Reading the Articles: Hermeneutical Issues [Commentary on Browne: Introduction (3)]
As the work that Browne undertakes is an exposition or commentary on the Thirty-nine Articles, it is not surprising that he says a few words in the Introduction on the right way to go about reading and interpreting them: In the interpretation of them, our best guides must be, first, their own natural, literal, grammatical…
Book Review: Charles Chapman Grafton’s “Selected Writings”
Charles Chapman Grafton: Selected Writings. Edited by Clinton Collister. Nashotah, WI: Nashotah House Press, 2022. 261 pp. $11.99 (paper). I first heard about Charles Chapman Grafton, the second Bishop of the Diocese of Fond du Lac, in presentations on historic intercommunion efforts between Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox in which Bp. Grafton and St. Tikhon of…
J.C. Ryle on the 39 Articles of Religion (Part 9) “Final Thoughts”
Here are Ryle’s final thoughts on the Articles of Religion, in which he asks that we never be ashamed of the Articles: (4) Finally, let me advise every Churchman who values his soul never to be ashamed of the great leading doctrines which are so nobly set forth in the Articles. Never mind if people call…
Sunscreen
That day we went to Southport without a thought of Time, or Love, or God, or even sunscreen — when it was late July, and we were nineteen, when beer and cigarettes were all we brought, when swimming naked meant the glimpses caught were also offered, when no desire was unclean, when death was in…
The Anglo-Lutheran Connection [Commentary on Browne: Introduction (2)]
Thanks in large part to the revisionist Tractarian understanding of the Anglican via media, it is now commonly supposed that the substance of Anglicanism is not Protestant. “The glory of the English Church is, that it has taken the VIA MEDIA, as it has been called. It lies between the (so called) Reformers and the…
J.C. Ryle on the 39 Articles of Religion (Part 8) “Churchmanship”
As you will see from this brief excerpt of Ryle’s next point, he certainly thinks that one’s churchmanship can be tested by his view of the Thirty-Nine Articles: (3) In the third place, I advise all who read this paper to test all Churchmanship by the test of the Articles. Be not carried away by those who…
The Persistent Myth of the Church of England’s Founding [Commentary on Browne: Introduction]
There are few myths about Anglicanism more prevalent or persistent than “Henry VIII founded the Church of England because he wanted a divorce.” It is half-true, in that Henry’s desire to annul his marriage with Catherine was a primary impetus for the events that later became known as the English Reformation. However, to suggest that…
An Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles – Article XXVI
Article XXVI. Of the Unworthiness of the Ministers, which hinders not the effect of the Sacrament. ALTHOUGH in the visible Church the evil be ever mingled with the good, and sometimes the evil have chief authority in the Ministration of the Word and Sacraments, yet forasmuch as they do not the same in their own…
The Axis of Orthodox Realignment: Prospects for the Future of Anglicanism
Throughout the history of American politics, a political realignment occurs once every couple of generations. Some realignments are more profound and significant than others, but all usually manifest themselves during a presidential election year. New economic circumstances or historical events give rise to new interests, fears, or discontents that turn former enemies into friends or…
Relics
The saint in her stasis reclined there, Preparing to rise, her handlers made clear, On what bailiffs call the Last Great Day When they swear in the witnesses at court. Wouldn’t it be fine to see it happen In the rainy doldrums of a Thursday, The skies finally parting, not for the sun, But the…