On the Articles: Article III

The Third Sunday in Lent

WE beseech thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of thy humble servants, and stretch forth the right hand of thy Majesty, to be our defence against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lent

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

III. Of the going down of Christ into Hell
As Christ died for us, and was buried, so also is it to be believed, that he went down into Hell.

 The third Article of Religion recalls the credal proclamation of Christ’s descent to hell following his crucifixion. In the Book of Alternative Services, this line is rendered “descended to the dead” but in the original BCP language, was rendered “he descended into hell.” There has been much theological ink spilled trying to determine which rendering is more accurate. Many proponents of excising the language of hell from the creeds today do so not because of the arguments in favour of the sheol or Hades but simply because they wish to minimize references to hell given its negative connotations and associations.

What this ignores is that when we say Christ descended into hell, it makes a statement on Christ’s suffering. His suffering did not end at his physical death on the cross. He bore humanity’s sins even to hell. Had he not done so he would not have shared in the full human punishment for sin.

There is also a second important reason for this, and that has to do with what is called the harrowing of Hell. This is the term used to describe the meaning of this passage in reference to I St Pt 3. 18-20:

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

It is the, admittedly limited, explanation of how Christ reached out to those who had died before his coming. St Peter writes that he preached to the dead, though it does not make clear what the response to that offering of gospel truth was. It speaks to the fact that Christ’s truth is to be preached to all and for all, those who came before and those who are yet to come. It is an eternal truth, applicable for the salvation of all humanity.

All of this dances around the broader issue of affirming not simply that Christ descended to hell, and implying the reason for it, but also that there is indeed a hell. Most of what the New Testament tells us about hell comes from Christ himself who warned against eternal separation from God several times.

Neither Christ in the Gospels nor any of the other Biblical authors are particularly clear on exactly what hell is. Much like asking the exact way in which God created the universe, that is the wrong question to be asking. Christ makes it clear that separation from God inherent in hell is  undesirable, so the real questions becomes how do we avoid that separation?

Article III affirms, however distasteful to modern sensibilities, that Hell exists, but also that Christ went down into hell. In doing so, he overturned death, as is constantly affirmed in the New Testament. Christ’s sacrifice has paved the way for us all to live a life not of eternal suffering through separation from God, but in oneness with God, just as the Father and the Son are one. The resurrection is true. Christ did not simply recover. He truly died and truly rose.

Many modern Christians affirm a form of gnosticism that seems to suggest that we have it all together. That, “it’s all good,” and nothing needs to change. In the Articles of Religion we affirm the Catholic view—held by all Christians—that it is in fact not all good and that it is only through Christ that we are set aright. It may be easier to believe the former, but it is the truth to believe the latter. No matter how difficult or how unpleasant a reality, this is the universe God has created and the rules he wills it to operate under. Just as Christ preached to the dead, so we have been told the reality in which we live and are left with the freedom of how we are going to respond.

The Wisdom of Saints: George Herbert

The Feast of George Herbert, Pastor and Poet, 1633

O GOD, who by thy Holy Spirit hast given unto one man a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge, and to another the gift of tongues: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servant George, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

While many Christian saints are remembered for their contributions to theology or as martyrs and confessors who stood up to persecution of Christianity, some are commemorated in honour of the extraordinary gifts and talents they received from God and exercised for his glory. George Herbert is one of these saints, being noted chiefly not as a priest but as a poet, whose prose has stirred the hearts of Christians now for centuries, inspiring other Christian writers including notably TS Eliot.

George Herbert was born in Wales in April of 1593, the son of Richard and Magdalen Newport Herbert. His parents were aristocratic and wealthy, able to provide him with an excellent education, despite being the fifth child born to them. His father died in 1597, when he was only three years old, but this did not prevent his mother from sending him—and his brothers—to Westminster School and in 1609 George was admitted to Trinity College at Cambridge University with the intention of eventually entering into Holy Orders as priest in the Church of England.
Early in his studies, evidence of his developing poetic talents and love of God survive in the form of his first recorded sonnets from 1610 which he sent to his mother. Both presented the idea that poetry was meant for expressing the love of God and not the love of women. Two years later in 1612 his first works were published, poetry commemorating Prince Henry upon his death.

He obtained his BA In 1613 and MA in 1616, and elected to continue on at Cambridge as a fellow at Trinity College. He continued to develop his oratory and poetry and in 1618 he was appointed Reader in Rhetoric at Cambridge, and then again two years later as the Public Orator, the person responsible for conveying the sentiments of the University to the King.

This seemed to forestall his possible call to Holy Orders and indeed he was subsequently elected to Parliament as the MP for Montgomery. His status as an MP and public orator led to speculation he could well be selected as Secretary of State. In 1627 his mother died, and some of his patrons, including King James I with whom George had found favour, also died. These setbacks may have contributed to his decision to abandon the secular life and return to his original goal of pursuing Holy Orders.

