness holily shall be justified.” (Wisdom 6:10) Christians who do not live according to their calling and neglect the means of grace, throw away also the gift of Justification, and lose their salvation. VI. SANCTIFICATION. Sanctification is the term used to describe the work of God the Holy Ghost upon the character of those who are justified. We are justified in order that we ma.y be sanctified, and we are sanctified in order that we may be glorified. “Whom He justified, them He also glorified.” (Romans 8:30)
The grace of God is given to make us holy,. and so to fit us for God’s presence in eternity; for “without holiness no man shall see the Lord,” (Hebrews 12:14) In Holy Baptism we are born again into a state of Justification, that we may be completely renewed. This renewal depends upon our union with Christ, the Source of Holiness. Our union with Christ,-commenced in Baptism,
and dependent upon the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the soul,-is sustained by feeding upon Him in the Holy Communion of His Body and Blood. We are responsible to God for the use we make of the opportunities of Sanctification, which never fail to wait on the regenerate and justified. If we fail to use these opportunities then our Justification, like the one talent wrapped in a napkin and unused, becomes a witness against us in the day of judgment. God’s manifold dealings with us in grace and providence are the means by which the Holy Spirit - our wills cooperating- carries on and perfects the work of Sanctification. Sanctification is the consecration of the redeemed man, with all the powers of his soul and body, to the perfect and eternal service of God. “Christ loved .the Church,. and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:25) VII PERSEVERANCE ( T.T. Carter) Perseverance is the crown of all God’s dealings with the soul in its earthly course. On God’s part, it is the perfecting of that good work which He began in regeneration.( Phil 1:6) On the side of man, it is the continuance in that state of salvation to which baptism introduces him, and the correspondence with God’s grace even unto the end. On this account it is named” Final Perseverance.” The saying ‘once in grace, always in grace,’ is not necessarily true, for, as we have already said, grace may be received in vain;(2 Cor 6:1), and even resisted.(Acts 7:51). The writer to the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of the falling away of some who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift,”(Heb 6:4-6) and St. John also speaks of those who” went out from us.”(1 St. John 2:19) It is therefore perilous to trust to the feeling of assurance, when all must depend on a continued faithfulness to grace, and a true conformity to the will of God, The humblest man is the most diffident.’ The most confident is the most likely to be self-deceived. The very best among us has need to take to himself the Apostle’s warning, II Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”(1 Cor 10:12) There is a I holy fear,’ which it is always needful to cherish, and he that feareth is the more likely to be kept safely to the end. There is a warning that with all our joy in a conscious state of grace, we should II rejoice with trembling.’(Psalm2:11) One of the saddest deceits of Satan is to encourage a spirit of presumption, and false peace. The desponding soul may often be the surest of be-
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ing finally saved. The only ground of an assured hope is in the faithful use of all the means of grace, and the diligent practice of good works,-” perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor 7:1) St. Paul could say of himself, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.” (2 Tim 6:7,8)4 And great as St. Paul was, beyond-any, in his calm and patient sufferings, yet to others also the same trustful assurance may be given. To faithful souls living in the grace of God, and iii the honest practice of the Christian virtues, there comes a peace and a trustful looking forward to the glory that shall be revealed,-a hope full of immortality. To such is given an increasing sense of being in God, as grace grows into habit, and evil is overcome. We may believe that to these faithful souls God grants a special gift of Perseverance, as they realise the promise of our Lord concerning His sheep, “ They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
Grace is not simply kindly feeling on the part of God, but a positive boon conferred on man. Grace is a real and active force; it is, as the Apostle says, ‘the power that worketh in us’ (Eph. iii. 20), illuminating the intellec.t, warming the heart, strengthening the will of redeemed humanity. It is the might of the Everlasting Spirit renovating man by uniting him, whether immediately or through the Sacraments, to the Sacred Manhood of the Word Incamate.” -Liddon’s University Sermons. First Series, p. 44.
“ Grace is power. That power whereby God works in nature is called power. That power whereby He works in the wills of His reasonable creatures is called grace.” Mozley, On Predestination, P- 302.
