Fifteen Questions for Anglicans. In a continuing series begun on January 14, The Believer’s Dilemma has examined the problematic theologies of Augustine, Luther and Calvin, which were based on original sin. What do modern Christians believe? This week we have an interview with Tim Smart, Director of Lay Education at Montreal’s Anglican Diocesan Theological College.
(copywrite February 10 The Believer's Dilemma http://www.believers-dilemma.org/)
Officially, all Christian theologies make some reference to the Fall of mankind in Eden as the origin of evil, sin and death. In practice, believers hold a wide variety of views about whether Eden is a literal event that occurred circa 4,000 BC or is an allegory for the human experience. This series of interviews is not intended to present official denominational theology. There are two reasons for this. 1) Not all denominations possess an agreed upon confession of faith like the Westminster Confession, or a founding theologian like John Calvin or Martin Luther, or a central authority such as the Roman Catholic magisterium to set the parameters of acceptable belief and practice. 2) Parameters of acceptable belief and practice shift over time in response to social changes. A great gap can exist between ‘official theology’ and ‘acceptable belief’. These interviews represent denominational beliefs as understood by a single knowledgeable individual.
History: The Anglican Church of Canada is an independent, self-governing church in communion with the other churches of the worldwide Anglican Communion (Church of England, Episcopalian). It has its roots in the Church of England, which separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534. Influenced by the Protestant Reformation, the new English church simplified rituals and introduced the Book of Common Prayer (1549), which enabled services in English instead of Latin. At the same time, the church preserved certain traditions, including the early church creeds and the succession of bishops from the line of the apostles. Because of its history, Anglicanism is sometimes referred to as “Reformed Catholicism.” During the violent centuries when Protestant Reformers accused the Pope of being the antichrist and Roman Catholics decreed that Protestants were ‘outside the Church’ and therefore ‘outside salvation’ Anglicans have represented the middle ground (via media) between Catholics and Protestants.
Position: The range of ‘acceptable’ beliefs and practices within the Anglican Church is large, making it one of the more liberal denominations.
Current situation: The Anglican Church of Canada struggles with aging congregations, declining attendance and churches that are closing.
1) Does the universe exist for a purpose? If so, what is it?
Many Anglicans have been scientists who studied both scripture and nature to understand what is ultimately true about the universe. Anglicans are not defensive about scientific research into the ‘Big Bang’ theory of creation, string theory, multi universes, or life on other planets. They do not want to make the mistake of the Enlightenment Church which fought to defend a Biblical misinterpretation that the sun and stars revolved around the earth. Science has played an invaluable role in helping us understand how nature works, and has given us new ways to think about God ‘in whom we live and move and have our being’.
2) Why is the natural world plagued with catastrophic events?
Anglicans do not imagine God as an old man with a beard sitting on a throne in the sky dispensing blessings and curses; causing tsunamis in his wrath and finding parking spots in his mercy.
Anglicans do not teach the Augustinian/Calvinist connection between the Fall in Eden and the origin of all evil, suffering and death in the world. Natural catastrophes are tragic but they are not evil. In some cases we are the authors of our own misfortune by building in areas at risk of earthquakes or flooding. We also have to take responsibility for affecting climate change and extreme weather. ‘Natural evil’ is not a major issue for Anglicans, but ‘systemic’ evil in politics and social structures is a real problem that needs to be addressed.
3) Do human beings exist for a purpose? If so, what is it?
We are intelligent beings with freedom of will. The important question is: What do we do with our freedom? Modern western culture has engaged in the pursuit of happiness, focussed on personal pleasure and material possession. This individualism is in sharp contrast to the Old Testament which described society devoted to the common good, where the community came first. Jesus, in the New Testament, taught community-centered service which was the opposite of self-centered freedom.
One of the problems with ‘religion’ is that it is good for the ‘in group’ but can be harmful to those who are outside that group. Jesus, born a Jew, stretched the boundaries of who is in and who is out to include everyone from diseased lepers and ostracized sinners to heretical Samaritans and uncircumcised gentiles. When Jesus said ‘love your neighbour’ it was without conditions.