In 1629 he was ordained a priest. He was appointed rector at a small rural parish and he began a career of preaching and writing poetry. His career was relatively short-lived as he passed away in 1633 of consumption, however during this period he still managed a prolific and influential portfolio of poetry.

His works are viewed as being technically influential and unique in the era, and his subjects often were influenced both by his Christianity but also specifically by his Anglican context.

He wrote on many subjects. Displaying his Anglican influence is the poem Even-Song and The British Church. He wrote on prayer, Scripture and on Love. One of his more famous works, Love (III) which presents love as God:

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back,
        Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
        From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
        If I lack'd anything.

“A guest,” I answer’d, “worthy to be here”;
        Love said, “You shall be he.”
“I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah my dear,
        I cannot look on thee.”
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
        “Who made the eyes but I?”

“Truth, Lord, but I have marr’d them; let my shame
        Go where it doth deserve.”
“And know you not,” says Love, “who bore the blame?”
        “My dear, then I will serve.”
“You must sit down,” says Love, “and taste my meat.”
        So I did sit and eat. 

The poem illustrates a number of themes. From man’s sinfulness to God’s repeated calling to us to return, repent and feast with him. It captures the shame and distance felt between created and creator, and the creator’s loving desire to reconcile us all to himself.

George’s poem Colossians 3. III is based on Col 3. 3b: “your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and expresses that indwelled identity:

MY words and thoughts do both express this notion,
That LIFE hath with the sun a double motion.
The first IS straight, and our diurnal friend :
The other HID, and doth obliquely bend.
One life is wrapt IN flesh, and tends to earth ;
The other winds t’wards HIM whose happy birth
Taught me to live here so THAT still one eye
Should aim and shoot at that which IS on high—
Quitting with daily labour all MY pleasure,
To gain at harvest an eternal TREASURE. 

God graced George Herbert with a skill for language, and in loving devotion to him who he recognized as imparting that gift, George devoted his considerable talents to honouring God in a way that has inspired many through their simple reading and also inspired others to follow on in similar techniques. He is a testament to the right-use of God-gifted talents and abilities.

On the Articles: Article II

The Second Sunday in Lent

ALMIGHTY God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lent

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

II. Of the Word or Son of God, which was made very Man.
The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, and of one substance with the Father, took Man’s nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin, of her substance: so that two whole and perfect Natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one Person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God, and very Man; who truly suffered, was crucified, dead and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men.

The second Article of Religion focuses on outlining the incarnation of our Lord in explicit terms, though it is not surprising that much of the language mirrors that of the Nicene Creed. Mirroring Article I, it also takes its language from the Augsburg Confession.

It would seem that many of these points are in no need of mentioning today. Who could call themselves Christian while rejecting any of these tenets? Who could call themselves Anglican? Yet it seems no matter how critical the issue is, how central to the faith, there are those who reject it. Article II affirms basic truths about Christ that even today are under threat, sometimes in an effort to make Christianity, and Anglicanism, more palatable to modern sensibilities.

It begins with a simple affirmation that reminds us of St Peter’s response to Christ’s question in the Gospels, who do you say that I am? “The Son of the living God,” (St Mt 16. 16b). Jesus was, and is, the Son of God. It introduces us to the relationship between Son and Father that is explained more thoroughly throughout this Article, and it serves the same reminder that the introduction to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol did: believe this, or nothing great can come of what else is to be revealed. You cannot accept Christ as anything if you do not accept him as he revealed himself to be, the Son of God.

Next, it reminds us that Christ is begotten, not made. You beget something like yourself, while you make something unlike yourself. Parents beget children, while they make supper. By describing Jesus as the only begotten Son, it speaks to the duality of his uniqueness as the only son of God, while also speaking to his oneness with God in that he was begotten and not made. Oddly enough, though the language is from the Nicene Creed, it was far easier for people of the 4th century to accept Christ’s divinity than it was to accept his humanity, whereas today it is far easier for us to accept his humanity while rejecting his divinity. This particular passage may well have more relevance for people today than for those who read it when it was first penned.

In highlighting Christ’s incarnation, the Article uses definitions from the Council of Chalcedon, speaking of his two whole and perfect natures, the Godhood and Manhood. It speaks to the reality that were Christ not fully God, he would have no authority to reconcile us to the Father, and were he not fully man, he would not be able to reconcile himself to us, being infinitely distant from humanity in his divinity. Two natures in one person. Essential to the salvic work of Christ’s incarnation, and the purpose for which he became incarnate.

