No. 37. >> Does they Episcopal Church have an official doctrinal statement? If so, where can I find it? >>DR. LAWRENCE R. RAST, JR.: Very good, Eric. It does, in fact, have an official doctrinal statement. But it has two components to it, if you will. Let me give you the more Lutheranesque answer in the first place and then we'll move onto the real thing. Namely, the 39 articles of the Anglican church are it's official doctrinal statement. However, those are largely seen as important historical witnesses to the practice of Anglicanism. One of the things we'll do in class as we read through the 39 articles is think about them within the broader theological tradition. In fact, you'll see why I was struggling earlier over where to put them. Namely, should they be classed as Reformed? Are they closer to Lutherans on certain things? Or are they something unique and to themselves? To make a long story short, however, the Thirty-Nine Articles, which were a revision of the earlier Forty-Two Articles, are the official statement of theological positions for the Anglican communion. They are a modestly Reformed Calvinistic text. Simply put, they intentionally broaden the points of discussion in order to incorporate a variety of viewpoints. Let's do a comparison and contrast here. With Lutherans you have the Augsburg Confession written for a very specific purpose. Namely, to try to encourage unity on the basis of the Catholic substance of the church which is shared in the perspective of the Lutherans by themselves and the Roman Catholic leaders. It is an irenic document. It tries to bring peace to the church. However, as time went by, the divisions within western Christendom became largely operative and visible. And by the time you have the Formula of Concord of 1577, those divisions are very well settled. And so within the Formula, one finds a much more strident Lutheran critique. Both of Rome, certainly, but also of the Reformed. The Thirty-Nine Articles, on the other hand, tries to broaden the discussion to be embracing of a variety of perspectives. Where the formula oftentimes is so specific that it does not allow for any variance, the Thirty-Nine Articles strives for generality to be as embracing as possible. The result is discussions of significant topics into which a variety of traditions can read their perspective. And the result being the hope for unity. Take, for example, the article on baptism. It is described as a sacrament. It is also described as a sign and a seal. It seems to have forgiving power. But that is not explicitly made, that point. Nor is it spoken of as being regenerative. Nonetheless, sacrament, active, forgiving sins, the general language is there. As is the more covenantal language of the Reformed tradition. If one desired, one could invest the text with a Lutheran meaning, if you will. On the other hand, a Reformed reader would find themselves very acclimated to the perspective there, as well. Hence, the via media. In this case between Lutherans and Reformed. Much the same kind of language is used in the article regarding the Lord's Supper in the Thirty-Nine Articles. And given the fact that these were adopted in 1571, a key point in time as cryptocalvinism is ripping at the Lutheran Church, the intentional breadth of the Thirty-Nine Articles attest to the desire of the Anglican communion to be embracing. At the same time the Thirty-Nine Articles do not function in the Anglican communion as the Book of Concord does in the Lutheran. Where there's a theological argument in Lutheranism, everybody turns to the Confessions and begins to page through them to make their point. For the Anglican communion, the Thirty-Nine Articles are largely important historical witnesses. And if you would like to find a copy of them and read them for yourself today, you can either look in a collection of church confessions or go to the Anglican communion's Book of Common Prayer where they are incorporated as just that, important historical documents. And that leads us to our second point. Namely, the real thing in terms of Anglican unity. Its Prayer Book, the Book of Common Prayer. I already mentioned how Edward VI had published the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549. And that this was a very via media approach to liturgical worship within the Anglican church. It is formal. It is structured. In many ways it shows the influence of the Lutheran tradition having excised some of the more pronounced Roman Catholic rites. Some would have called them superstitious. Yet at the same time retaining the basic structure of the western rite. Very easily recognizable in -- for any Lutheran. Even if they had been speaking German, they would have been at home in going through the structure of the Anglican service. However, as the reign of Edward moved along, the Second Prayer Book was a radical departure from what had come before. In fact, as the Prayer Book -- the Second Prayer Book was heading to the printer in 1552, there was a last-minute adjustment to its liturgy for the Lord's Supper. The so-called Black Rubric, which forbade people at communion from kneeling to receive the Sacrament of the Altar. The reason being, kneeling at communion was seen as a confession of the true presence of Christ's body and blood. By forbidding this practice, the English church took a strong stance saying: We are taking on a much more, shall we say, Calvinistic posture at this point in time. A spiritual presence was allowed. But that presence was excited by faith in the action as one feasted upon Christ, who was seated at the right hand of God. The spiritual interaction of the believer with Christ happened by faith. Christ was not seen as sacramentally or corporally or bodily present in the Sacrament of the Altar. A decided Reformed move in that regard. And the source of that move is very well known. It was John Knox. A man what had studied in Geneva. Under Calvin. Knew him as a friend. Had gone to Scotland. Had transformed the church there. And now was influencing the official practices of the English church. However, Edward VI was a sickly king. And he soon passed away to be succeeded by his half-sister, Mary Tudor. Mary Tudor is better known as Bloody Mary. And