Christianity has been very much focussed on individual sin, salvation and whether or not we’re going to go to heaven. Christians have not been so much concerned about the environment, the economy, war and peace. These are pressing problems of our times and the Church’s failure to address them is one of the reasons that many young people would rather attend a protest rally than a church service.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks of eternal life being now. It is not something we wait for. The present moment is what we have. The past is only neuron memory and we can’t know for sure what the future holds, so the present moment is the eternal now. The Irish poet John O’Donohue wrote, ‘Each of us is like an artist. We all have a creative gift, as God is creative. We all leave a mark on the world. What kind of mark will that be?’
If we do not cooperate, look out for one another, and care for the vulnerable (widows, orphans, the incapacitated) we are just caring for ourselves. All Old Testament prophets warned about the consequences of selfishness and injustice which we have seen reiterated recently in the Occupy movements around the world.
4) Why did a God of perfect goodness create - or permit - evil?
The modern Anglican Church is not dogmatic about attributing all evil to the Fall of Adam and Eve. The story of Eden can also be interpreted to describe the competing choices that confront us all. Many Anglicans use the world ‘evil’ to categorize those actions which destroy the creatures of God. The capacity to do good or evil is part of our human nature.
The Anglican Church asks candidates for baptism, "Do you renounce evil, and its power in the world, which defies God’s righteousness and love?" Many people are uncomfortable with the idea of ‘evil’ and picture a devil with a pitchfork who is constantly at war with God. It is not helpful to blame Satan or other outside evil forces. It evades our responsibility for our own actions.
Note that the Thirty Nine Articles, which were the guiding Anglican document of the Reformation, are quite Augustinian/Calvinist in their views.
IX. Of Original or Birth-Sin.
Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk;) but it is the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the Spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated; whereby the lust of the flesh, called in Greek, p¢vnæa sapk¢s, (which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire, of the flesh), is not subject to the Law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized; yet the Apostle doth confess, that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin.
X. Of Free-Will.
The condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith; and calling upon God. Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.
Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk;) but it is the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the Spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated; whereby the lust of the flesh, called in Greek, p¢vnæa sapk¢s, (which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire, of the flesh), is not subject to the Law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized; yet the Apostle doth confess, that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin.
X. Of Free-Will.
The condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith; and calling upon God. Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.
5) Why does human nature appear to be a mixture of good and evil?
Anglicans emphasise personal choice and responsibility rather than Reformation doctrine of total depravity. It is dangerous to label people as ‘evil’ because we are all a mixture of good and bad. We are bombarded by many voices urging us in different directions, but we choose which ones to heed. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness but said ‘no’ three times. This is a model for us in respect to the ‘evil’ voices which tempt us. Satan – whether a literal being or a symbol of evil – is merely one voice. The final choice always remains with us.
The Bible shows us that we don’t always choose well. We cause suffering and we contribute to destroying the planet. But when we make destructive choices which cause suffering, forgiveness and reconciliation are available. We can get back into harmony with the Creator.
6) What form of religion was known to ancient cavemen, such as Neanderthals? How did they know it?
Most Anglicans have no problem accepting ancient dates for early humans because they interpret the story of Eden as an allegory rather than literal history which occurred in 4,000 BC or thereabouts. Anglicans are comfortable with Darwinism and the idea that the species has evolved and changed over a long period of time.
Anglicans do not claim to know when or how cavemen began to have some consciousness of God or religion.
7) How did a God of perfect justice reveal Laws and Commandments to all the peoples of the earth?
NB Prior to Jesus (0 AD) there was no New Testament. Prior to Moses (1500 BC) there was no Old Testament. Multitudes of people had access only to parts of the Bible or none of it.