The Article concludes by again restating that Christ’s incarnation invovled his birth, suffering and death for the purpose of reconciliation. It goes further to clarify that reconciliation was not just in reference to past sins, but all future sins. During the Prayer of Consecration during the Holy Eucharist, the priest proclaims, “by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world.” For the sins of the whole world is clarified here to mean for all time! This oblation of himself, again, was only possible because, as established, he was both fully God and fully Man, apart from sin.

Article II reminds us that whatever modern sensibilities have to say about Christ, Anglicanism holds to the fundamental truths he revealed about himself. He is the unique son of God, and far from the Church being able to change Christianity to make it more palatable to us, Christ himself offers himself as a sacrifice to make us more palatable to the Father!

On the Articles: Article I

The First Sunday in Lent

O LORD, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights: Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness and true holiness, to thy honour and glory; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Lent

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity
THERE is but one living and true God, ever- lasting, without body, parts, or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker, and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

For those who consider Anglicanism to be a protestant tradition, they can look to something like Article I. For those unfamiliar with Protestantism, this would seem to be a simple statement of Nicene, Trinitarian orthodoxy, but it is also clear that it is a near word for word copy of the first article of the Augsberg Confessions. Luther’s influence there is undeniable in the fashioning of the clause, but the reality is that no Catholic Christian would deny anything presented in this Article. While it expresses the truth of the Nicene Creed, its format, exploring the threeness and oneness of the Godhead is somewhat more reminiscent of the Athanasian Creed.

Its arrangement is poetic, but also provides a logical progression to cover fourdifferent aspects of our understanding of God.

First, “there is but one living and true God, ever-lasting, without body, parts, or passions.” We believe in only one God. This is the story of revelations. From the henotheistic origins in the early time of the Jews to the ultimate monotheistic revelation, God has revealed himself as the sole deity in existence.  God is also revealed as being transcendent: he is before time and will exist after the end of time; he is without created form. The form “body, parts, or passions” is one of the repeated literary choices made to maintain threes, but again emphasises that in no way are we as created beings like God: he is well beyond us.

Next, “of infinite power, wisdom and goodness.” Again three, always emphasizing the trinitarian formula. God is without limits, wisdom not simply beyond comprehension but infinite. And his goodness is similarly not simply beyond our understanding but is perfect and complete.

Then, “the Maker and Preserver of all things both visible and indivisble.” It is worth noting that in the Latin, the word rendered Maker would today more accurately be rendered as creator. God made everything from nothing, not just that he made everything. It is through and by him that all things—seen and unseen—have their being. God created the angels and all things spiritual that lie outside of this created world.

Finally, “and in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power and eternity; The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost” This section articulates two very important realities. First, that God is trinity. Three persons in one substance, power and eternity. This is an interesting formulation in that not only does it articulate the traditional “three persons in one essence, but furthermore reinforces that there was never a time when God existed without the Son or Holy Ghost, because they share one eternity, and further suggests that the Son and Holy Ghost are not subordinate to the Father as they share one power. The second critical point of this section is that it affirms that God has revealed himself: he is not just the “Triune God” of three persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost.

These are all simple statements, but the reality is that they addressed particular heresies of the early Church, and today show the relevance of the Articles more and more, given the fact that many of these heresies are finding renewed vigour. The observation that today’s theological innovations are just a reformulation of yesterday’s heresies is quite accurate. There are today attempts to redefine who God is, rejecting his identification as the Father because it’s not politically correct. There are those who deny Christ’s divinity because it is superstitious. There are those who need to be reminded what it means to be a Christian, and Article I states some of the most profound truths about Christianity. In some ways, Article I is perhaps more relevant to Anglicans today than it would have been when it was originally published, as the truths professed here were not systematically under attack in the 16th century in the way they are today.

Anyone who says that the Articles are merely a historical document and of no value today needs only to open their eyes and see that they speak to eternal truth that is being challenged. It is by affirming the Articles and recognizing that the fullness of the Trinity is found in our Anglican heritage, as it is in all orthodox Christian traditions, that we see that there is nothing historic about the Articles, but that instead they are timeless in their truth.

On the Articles

The Sunday called Sexagesima

O LORD God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do: Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion have been referenced several times on this blog, because ultimately they are a key component of Anglicanism. They are not a confessional statement. Unlike continental Protestant reformers who drafted catechetical statements of belief, with supporting scriptural citations. These statements, while in ways being an anti-Roman Catholic statement in suggesting that the Roman Catholics were not following Biblical doctrine, were ultimately about positive statements of belief to help define the adherents of that particular denomination in contrast to other Christian groups, Roman Catholics and other Protestants, that surrounded them. In England, however, there tended to be less plurality, with the Church of England being the established and only Church in England until the instability of the English Civil War, and the establishment of the principles of religious toleration. With the back and forth, particularly during the earlier years of the English Reformation with the reign of Queen Mary I, there was also a practical need to establish, in positive and negative statements, how the Church of England differed from traditional Roman Catholic doctrine. With so much back and forth, some clergy were confused as to what they were to be promoting from the pulpit.

