Anglicanism

The term Anglican (from the "Angles" or English) describes those people and churches following the religious traditions developed by the established Church of England. The Anglican Communion codifies the Anglican relationship to the Church of England as a theologically broad and often diverging community of churches, which holds the English church as its mother institution. Adherents of Anglicanism number in the tens of millions worldwide.

Doctrine

Anglicans look for authority (in the formula of Richard Hooker) in Scripture, Tradition (the practices and writings of the historical church) and Reason. While some teach that these three are of equal value (using an image of a three-legged stool), the Anglican formularies have always pointed to the primacy of Holy Scripture. Historically, Anglicans regard the Bible, the three Creeds (Nicene Creed, Apostles' Creed, and Athanasian Creed), the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion and the Book of Common Prayer (1662) as the principal norms of doctrine. Thus it can be said that the Anglican Church retains much of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, but it is doctrinally Reformed.

Related Topics:
Richard Hooker - Bible - Nicene Creed - Apostles' Creed - Athanasian Creed - Thirty-Nine Articles - Book of Common Prayer

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