The Jews conceived themselves as a light to the nations to be shared with their neighbours. They did not think that ‘uncircumcised gentiles’ were condemned by God for living in the darkness. Early Christianity – at its best – was also about sharing the light. Jesus spoke of salt, light and leaven in the world. Problems began when the Christian Church was married to the Roman Empire. Then it became a bully. It was no longer a light in the world but a sledgehammer! Christianity became a political mechanism to rule the Empire. In the modern world we have seen ‘Empires’ in Europe and the USA try to rule the world via political, economic and military power.
Abraham, Moses and Jesus were trying to do something different. When Jesus spoke about ‘the Kingdom of God’ it was not power over the people, but power to serve ‘the least of these, my brethren.’ Jesus set us a model by saying, ‘This is my body broken for you, and my blood shed for you’ so that we would remember and do the same with our own lives. We find our life by losing it in a very different kind of kingdom. Unfortunately every good thing can become twisted and perverted.
8) Did Laws and Commandments reconcile believers to God and cause them to live righteously?
Luther saw the impossibility of living a perfectly righteous life. He was combating the idea that we can be purified of sin by the sacrament of the mass or that we could buy forgiveness with Indulgences to get out of Purgatory. Luther argued that believers should not be enslaved to the Church and beholden to priests. God alone provides salvation, by faith alone. Luther was right to remind us that salvation is a free gift that cannot be earned. Luther’s ideas about the bondage of original sin, the dominance of evil, total depravity, and predestination are problematic, but Anglicans have never embraced these Reformation ideas.
After the believer accepts the free gift of grace and enters into the fold of Christ, his or her life should be changed. We should become more generous and more loving. It is not because the laws exist, or because we understand the laws better that we become more Christ-like, but because something in our nature begins to change.
9) What is required for salvation to occur?
First we have to ask: What is salvation? Traditional Christianity taught that sinners were saved by baptism or grace and then went to heaven. Unsaved sinners went to hell. In the modern world, people who do not attend church are not concerned about sin. They do not fear for their salvation. They focus on this life, which can be a good thing. This life is important. And it is good. We should not see only the suffering of this world and pray to get out as soon as possible. This life provides infinite opportunities to put our faith into practices. We should do good for its own sake, not to earn our salvation.
What does the life of Jesus tell us? God came into our world in the form of human flesh. The Incarnation is vitally important to our understanding of God and our nature. God values the flesh. This is very different than the Manichean/Augustinian belief that the flesh is evil and that only the disincarnate spirit is good. We should not constantly diminish this life by viewing it as a spring board to the eternal. There are many parables about the eternal consequences of our actions – the weeping and gnashing of teeth – but these stories serve to motivate us to be more active in this life and make better use of our opportunities.
Fundamentalist Christians believe in a God of wrath who draws a thick line between the saved and unsaved. We can also look at the cross as good overcoming sin and death. In death there is hope – for everyone. Anglicans do not hold the Calvinist view that atonement was limited to the predestined elect. God’s grace is much larger than that.
10) Who is saved?
Our understanding of salvation rests on a three legged stool. Scripture is a guiding light, but in places scriptures suggests that Jesus died for all and in other places suggests that only an elect few will be saved. Christian Tradition helps us interpret scripture but traditions have changed over the centuries and some traditions conflict with others. We try to make sense of these complications via Reason, which is enhanced by our experiences as we live our faith.
Anglicans are not dogmatic about who is saved. Many Anglicans believe that a good and just God will be wide in his grace rather than narrow, so that God’s plan of salvation is not limited to Christians. The Universalist position - that all will be saved and none condemned - is not unknown with the Anglican confession.
Note that the Thirty Nine Articles, which were the guiding Anglican document of the Reformation, are quite Augustinian/Calvinist in their views.
XVIII. Of obtaining eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ.
They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, That every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature. For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.
They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, That every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature. For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.
11) Does divine love and justice ensure that salvation is available to all?
