- Doctoring Doctrine: Back to the Fundamentals
- Prefacing the Present
- First things First – Fundamentally Anglican
We confess the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God, containing all things necessary for salvation, and to be the final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.
– Point 1, Fundamental Declarations, ACNA
As noted in my prior installment, at the coming together of the ACNA in 2009, faithful North American Anglicans ranging from Global South provincial lifeboats, the Reformed Episcopal Church, former Episcopalians, and newcomers united in declaring, “we identify the following seven elements as characteristic of the Anglican Way, and essential for membership.” (Preamble, Fundamental Declarations). Since this union of faithful Anglicans was formed by uniting various jurisdictions, it makes sense that they decided to identify the traits and properties that unite and make them Christians walking along the “Anglican Way.” Therefore, the first point in the Fundamental Declarations sets the tone and affirms the authority held most sacrosanct by Anglicans: Holy Scripture.
It should be no surprise that the first point is centered upon Holy Scripture. After all, the 1888 Lambeth Quadrilateral (also referred to as the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral) begins with:
The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as “containing all things necessary to salvation,” and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith.
Although the purpose of the Lambeth Quadrilateral originally invited non-Anglicans into consider union with Anglican churches, the ACNA has used the same theme in its first point within the Fundamental Declarations to unite Anglicans in North America. Scripture is where Anglicans begin. Recall Blessed Lancelot Andrewes, who in his five-point summary of Anglicanism, starts with, “One canon reduced to writing by God himself, two testaments …” etc. Within the riches of Scripture, we find the Gospel. As the first point of the Jerusalem Declaration states:
We rejoice in the gospel of God through which we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God first loved us, we love him and as believers bring forth fruits of love, ongoing repentance, lively hope and thanksgiving to God in all things.
The second point of the Jerusalem Declaration continues, noting where the Gospel is revealed to mankind:
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading.
When comparing this second point of the Jerusalem Declaration with the first point of the Fundamental Declarations, one quickly sees the united thought of the ACNA with their brethren in the Global Anglican Communion. The ACNA proclaims Holy Scripture to be “the inspired Word of God,” not human literature with limited application only to the time and place of its writing. The Scriptures were written in a time and place in history, but are revealed by God Himself, “containing all things necessary for salvation.” This last line is a quote from Article VI of the Articles of Religion, which are held as authoritative in point 7 of the Fundamental Declarations. Although the Articles of Religion are addressed more fully in point 7, the Fundamental Declarations continue in point 1 by drawing from Article VI, On the Sufficiency of Holy Scriptures, confessing that the Word of God is “to be the final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.”
Not an authority, but the final authority. Not a malleable standard, but the unchangeable standard. Where do we find the measure of our “Christian faith and life”? Quite simply, within the bounds of “the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments,” according to the Fundamental Declarations. Which books? We find those outlined within Article VI of the Articles of Religion, which articulate Anglican doctrine as noted in point 7 of the Fundamental Declarations.
Therefore, ACNA confesses and professes that her first Fundamental Declaration is rooted in the final authority and unchangeable standard, the Word of God. This binds ACNA to recognize that where Scripture declares the faith, it must be followed. Where the Scriptures define Christian living, one must obey. This is the authentic and faithful Anglican Way.
When a novel theology contradicts the Scriptures, then novelty must yield. When the spirit of the age tries to transform truth into a lie, the Spirit-filled Word of God triumphs and topples the lie. Christian living and Christian faith remain constant, irrespective of how the world may change. The ACNA anchors itself upon the Scriptures, written and revealed by the unchanging God. The question remains, will we trust and obey?
