ANGLICANS AREN’T PROTESTANT:
Did You Know
That?
Lo,
many years ago, there were two Reformations. One was the Protestant Reformation, which began in A.D.
1517, All Hallows Eve. The other
was the English Reformation, which began in A.D. 1529, under Henry VIII. There were several other
schisms/divisions/reformations before, during, and after these two large
Reformations. *
The
resulting institution of the English Reformation was the Anglican Church. As England developed trade routes with
their shipping and the conquered new lands they spread this Reformed Catholic
faith, with its Book of Common Prayer, all over the world.
As
already noted, the English Reformation was to “reform” the Roman Catholic Church
structure. A list of issues could
be set down, but there is a key point to be made: The English Church was always different or unique from the
Roman Church. Early Christian
missionaries and practitioners came with the Roman Army into the British Isles,
and stayed after the withdrawal of the Legions.
By
the time Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine (uh-GUS-tin, of Canterbury),
A.D. 597 (not to be confused with ah-gus-TEEN, of Hippo, b. A.D. 354), there
was a regularly organized church in the Isles. It was not identical to Rome, but it was catholic and
orthodox, and valid. It was a joyous
surprise.
The
Anglican Church was and is a reforming of the Roman Catholic Church. That is not to say that the Anglican
Church hasn’t had some movements, so to speak. There were two evangelical movements in England, one
directly from Anglicanism:
Methodism, A.D. 1760s. The
Church of the Nazarene developed in the United States of America, A.D. 1895,
from Wesleyan ideals. It is often
cited as pentecostal, fundamentalist, &/or charismatic in character and
beliefs. Anglicans, Methodists,
and Nazarenes, to one extent or another, are within the same lineage. And none in this historical lineage are
“Protestant.”
So
who are the “Protestants”? Luther,
Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, and others, are the Protestant Reformers. Though these religious thinkers and
their movements certainly had an influence on the Anglican lineage, they are
not foundational to Anglicanism.
Surprise! Anglicans are not Protestant! RKH+
*NOTE: To be
truly accurate, the first major division happened when The Church was divided
by the Roman Catholic Church’s reforms and innovations, and their rejection of
their Eastern brothers and sisters, the Holy Orthodox Church, A.D. 1054.
In Christ's love, Fr. Robert Pax
