Before learning about the ideas of Anglicanism and the history of this religious movement, it is necessary to understand the conditions under which it was formed and with which other Christian movements it competed.
Protestantism
The emergence of Protestantism contributed to the Reformation of the 16-17 centuries. This spiritual and political ideology was one of the defining ones both in the life of European states and in the life of countries of other continents. For centuries, various Protestant movements have offered their views on resolving religious issues and providing the spiritual needs of Christians.
The emergence of new branches of Protestantism continues to this day. The most massive Protestant currents are Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism. Zwinglianism also played a significant role in the development of Protestantism, but you will learn more about it below.
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Initially, the concept of "Lutheranism" was a synonym for Protestantism (in the countries of the former Russian Empire, this formulation was relevant almost before the revolution). Lutherans themselves called themselves "evangelical Christians."
The ideas of Calvinism were widespread throughout the world and influenced the history of all mankind. Calvinists made a great contribution to the formation of the United States of America, and also became one of the ideologists of the tendency to combat tyranny of the 17-19 centuries.
Unlike Calvinism and Lutheranism, Anglicanism appeared at the behest of the imperial power of England. It is King Henry VIII who can be called the founding father of this movement. After its creation, the church institute became the national stronghold of the royal monarchy, in which the supremacy of the power of Anglicanism began to belong to the king, and the clergy obeyed him as an important component of the apparatus of monarchist absolutism.
Zwinglianism is slightly different from other Protestant movements. If Calvinism and Anglicanism were even indirectly associated with Lutheranism, then Zwinglianism was formed apart from this movement. It was widespread in southern Germany and Switzerland in the 16th century. By the beginning of the 17th century, it combined with Calvinism.
Protestantism today
Currently, Protestant currents are common in the United States, Scandinavian countries, England, Canada, Germany, Holland and Switzerland. North America can rightly be called the main center of Protestantism, since there are the largest number of headquarters for various Protestant movements. The protestantism of today's type is characterized by the desire for universal unification, manifested in the creation of the World Council of Churches of 1948.
Lutheranism
This movement originated in Germany, forming the basic foundations of Protestantism as such. Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther, and their like-minded people who shared the ideas of the Reformation stood at its origins. Over time, Lutheranism began to spread in France, Hungary, Austria, the Scandinavian countries and in North America. At present, there are approximately 75,000,000 Lutherans on our planet, 50,000,000 of whom are members of the World Lutheran Union, formed in 1947.
Lutherans have several spiritual books, but the essence of their creeds is described in more detail in the Book of Concord. Adherents of this movement consider themselves to be theists who support the idea of the triune God and profess the Divine-human essence of Jesus Christ. Of particular importance in their worldview is the concept of Adam's sin, which can only be overcome through God's grace. For Lutherans, the surest criterion for the correctness of faith is Holy Scripture. They also enjoy special authority with other sacred sources, which are fully and completely consistent with the Bible and not vice versa (as an example, the Holy Tradition of the Fathers). The judgments of the clergy, who are directly related to the origins of the confession, can also be critically evaluated. They include the work of Martin Luther himself, to whom members of this movement treat with respect, but without fanaticism.
Lutherans recognize only two types of sacraments: baptism and communion. Through baptism, man accepts Christ. Through the sacrament, his faith is strengthened. Against the background of other faiths, Lutheranism is distinguished by the fact that not only the holders of the holy order, but also ordinary Christians can take communion with a chalice. According to the Lutherans, a priest is exactly the same person who is no different from ordinary lay people and is simply a more experienced member of a religious community.
Calvinism
From the holy Protestant trinity “Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism”, the second movement played a rather important role in the reform processes. Originating in Germany, the flames of the Reformation soon swallowed up Switzerland, giving the world a new Protestant movement called Calvinism. It arose almost at the same time as Lutheranism, but developed largely without the influence of the latter. Due to the large number of differences between the two reformative branches, in 1859 there was an official separation of the two, reinforcing the independent existence of Protestantism movements.
Calvinism differed from Lutheranism in more radical ideas. If Lutherans demand to remove from the church that which does not correspond to biblical teaching, then Calvinists want to get rid of what is not required in this teaching. The basic foundations of this trend were laid out in the works of Genet Calvin, the main of which is the work “Instruction in the Christian faith”.
The most important doctrines of Calvinism that distinguish it from other Christian movements:
- Acknowledgment of the sanctity of only biblical texts.
- The ban on monasticism. According to adherents of Calvinism, the main goal of a man and a woman is to create a strong family.
- The absence of church ceremonies, the denial that a person can be saved only through the clergy.
- The statement of the doctrine of predestination, the essence of which lies in the fact that the predestination of human life and the planet occurs by the will of God.
According to Calvinist teaching, only faith in Christ is necessary for eternal life, and the works of faith are not needed for this. The good works of faith are necessary only to show the sincerity of your faith.
Zinglianism
When it comes to Christian movements, many recall Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism and Anglicanism, but forget about yet another quite important trend called Zwinglianism. The founding father of this branch of Protestantism was Ulrich Zwingli. Despite almost complete independence from Martin Luther's ideas, Zwinglianism is in many aspects similar to Lutheranism. That Zwingli, that Luther were adherents of the idea of determinism.
If we talk about checking the church rules for their truth, then Zwingli considered only what was directly confirmed by the Bible to be correct. All the elements that distract a person from deepening into himself and evoke vivid emotions in him, had to be completely removed from the church. Zwingli advocated the cessation of church ordinances, and in the churches of his associates, art, music and the Catholic Mass were canceled, which was replaced by sermons dedicated to Holy Scripture. The buildings of the former monasteries became hospitals and educational institutions, and monastic things were donated to charity and for education. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Zwinglianism became part of Calvinism.
What is Anglicanism?
You already know what Protestantism is and what are its main directions. Now we can go directly to the topic of the article, and more specifically to the features of Anglicanism and the history of this movement. Below you can find all the detailed information.
Origin
As mentioned earlier, Anglicanism is a Protestant movement, which is a purely English heritage. In Britain, the founder of the Reformation was King Henry VIII Tudor. The history of Anglicanism is very different from the history of other Protestant movements. If Luther, Calvin and Zwingli wanted to radically change the Catholic church system, which at that time was in a state of crisis, then Henry went for it because of more personal motives. The English king wanted Pope Clement VII to divorce him with his wife Catherine of Aragon, but he didn’t want to do this because he was afraid of anger from the Emperor of Germany Charles V. In order to achieve his desired goal, Henry VIII issued an order on the independence of the church institute in 1533 England from the papal protectorate, and already in 1534 he became the sole head of the newly made church. After some time, the king published the basic postulates of Anglicanism, the content of which was largely reminiscent of Catholic, but with an admixture of ideas of Protestantism.
Church reform
Despite the fact that Anglicanism was the idea of Henry VIII, his successor Edward VI was engaged in real church reforms. When he first began to rule, Anglican dogmas were described in 42 articles, bearing the characteristic features of both Catholicism and Protestantism. During the reign of Elizabeth, some rules of the English religion were revised, and as a result, only 39 articles remained that are valid to this day. The new religion set forth in these articles is a mixture of Catholicism, Calvinism and Lutheranism.
Features of the creed of Anglicanism
Now consider the basic tenets and rules of the Church of England, gleaned from a particular Christian movement.
From Lutheranism, Anglicanism took the following:
- Acceptance of the Bible as the main and only true source of faith.
- The affirmation of only two necessary sacraments: baptism and communion.
- The abolition of veneration of saints, worship of icons and relics, as well as the teachings of purgatory.
From Calvinism:
- The idea of predestination.
- The idea of achieving the kingdom of heaven through faith in Christ without performing charitable deeds.
From Catholics, the Anglicans preserved the classical church hierarchy, but it was not the pope but the king of England who headed it. Like the main Christian denominations, Anglicanism adheres to the idea of a triune God.
Features of worship in Anglicanism
It has already been mentioned that this religious movement has its own rules and laws. Features of worship and the role of the priest in Anglicanism are described in the Book of General Prayers. This work was based on the Roman Catholic liturgy, which operated in Britain until the birth of Protestant movements. In addition to the English-language translation of old ideas, religious reform in England was manifested in the reduction of the existing rank (for example, in the abolition of most rites, traditions and services) and in the change of prayers in accordance with the new rules. The creators of the Book of General Prayers wanted to significantly increase the role of Holy Scripture in Anglican worship. The Old Testament texts were divided in such a way that each year a part of them was read out once. The Gospel, with the exception of the Revelation of John the Theologian, from which only a few points were taken, is divided so that it is read three times during the year (while the festive and Sunday readings of the Apostle and New Testament are not counted). If we talk about the book of psalms, then it was necessary to read it every month.
The liturgical system of Anglicanism is rather a copy of the Protestant system, rather than Roman Catholic or Orthodox. But despite this, this branch of Christianity retained some elements that were unacceptable in Protestantism. These include the priests' church clothes that they wore during worship, denial of the devil and the blessing of water during baptism, the use of a wedding ring for marriage, etc.
English church administration is divided into two parts: Canterbury and York. Each of them is ruled by archbishops, but the head of the Canterbury branch is the main church hierarch of the Church of England, whose influence extends beyond England.
Among the Anglicans, three parties have long been created, which exist to this day: Low, Broad and High churches. The first batch represents the radical views of Protestantism and wants the Church of England in its teaching to rely more specifically on Protestantism. The second party is not even a party as such: ordinary people belong to it, to whom, in essence, the existing rites are indifferent, and Anglicanism in the form in which it exists now, fully satisfies them. The High Church, in contrast to the Low, on the contrary, is trying to get as far away as possible from the ideas of the Reformation and preserve the characteristic features of the classical church, which appeared before the birth of Protestantism. In addition, representatives of this movement want to revive those rules and traditions that were lost many centuries ago, as well as bring Anglicanism as close as possible to the general ecumenical church. Among the high church in the 30s of the 19th century, the "highest" church appeared. The founder of this party was Oxford professor Puzy, and its members called themselves puzeyists. Because of their desire to revive the old church rites, they also received the name "ritualists". This party at all costs wanted to prove the significance of the Anglican religion and even combine it with the Eastern Church. Their views are very similar to the ideas of Orthodoxy:
- Unlike the same Lutheranism, Anglicanism of the highest church standard as an authority recognizes not only the Bible, but also Holy Tradition.
- In their opinion, in order to gain eternal life, a person needs not only to believe, but also to perform charitable deeds.
- "Ritualists" advocate the veneration of icons and holy relics, and also do not reject the worship of saints and prayers for the departed.
- They do not recognize predestination in the Calvinist sense.
- They look at the sacrament from the point of view of Orthodoxy.
Now you know the definition of Anglicanism, the history of this Christian movement, as well as its characteristic features and features. We hope you find this article helpful!