Church of England

The Church of England & the Episcopalian Church are both daughters of the Catholic Church and have many of the same characteristics. Rome or Canterbury, what's the difference? Both were established for political purposes and not spiritual purposes. Their hierarchical construction is anti-soul liberty. Both have been guilty of persecuting the Baptist Church just like their mommy. Their might be some individual evangelical churches out there, but usually something with bad roots stays bad until in breaks away totally from those roots(and become free autonomous bodies).

 

I agree the original origins of the Church of England was for political purposes but the Church of England moved toward Protestanism under Archbishop Cranmer who was martyred along with bishops Ridley and Latimer by Queen Mary.

The Church of England gave us some of the greatest preachers and hymn writers in Christian history. Among them

Richard Baxter
William Gurnall
John Newton
George Whitefield
John Wesley
Charles Wesley
J.C. Ryle
John Stott
J.I. Packer

Not to mention the King James Version translation of Scripture that we are still blessed with. The Church of England today unfortunately has left the principles of Cranmer and the Protestant Reformation and as a whole embraced extreme Liberalism on one hand and Anglo Catholic High Churchism on the other. The Church is declining so badly that one commentator said it is no longer the Church of England but the Church in England. The real power of Anglicanism is in Africa where it is growing because the churches there are Evangelical and conservative.

 

This may sound weird (that's because it is!) but although the Queen is the Head of the C of E, it is the British Prime Minister who chooses the C of E's diocesan bishops and the archbishops. As you may know, the current Prime Minister is RC!! The Church can select the deacons and priests that it wishes for particular jobs but each time a bishop or archbishop is appointed, it has to submit two possible names to the Prime Minister, with a clear indication of its first choice of candidate for the post. It is the PM who has the final say and previous PMs Margaret Thatcher and John Major had no qualms about appointing people who were not the Church's first choice. There are many in the C of E who advocate disestablishment, which would bring the benefit of the Church being free to make its own decisions (and its own mistakes!). Others, however, are worried that if the Church is disestablished the State would walk away with its money - that Church is rich!

The most extraordinary thing about the Church is that it claims to be both Protestant and Catholic. There are large numbers of clergy who regard the Creed and the scriptures as the basis of continuing identification with the RC Church. These people refer to themselves as Anglo-Catholic. At the opposite end of the spectrum are evangelicals and sandwiched in between are the liberals. The new Archbishop of Canterbury - who is the leader of the international network of Anglican churches - is identified with the liberals.

 

Thanks for telling me that Blair was the one responsible for the current Archbishop of Canterbury. Blair is too liberal for me and I was surprised when he supported Bush after Nine Eleven. I understand that England has a lot of Moslems, and that is why Blair does not want to endorse the war against Iraq.

I still insist that King Henry VIII was a Protestant because of his relationship with Cramner. It is sad that the Church of England has been taken over by the liberals.

 

nom-de-cyber-guy said:

Does anyone understand why Queen Elizabeth II appointed this new Archbishop? I am beginning to wonder why she could not find someone more conservative?

Keep in mind that although the Queen is the formal head of state, her political power is largely symbolic and she is constitutionally required to be non-partisan. She has the right to advise the government, but in the end it is they that make the political decisions and she must assent to them.

Although my knowledge of British government is somewhat limited - here in Canada we have the same model of government but not the state Church to go along with it - I believe that the Queen's headship of the Church of England is largely the same - symbolic, but the decisions are ultimately made by the episcopate.

As has been said, Parliament legislates decisions of the C. of E. such as the choice of bishops, authorizing changes to the liturgy, and so forth. But it would not surprise me to find out that they, like the Queen, essentially act as a rubber stamp and let the episcopate make the decisions.

WinterMoon added:

As you may know, the current Prime Minister is RC!!

Actually, Tony Blair himself is Anglican. However, his wife is Catholic.