Anglican Thought-Still Relevant?

On Friday, July 27^th the Episcopal Church calendar remembers William Reed Huntington.  The church calendar is available in the publication Holy Women, Holy Men.  You may also access the calendar on the internet when you Google search “Mission St. Clare.”  Rev. Huntington was a champion in the House of Deputies in the Episcopal Church during the late 19th century.  The first draft of what is now called the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral was written by Rev. Huntington in his book entitled The Church Idea.

Rev. Huntington's aim was to articulate Christian unity not only among fellow Anglicans but among all Christians.  The conversation that Rev. Huntington started was ecumenical in nature.  In addition to stating what Anglicans believe to be essential about Christian unity, the document promotes healing within the body of Christ by extending charity to the other visible manifestations of Christ's body (extend charity to other denominations).

For a complete wording of the final document please turn to page 876-877 in your Book of Common Prayer.  The document is summarized in four points: 1) scripture contains all things necessary for salvation 2) the Creeds are sufficient statements of the Christian faith 3) Baptism and Eucharist are essential to Christian life 4) names the importance of the historic episcopate, locally adapted to fit the needs of people called to God into the Unity of the Church.

This statement echoes the thinking of the first Anglican theologians.  Anglican Thought developed as a response to various manifestations of Christ's body during the Protestant Reformation.  In short, Anglican Thought developed out of a compromising response to Protestant (Reformed) and Roman Catholic theology.  This compromise was made official through the Elizabethan Settlement which can be summed up by saying via media or the middle way.

During an extremely gruesome time during the reign of Henry VIII, a beautiful way of thinking about Christianity developed.  The beauty of Anglican Thought is that it is humble.  The original framers of this Anglican way of thinking did not try to answer every question about theology and scripture (as the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral also suggests).  Instead, they recognized that God was bigger than what they could grasp at with words and that corporate prayer and faithful reflection on scripture was the vehicle to common belief in the risen Lord.  As N.T. Wright might say, these first Anglican thinkers were more interested in asking the right questions instead of trying to find all the right answers.

I believe this way of thinking is desperately needed in a world where we are held hostage by political and religious extremes.  We live in a world where we simplify really complicated issues.  On one level, Anglican thought is a good modern day parable for the parables of Jesus.  The parables of Jesus tell us a lot about the Kingdom of God but they also remind us that we don't know a lot about the Kingdom of God.  The parables of Jesus don't answer all our questions.  Instead, the parables of Jesus invite us to ask the right questions so that we may grow into better disciples—followers of Christ.

We have a God by the power of the Holy Spirit who is leading the whole Church into all truth—not just the Catholics or Episcopalians or Presbyterians.  My prayer is that we can listen better and see the beauty of Christ's body in all people and in all places.  I don't think anyone of us or any one way of thinking has it all figured out.  But I do believe that if we pray and work together under the assumptions of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, then the glory of God will continue to draw all people together into the light of Christ in a world that is desperate for truth.