"I suppose the gravitational pull will always be towards a structural unity over a theological unity because it is easier to vote on truth that to submit to it" -- WHACK

[Under the Roman Catholic Church] Holy Communion became an elaborate re-sacrifice of Christ on an altar which became known as a "mass," in which bread and wine were thought to become the actual corporeal body and blood of Jesus Christ (transubstantiation). -- WHACK

The liturgy was recited in Latin and was barely understood by the clergy, much less by the average churchgoer. -- WHACK

Added to the growing undercurrent of discontent was the terrible moral failures and educational decline of many of the clergy. It was not uncommon for priests to have mistresses, to use their ministry for financial gain, and to be absent from their churches for long periods of time. -- WHACK
While there has always been plenty of room for debate about secondary issues, there has been substantial agreement over the centuries about a fixed doctrinal core based in the 16th century Reformation and its defining formularies. -- WHACK

White and Seabury represented very different views of churchmanship -- views that were also present at the time of the English Reformation, and in some ways are present today. The English reformers' single-minded commitment to the authority of the Bible and to the doctrine of justification by faith, Renaissance humanism that held to a more optimistic picture of human reasoning, and Catholics who were determined to preserve the traditions and understandings of the pre-Reformation church have all vied for pride and position in the church. -- WHACK

The 19th century rise of rationalism led to the historical critical method of viewing Scripture (and later developed into what came to be called the Broad Church Movement) tended to replace the sinfulness of sin for a "sunnier picture of human nature. It replaced Jesus as Redeemer-to-be-worshipped with Jesus as our-example-to-be-imitated, all leading to a darker, liberal version of Christianity in the name of "dynamic orthodoxy" and "progressivism." -- WHACK

Are all religions one? Clearly not! Tolerance as a virtue has obvious limits; no one would tolerate a dog that bites everyone it meets, and toleration of abuse should be challenged and commended. -- WHACK

The foundation for our unity as Anglicans is not some invented connection to the Archbishop of Canterbury, or a three-legged stool of authority (Scripture, reason and tradition), or three streams (Protestant, catholic, and Pentecostal) as some will say...Anglican identity is grounded in a cohesive theology that is biblically based, confirmed over time, and preserved in the historic formularies. --- WHACK

Those who want to know what Anglicans believe about Scripture, predestination, transubstantiation and whether or not the sacrament's efficacy depends on the holiness of their minister need only to read the Articles of Religion --- WHACK

The Book of Common Prayer removed all suggestions of Eucharistic sacrifice, transubstantiation, the invocation of saints, and purgatory. --- WHACK

Private confession to a priest, known as auricular confession, was offered as a pastoral option for some who might find it helpful, but it was no longer a requirement for receiving Holy Communion. -- WHACK

The modern inclination is to stroll through our five-hundred-year history (really two-thousand years!) picking and choosing from the buffet of different movements, trends, and theological aberrations to fit our personal tastes. But that road always leads to disaster. The church that stands for nothing will fall for anything, and this explains the dramatic decline of the Episcopal Church and the theological confusion in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), and other churches that have moved away from the unyielding topography of historic Anglicanism. --- WHACK

The most dangerous threat to Anglican identity today is the culture's infatuation with "tolerance." It sometimes seems more important to be polite than truthful, to celebrate our differences than to assert that we know something with confidence. --- WHACK

So why did Collins write this book, pointing up the many historical inaccuracies, misunderstandings, and what passes for being an Anglican? "Because I wasn't hearing anyone speaking for classical Anglicanism. Not on a popular level. I was mostly hearing a pick-n-choose buffet of Anglican novelties that have little connection to the touchstone of our formularies: the Thirty-nine Articles, the two books of Homilies, and the Book of Common Prayer (1662). I didn't recognize Anglicanism as it is portrayed these days with the "three streams" vocabulary.

"I also feel that what is sadly lost in the confusion over Anglican identity is the gospel of God's grace to undeserving sinners, justification by grace through faith alone. The Anglican expression that I am excited to subscribe to, the only one I believe that offers the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, has a low anthropology and very high christology, and clearly distinguishes law and gospel."

On evangelicalism. "Being evangelical originally meant a commitment to justification by grace through faith alone, but today it includes those who would give a larger voice to "our decision for Christ" and the priority of repentance and obedience for salvation. It used to mean a commitment to universal priesthood (of all believers) and to the succession of apostolic teaching (2 Tim 2:2), but today it is also held by those who anoint hands at ordinations infusing them with magical powers, and to a tactile apostolic succession that imparts an indelible character that is traceable back to St. Peter who was the original priestly character."

"Reformation Anglicanism anchors me to the unmovable ground of the English Reformation, and the historic Edwardian and Elizabethan formularies that have traditionally defined what Anglicans believe."

VOL cannot recommend this book too highly. It should be must reading for every Anglican ordinand.

If you would like a copy of Cranmer's Church, Dean Collins is making it available free ONLY through the Center's website. They will send you a copy as a "thank you" to anyone who contributes a tax-deductible donation to the center in any amount. You can access it here: https://www.anglicanism.info/

If you would lie to read my interview with Dean Collins you can read it here: https://virtueonline.org/could-reformation-anglicanism-save-anglican-communion