Some Anglicans – such as Mathew Fox who wrote a book called ‘Original Blessings’ in opposition to Original Sin – are exploring less traditional, more inclusive visions of Christianity. Celtic Spirituality focuses on love of nature and a passion for the wild and elemental as a reminder of God's gift, respect for art and poetry, a sense of closeness and immanence between the natural and supernatural, and equality of men and women.
Most Anglicans find it difficult to believe salvation is determined by anything so narrow as the sacrament of baptism, obedience to specific (Christian) scriptures, or by uttering a sinner’s prayer. Salvation is the beginning of process of sanctification. The Holy Spirit blows where it will, therefore forgiveness and reconciliation are available to all. The opportunity to engage in acts of loving service is available to all. Believers can join hands with others inside and outside Christianity.
12) What role does human freewill play in salvation?
Anglicans believe that freewill and personal responsibility are vitally important to salvation. Reformation teachings on predestination and total depravity of the will were never part of Anglican theology. A God of infinite love and justice would have provided people in all times and places throughout history a means to attain salvation. The impossibility of saying exactly how this happens is the reason that Anglicans do not emphasize the final separation between heaven and hell.
Note that the Thirty Nine Articles, which were the guiding Anglican document of the Reformation, are quite Augustinian/Calvinist in their views.
XVII. Of Predestination and Election.
Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore, they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God, be called according to God's purpose by his Spirit working in due season: they through Grace obey the calling: they be justified freely: they be made sons of God by adoption: they be made like the image of his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ: they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity.
Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore, they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God, be called according to God's purpose by his Spirit working in due season: they through Grace obey the calling: they be justified freely: they be made sons of God by adoption: they be made like the image of his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ: they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity.
As the godly consideration of Predestination, and our Election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly members, and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly things, as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal Salvation to be enjoyed through Christ as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God: So, for curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God's Predestination, is a most dangerous downfall, whereby the Devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or into wretchlessness of most unclean living, no less perilous than desperation.
13) How does salvation bring an end to sin, suffering and death?
Salvation really means full sanctification – overcoming the sinful nature. This is made possible by the gifts of grace. There is abundant evidence of grace’s power to produce transformation. The end of sin, suffering and death will only occur when the human nature has been fully transformed. How this process is completed – to what extent it depends on divine power or human will – remains a mystery.
14) Does supernatural power intervene in the natural world to answer prayer?
Does God hear our prayers? Does God heal? Is God outside us, answering prayer directly, or do our prayers send out good energy that combines with the good energy of others to make things happen? We can’t be sure, but we continue to pray for people who are sick. Not everyone is cured. Not every prayer is answered, at least not in the manner and time period we expect.
The Lord’s Prayer teaches us how to pray and what to pray for. It begins by asking that God’s will be done and for his kingdom to come down to earth. This tells us that heaven begins on earth. We should not expect God to cater to our material desires beyond providing our daily bread. Forgiveness is important to the kingdom of God and we pray for our own forgiveness as well as the grace to forgive others. We also pray to overcome temptation and to be delivered from evil. This is the essence of salvation and sanctification. These are the things believers are to pray for.
15) What is the eternal state?
The idea of a soul leaving the body and going directly to God seems to come from Greek culture rather than scripture or Hebrew tradition. The Bible speaks more about falling asleep until a general resurrection of the dead. What form that will take is not clear
Simplistic old ideas that divided the world into good and evil, saved and unsaved, heaven and hell, are unsatisfying in the modern world. Anglicans are not dogmatic about what heaven might look like. Whatever hell is, it contains fewer people than in past centuries when Anglicans believed that those of other faiths would not share the same eternal state as Christians. These questions are too complex and difficult for simple black and white answers.
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For a more formal statement of Anglican beliefs see the following documents.
The beliefs of Anglicans can be considered quite diverse. The official standard is the Book of Common Prayer but some parts of that book are more clearly doctrinal than others.
The Catechism of the Episcopal Church USA summarizes the faith in question-and-answer format.
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