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A Review of the “Thirty-nine Articles, Their History and Explanation” by B.J. Kidd Fr. Jason Rice
I remember when I was first introduced to the Anglican faith many years ago. I joined an Anglican jurisdiction that interpreted the Thirty-nine Articles with a heavy protestant bias. At first this seemed to make sense. But as I continued to study the historic Anglican church and her traditions I found that this modern way of interpreting the Articles was improper and historically inaccurate. Recently I have been reading a book called the “The Thirty-nine Articles, Their History and Explanation” by B.J. Kidd. I believe this book should be read by every Anglican clergy and lay person. It explains the history behind the Thirty-nine Articles, the historic context of which they were written in, and properly understanding and interpreting them as they were originally intended. Many today in the Anglican faith read the Articles with a protestant leaning bias. This is because the Protestant side of the reformation period
seems to be the most prominently taught and looked at aspect of the reformation period and the desire of some in the Anglican tradition to appeal to evangelical Protestants. But there was a distinct difference and motive by the divines in the English Church than those of the continental reformers. The English Church wanted to restore the primitive catholic faith and purge out the medieval superstitions. They did not desire to purge that which was clearly catholic but only the superstition and abuses that had crept into the church whereas the continental reformers sought to establish a whole new church based on new innovations and understanding of the scriptures and rejected what was clearly the practice of the ancient and apostolic catholic church, in essence throwing out the baby with the bath water. I give an example of understanding the thirtynine Articles in their proper catholic context from the book by B.J. Kidd on his explanation of Article 22 on Purgatory. It reads as follows. “The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshiping and adoration, as well of Images as Relics, and also invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.” When I was first introduced to the Anglican Faith via a more protestant jurisdiction than that of the HCC-AR, I was taught the word “Romish” referred to the Roman Church. But this is not the case. As B.J. Kidd points out in his book, the original articles substituted the word “Romish” for “the doctrine of the School Authors.” In 1563 they were amended to say “Romish.” As B.J. Kidd points out, “The effect of this change was to direct the condemnations against a type of practice and teaching current within recent memory rather than against the system of the Schoolmen whose day was past. The party with which this teaching was known was the 'Romanesian' or 'Romish' party, a name given to the extreme Medievalist, and not descriptive of the Roman Church as a whole. Consequently it must not be assumed that the tenets here condemned are identical with those of the Church of Rome. The Article could not have been aimed, either in its original or in its amended form, at her authoritative teaching on the points in question; for that teaching was not laid down till the last session of the Council of Trent, December 4, 1563.” He goes on to illustrate that, for example, the English Church was not denying the belief in Purgatory, but only the “Romish” teachings. He goes on to elaborate on the history of the ancient church
and her beliefs on Purgatory and the rest of Article 22 explaining where the errors of the Romish party crept in and what the English reformers set out to clarify. This is just one example. The book gives a detailed history of the Articles and their formulation, the context, and idea behind each article written. They were not written as many believe with “Protestantism” as we understand it in mind. He rightly states, “The Articles were the product of the middle of the sixteenth century. That was an age which had characteristics of English thought. The Church was merely engaged in self-defense: and this imparted to the Articles a tentative and negative character. They are thus less definite than the liturgy and so more susceptible of being taken in some other than their 'literal and grammatical sense.'” The book also goes on to note that many of the Articles were written not just as a response to “Romish” errors, but in response to hyper protestant beliefs that were spreading through out the Kingdom, namely Anabaptist and puritanism. They set out to retain and state the Churches adherence to that which was properly catholic rejecting both protestant and medieval schoolmen errors. The Thirty-nine Articles were written for a specific time in history to address specific doctrinal issues in history. They are not a Creed and therefore binding on the Church through out future generations. They were not written and approved of by general council of the undivided Church, therefore they cannot be seen as binding in any permanent fashion upon the Church, Anglican or otherwise. The Articles can be very valuable in teaching the Anglican faith if they are understood in their historic context and taught in the same manner. But they can also be abused to fit any persons whims and be made to say things they where never intended to say. It is clear after reading this book that the Articles are of a temporary nature, and while they can be very valuable to the understanding of the Anglican tradition, they can also be used and twisted to promote a protestant interpretation of them which was clearly never the intent of the writers of them. The Articles rather establish what it is to be truly understood as catholic, according to the primitive church established in England so long ago and preserved still to this day in the Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite. You can read the book online. It is an excellent source for understanding the Articles, their meaning, and the history behind them. https://prydain.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/the_thirty_nine_articles_kidd.pdf
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Publication of the Anglican Province of the Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite St.. James Anglican Church 8107 S. Holmes Road Kansas City, MO 64131