upon her ascension to the thrown, she attempted to turn the English church back to Roman Catholicism. She drove out a number of Protestants from the realm. They became what were called Marian exiles. Made their way to the continent. Many to Geneva where they lived under Calvin and in the Calvinist churches more generally. Before returning upon Mary's death in 1558. Those who remained did so at risk of their lives. And the reason she's called bloody Mary Tudor is for the many executions of Protestants that occurred during this particular time. But her short and violent reign was brief and was -- and upon her death she was succeeded by her half-sister, Elizabeth I. When Elizabeth took the throne, she immediately tried to establish the Anglican way, avoiding the extremes of either Mary or Edward. In the Elizabethan Settlement of 1558-59, she established Anglican practices for much time to come. Specifically she established the Third Prayer Book, the 1559 Prayer Book, which shot the gap, provided a middle way between the Reformed practices of Edward and the more Roman Catholic practices of Mary. Elizabeth retained many of the liturgical practices of Rome. Such as burning candles during the daytime, which was seen as superstitious by Protestants. While at the same time avoiding some of the more overt Roman Catholic practices such as ringing bells at the communion, et cetera. Pastors were to wear vestments. Pastors were to be dignified in the way they carried out the service. But at the same time they were not invested with a priestly character that would elevate them above the rest of the people. Indeed, that couldn't be the case can. Because Elizabeth herself was supreme Governor of the Church of England. And all clergy were under her, therefore. Yet, with the Elizabethan Settlement, with the establishment of the Prayer Book, an Anglicanism, via media, a middle way for the Anglican church was well defined that would characterize it for some time to come. In fact, it's in reaction specifically against Elizabeth that the Puritans we talked about before emerged. They believed she kept too much of the older Roman Catholic practices. That she had failed to purify things theologically. And above all, that she had not adopted the biblically prescribed polities for the church. Elizabeth's response to the challenges of the Puritans, was to regulate liturgical practice. Insist that pastors preach in a dignified and proper manner. And that above all, that the church adhere to the customs that she had approved. That did lead to tensions. In fact, Edmund Grindal, who had been appointed archbishop of Canterbury in the 1570s, spent most of his time as archbishop imprisoned in the tower of London for his refusal to give up what was called prophesying. Prophesying was simply expository preaching on a variety of biblical texts. Grindal said: This is what it means to be a pastor. To be free to preach. Elizabeth responded by responding that specific sermons be read on specific days out of specific books. When Grindal resisted, he was imprisoned. That kind of hard lined leadership that Elizabeth provided carried itself into the 1600s and continued to characterize Anglicanism as it took root here in what became the United States. In the American colonies the Anglican communions continually worked to maintain their identity specifically in terms of their liturgical practice. Yet they found themselves hard pressed on several issues, not the least of which was the necessity of the episcopacy, making it difficult for men to become priests in their community. Let me put it another way and explain it a little bit. In order to become a priest, you had to study and get a theological education, Oxford or Cambridge oftentimes. Then upon your examination at the end of your studies, you would be ordained by the bishop under the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury and ultimately the queen. However, with the fact that there were no bishops in America, that meant that candidates for the ministry had to return to England for their ordination, oftentimes for their schooling. And then return to the American colonies. The unfortunate thing was for the Anglican communion that oftentimes they went to England, but they didn't come back. And as a result there was consistently a lack of Episcopal priests to serve the various Anglican communities here on the American scene. That was a challenge they faced that they would not be able to overcome until after the American Revolution when at a general conference in 1785 they then sent Samuel Seabury over to Scotland where he was ordained bishop by Scottish bishops. The English were still harboring a few bad feelings after the American Revolution. But that's all to say that you have a very strong centralized character and identity building in the Anglican communion from its Book of Common Prayer. And while the Thirty-Nine Articles are an important historical witness to the Anglican via media, perhaps the liturgy provides even a better indication of that. And perhaps in no better way than in the liturgy of the sacrament itself. When after a long Eucharistic prayer that is in many ways transubstantiationist in character and mirrors the language of Hyppolytus from the early church, immediately prior to the distribution, the priest will say: Now feed on Christ in your hearts by faith. And there you have Anglicanism. Strong, early church. Catholic like language. Suddenly tempered by a very strongly Calvinistic statement. I happened to be at an Anglican service one time and heard that part of the service. And afterwards I spoke to the priest. He had asked me: What did you think of the service? And I said: Well, it wasn't that interesting. You had this Hyppolytan transubstantiationist language suddenly followed by John Calvin. I wondered which one was going to pop up next. To which he responded: Only a Lutheran would have noticed that. Well, the priest was a good friend. Nonetheless, it did illustrate a point. In Anglicanism the breadth is there as long as the Prayer Book is used and used faithfully. That will hold the church together. And therefore, if you want to look for your confessional statement, turn to the Book of Common Prayer.