Many Anglicans today discount the Articles as mere historical documents, from a time and place so far removed from our own as to be inapplicable to modern life. Many of those same arguments are made about the authority of Holy Scripture by non-Christians. Anglican priests once were required to subscribe to the Articles upon their ordination, but are no longer required to do so directly, however in the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada, of which the Diocese of Calgary is a part, deacons and priests are required to swear an Oath of Assent prior to ordination reading as follows:

I, A.B. do solemnly make the following declaration: I assent to the Solemn Declaration adopted by the first General Synod in 1893 (as printed in the Book of Common Prayer), and to the Book of Common Prayer, and of the ordering of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons; I believe the doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada as therein set forth to be agreeable to the Word of God; and in Public Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, I will use the form in the said book prescribed and none other, except so far as shall be ordered by lawful authority.

In a similar way, the Canons of the Anglican Church of Canada include the Articles through the same form of the Solemn Declaration in limiting the authority of General Synod to legislate only within the parameters of the Declaration.

While most Anglicans may no longer be familiar with the Thirty-nine Articles (they are not printed in the Book of Alternative Services, for instance), the reality is that they remain relevant, and ostensibly priests and deacons still subscribe to them in certain ways and they still have a limiting influence on the parameters of what the General Synod itself may legislate.

While it is true that modern Canada is quite different from the era in which the Articles were formulated (Canada itself did not exist then!), that does not in and of itself make the Articles irrelevant. The same faithful interpretation and application of Holy Scripture is needed to seek to continue to apply the Thirty-nine Articles to our faith today as we seek to live out our Anglican heritage in a world far removed from 17th century England. To quote JI Packer, “I believe that facing and dialoguing with the Thirty-nine Articles will help Anglicans to re-learn and re-apply some basic Biblical truths to which Anglican identity is bound up.”

Gerald Bray argues that the three traditional Anglican Formularies each sought to articulate the foundations of Anglicanism. The Articles of Religion articulate its doctrine. The Prayer Book articulates its devotional life. The Ordinal articulates its discipline, discussing the role and responsibilities of ordained clergy. Today, however, some of these foundations have shifted. In Canada, for instance, the Ordinal and Prayer Book are rarely consulted, cited or viewed as normative or even necessarily authoritative, having been supplanted by the modern Book of Alternative Services, with increasing pressure today for further revisions. It makes it much easier for those who seek to reshape the foundations of Canadian Anglicanism to suggest that The Book of Common Prayer 1662 and Ordinal are no longer authoritative because they can point to successors. It is much harder to do that in the case of the Articles—the doctrines of the Church—because there has been no modern alternative to the Articles of Religion presented or authorized in any of the other prayer book revisions that have occurred or which are slated to occur.

Broadly speaking the Articles are organized in three ways. The first section deals with fundamental Christian dogmas: the Trinity, the divinity and humanity of Christ, etc. These are Catholic beliefs, and beliefs on which Anglican Catholicity hinges. The largest section deals with areas in which the Church of England differed from Rome. In some cases, such as the rejection of Transubstantiation, this remains an issue of Catholicity, in other ways this also speaks to certain secondary matters which may or may not be particular to Anglicanism, and more often show the influence of the Continental Reformers. The final, smaller, section deals with issues particular to the Church of England especially and its relationship to the state and English society more generally. These Articles, however, still remain broadly applicable outside of England and help to understand the way in which the Church of England and Anglican Christians were viewed to relate to state and society more broadly.

The heart of the Articles, in describing the doctrines and values of the Church, is that it allows Anglican Christians to hold conviction in their beliefs. In an age when there is a muddling of what Christians believe, the Articles hold the answer. In an age when Christians are being challenged from secular beliefs and changing societal mores, the Articles are a firm foundation which Anglicans can study, learn and inwardly digest, affirming what their beliefs are.

They remain a way of grounding faith in the Truth they proclaim, in an age when many Christians are tempted to simply float between whatever sounds comfortable. The desire to make our faith comfortable is made possible when there is no firm foundation of faith. A person can enter into an Anglican parish, worship there, be baptised there, receive the Eucharist there and die there without ever having Anglican beliefs explained to them. There is nothing in the main service book used in Canada, the BAS, to explain what all of those beliefs are. Recapturing the strength of the doctrinal foundations from the Articles is one clear way of grounding the faith of Anglicans throughout the world.

The next few weeks will begin a series exploring the meaning of each of the Articles, in an effort to provide a modern and practical understanding of what we as Anglicans have historically, and ought to continue, to profess.