An Introduction to the Anglican Tradition

The course provides and introduction the Anglican Church, its origins, growth and current shape.

Whilst it is common to hear the Church of England described as originating in Henry VIII's wish for a divorce, this is simplistic in the extreme. Certainly, the politics of the era intrude, not least because of the potential for annulments which were granted by Rome, as well as the cash-grab which Henry then  executed on monasteries and the like. However,  intellectual currents (the  university  network and its  flow of ideas via  wandering scholars), the increasing rejection of clericalism, the critique of   medieval practices such as the selling of indulgences, and the concomitant push to make Scriptures available in vernacular languages all provided a theological push for reform which would lead to the fracturing of Western Christendom into a number of theological traditions: Reformed, Anabaptist, Lutheran, Unitarian and  Anglican.  Additionally, the technological advance of the Gutenberg Press which allowed for the mass printing of books, pamphlets and  woodcuts  enabled the popularisation and dissemination of these ideas.

In this perfect storm of intellectual innovation, politics and technological advance, the Anglican church emerges.

It spreads its theology, liturgy and  ethics through the development of the Book of Common Prayer which provides a neat and accessible handbook. As it used to be said, "If you want to know what Anglican theology  and life is like, read the Book of Common Prayer."

However, the Anglican church was never an exclusively English phenomenon.  Neighbouring Scotland, through the Reformation, would  see a tussle between Presbyterians (no bishops) and Episcopalians (yes to Bishops) which would not be resolved until the end of the 17th century. That Episcopalian party , pro- Stuart (Jacobite)  would use the Book of Common Prayer and late develop their own  liturgy in the 18th century. They would consecrate Samuel Seabury to become a bishop for the new United States of America: an action, possibly the last gasp of  Jacobite resistance to the Hanoverians,  which would eventuate in the formation of the Anglican Communion.

That Communion then has to address the question of how independent churches with shared, but not identical traditions , might function as a global entity. Which leads to a discussion of the  Instruments of Communion which  hold together the Anglican Communion today, but are increasingly stretched to breaking point by the intractability of both progressives and conservatives within the communion.

What lies ahead?  Well, we might do much worse than look to the  reflections of Roland Allen, whose  writings were deeply unpopular on first publication in 1912, but who increasingly seems to offer models of how a sustainable Anglican  Church might thrive and flourish by  celebrating its diversity and trusting  more strongly in the movement of the Holy Spirit.