The English historian Patrick Collinson describes the Church of England in its founding decades as "putting down its anchors in the outer roads of the broad harbor of the Calvinist or (better) Reformed Tradition." (1) I hope it is possible to say that Anglicanism floats its ship even closer to the center of the somewhat wider harbor of Reformation or Protestant orthodoxy.
If you have a current subscription or current on-line account please log-in here to read the rest of this article.
1 [ Back ] See his "England and International Calvinism 1558-1640" in International Calvinism, 1541-1715. Edited by Menna Prestwich (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), pp. 215-16.
2 [ Back ] A confirmation of Anglican "mildness" or even lite-ness of expression concerning the Atonement is found in the book of essays by Church of England scholars entitled Atonement Today, edited by John Goldingay (London: SPCK, 1995). These essays, almost all composed by evangelical Anglicans, are remarkable for their circumspection, even their worry concerning "overstatement" of the Atonement-idea. None of these essays is unorthodox, but only one, Christina Baxter's "A Reconsideration of Penal Substitution," is forceful. Anglican reserve is a blessing, but it can also be a curse. We are too wary of strong expressions in theology.
Dr. Paul F. M. Zahl is rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Issue: "The Malling of Mission: How Suburban Values Control the Church Growth Movement" May/June 2000 Vol. 9 No. 3 Page number(s): 47-48
You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you do not make more than 500 physical copies. We do not allow reposting an article in its entirety on the Internet. We request that you link to this article from your website. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by Modern Reformation (webmaster@modernreformation.org).
Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: This article originally appeared in the [insert current issue date] edition of Modern Reformation and is reprinted with permission. For more information about Modern Reformation, visit www.modernreformation.org or call (800) 890-7556. All rights reserved.