Wycliffe College and the Character of Anglicanism

Wycliffe College came into being in the midst of a bitter dispute over what it meant to be Anglican. In 1883, a trust was set up for the Principal’s salary, “so long as such Principal shall be and continue a clergyman of the Church of England in Canada of strictly Protestant and Evangelical principles and of approved learning ability, piety and holiness of life holding and continuing to hold the doctrines of the said Church as expressed in the thirty nine Articles interpreted in their plain natural sense.”

The words of the trust may seem quaint and uncontentious to us, but in their day they were powerfully political. The phrase “the principles of the Reformation as embodied in the Articles of the Church of England” was a clear rejection of developments in the Diocese of Toronto whereby the sacramental theology of the church and its ritual in worship, along with the deference and privileges given to the ordained, were understood to be a capitulation to the errors that gave rise to the Reformation in the first place. The capitulators were, of course, largely associated with our Toronto School of Theology colleagues across the street at Trinity College.

Each generation of Anglicans has to answer the question, “What does it mean to be Anglican?” Changing ecclesiastical contexts have meant that certain aspects of this tradition have been emphasized to the degree that it is hard not to think of the Anglican tradition in caricatures. In the early 19th century, Anglicanism was about liturgy; in the middle of the 20th century it was about scholarship; and perhaps in the early 21st century it is about the limits of diversity. This malleability, if you will, is itself one of the most problematic features of Anglicanism. But while we have had our fights and even schisms, there is something about the Anglican tradition that has made Anglican churches among the least fissiparous groups in Christendom.

So, what is the “Anglican tradition”? In the last year of my tenure at Wycliffe College, and in the expectation that the college will remain true to its heritage, let me set out what I regard as Anglicanism’s distinctive marks:

1. It is a Reformed tradition — Anglicanism is a reflection of the 16th-century Reformation that sought to redress erroneous doctrine and an abuse of power invested in the pope. Its Protestantism is, however, eclectic, borrowing as it does from the traditions of Lutheranism, Calvinism, Zwingli, and the humanism of Erasmus. One of the consequences of this is that the Anglican tradition did not become confessional. While being credal, no adherence to anything like the Westminster Catechism, the Heidelberg Confession, or the Augsburg Confessions is required for membership in the Anglican Church.
2. It is a biblical tradition — the Reformation is itself an outcome of Bible reading. It is grounded in the conviction that Holy Scripture is “God’s Word written” (Article XX) and that the Bible belongs to the whole church, not just the priesthood or the academy. Tyndale’s determination that “the boy that drives the plough [should come to] know more of the Scriptures than the Pope himself,” and Cranmer’s conviction that Christians read the Bible “for reformation of their own life and knowledge of their duty,” led to the translation of the Bible into plain English and a comprehensive system of daily Bible reading (in which, over a year, the Old Testament is read once, the New Testament twice, and the Psalter 12 times).
3. It is a liturgical tradition — while the English Reformers rejected Roman Catholic doctrine they deemed “erroneous and strange,” they kept many of its forms of worship, and a number of the prayers most familiar to Anglicans come from the earliest days of the church’s existence. While the shape of modern liturgy has evolved to the extent that a congregational exchange between, say, Holy Trinity Brompton and All Saints Margaret Street might cause people to wonder if they actually belonged to the same church, a family resemblance can be recognized in the focus on the ordered reading of Scripture, in a rhythm of congregational responses, in standard forms for confession and absolution, in the frequent celebration of Holy Communion, and in the observance of a liturgical calendar.
4. It is a continuous, episcopal tradition — while politically the Church in England broke from Rome, it retained an episcopal order, and thus traces its roots to the order and practices of the ancient church. At the same time, Anglicanism does not “assert the exclusive validity of an episcopal polity.” Consequently, Anglicans enjoy fellowship with many folks from non-episcopal traditions.
5. It is also a synodical tradition — while Anglicanism has not been immune to the abuses of clericalism, since the early 19th century the governance of the church has been undertaken by synods in which the laity take an active role in the church’s administration.
6. It is an intellectually curious tradition — Anglicans are drawn to historical and theological debate because of the conviction that “truth is larger and more beautiful than our imperfect minds are able to apprehend or to conceive,” as Stephen Neill put it. One of the better expressions of Anglicanism is, therefore, what J.I. Packer called “a rational temper,” a willingness to stay in dialogue with those from whom we differ until intellect, conscience, and will become persuaded that we have reached a better understanding of the mind of Christ.
7. It is a global tradition — the result of a Roman Catholic mission to the British Isles in the 7th century, Anglicanism has an evangelistic legacy. Today the Anglican Communion is the largest Christian fellowship after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, with 85 million members organized in 42 autonomous and independent-yet-interdependent churches spread around the globe and in communion with the See of Canterbury. The national, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity of its membership makes for a rich engagement with the work of God’s church around the world.

Much more could be said about the distinctiveness of the Anglican tradition, but let me conclude with one final conviction. To describe the Anglican tradition in this way is not to be triumphalist. One could well add to each of these feature a “yes, but.” However, on the analogy of 1 Corinthians 12, I like to think of Anglicanism as a charism in the body of Christ. In its best moments, it is a beautiful charism, and we enrich Christ’s holy catholic and apostolic church here on earth in our faithfulness to this tradition.

Stephen Andrews

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Andrews is the principal and Helliwell Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto.