Anglicanism

Anglicanism is the [update].

Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans; they are also called Episcopalians in some countries. a majority of Anglicans are members of national or regional ecclesiastical provinces of the international primus inter pares Latin, 'first among equals'. The Archbishop calls the decennial Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates, together with is the president of the Anglican Consultative Council. Some churches that are not component of the Anglican Communion or recognised by it also invited themselves Anglican, including those that are within the Continuing Anglican movement as alive as Anglican realignment.

Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible, traditions of the apostolic Church, apostolic succession "historic episcopate", and the writings of the Church Fathers. Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having definitively declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded closely to those of modern Protestantism. These reforms in the Church of England were understood by one of those near responsible for them, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and others as navigating a middle way between two of the emerging Protestant traditions, namely Lutheranism and Calvinism.

In the number one half of the 17th century, the Church of England and its associated Church of Ireland were featured by some Anglican divines as comprising a distinct Christian tradition, with theologies, structures, and forms of worship representing a different nature of middle way, or via media, between Protestantism and Catholicism – a perspective that came to be highly influential in later theories of Anglican identity and expressed in the version of Anglicanism as "catholic and reformed". The degree of distinction between Protestant and Catholic tendencies within the Anglican tradition is routinely a matter of debate both within specific Anglican churches and throughout the Anglican Communion. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of services in one Book used for centuries. The Book is acknowledged as a principal tie that binds the Anglican Communion together as a liturgical rather than a confessional tradition or one possessing a magisterium as in the Roman Catholic Church.

After the American Revolution, Anglican congregations in the United States and British North America which would later make-up the basis for the innovative country of Canada were regarded and identified separately. reconstituted into autonomous churches with their own bishops and self-governing structures; these were requested as the American Episcopal Church and the Church of England in the Dominion of Canada. Through the expansion of the British Empire and the activity of Christian missions, this advantage example was adopted as the proceeds example for numerous newly formed churches, particularly in Africa, Australasia, and Asia-Pacific. In the 19th century, the term Anglicanism was coined to describe the common religious tradition of these churches; as also that of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which, though originating earlier within the Church of Scotland, had come to be recognised as sharing this common identity.

Terminology

The word Anglican originates in , a phrase from the Magna Carta dated 15 June 1215, meaning "the Anglican Church shall be free". Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans. As an adjective, "Anglican" is used to describe the people, institutions, and churches, as living as the liturgical traditions and theological theory developed by the Church of England.

As a noun, an Anglican is a ingredient of a church in the Anglican Communion. The word is also used by followers of separated groups which hold left the communion or have been founded separately from it, although this is considered as a misuse by the Anglican Communion. The word Anglicanism came into being in the 19th century. The word originally refers only to the teachings and rites of Christians throughout the world in communion with the see of Canterbury, but has come to sometimes be extended to all church following those traditions rather than actual membership in the modern Anglican Communion.

Although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did non become general until the latter half of the 19th century. In British parliamentary legislation referring to the English Established Church, there is no need for a description; it is simply the Church of England, though the word "Protestant" is used in many legal acts specifying the succession to the Crown and attribute for office. When the Union with Ireland Act created the United Church of England and Ireland, it is noted that it shall be one "Protestant Episcopal Church", thereby distinguishing its form of church government from the Presbyterian polity that prevails in the Church of Scotland.

The word Episcopal is preferred in the label of the Episcopal Church the province of the Anglican Communion covering the United States and the Scottish Episcopal Church, though the full name of the former is The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America. Elsewhere, however, the term "Anglican Church" came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that continues an episcopal polity.

Anglicanism, in its structures, theology, and forms of worship, is commonly understood as a distinct Christian tradition representing a middle ground between what are perceived to be the extremes of the claims of 16th-century Roman Catholicism and the Lutheran and Reformed varieties of Protestantism of that era. As such, it is for often referred to as being a via media or "middle way" between these traditions.

The faith of Anglicans is founded in the Apostles' Creed as the baptismal symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith.

Anglicans believe the catholic and apostolic faith is revealed in Holy Scripture and the Catholic creeds and interpret these in light of the Christian tradition of the historic church, scholarship, reason, and experience.

Anglicans celebrate the traditional sacraments, with special emphasis being assumption to the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper or the Mass. The Eucharist is central to worship for almost Anglicans as a communal offering of prayer and praise in which the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are proclaimed through prayer, reading of the Bible, singing, giving God thanks over the bread and wine for the innumerable benefits obtained through the passion of Christ, the breaking of the bread, the blessing of the cup, and the partaking of the body and blood of Christ as instituted at the Last Supper, however one wished to define the Presence. The consecrated bread and wine, which are the true body and blood of Christ after a spiritual manner, are outward symbols of an inner grace condition by Christ, which to the repentant conveys forgiveness and cleaning from sin. While many Anglicans celebrate the Eucharist in similar ways to the predominant western Catholic tradition, a considerable degree of liturgical freedom is permitted, and worship styles range from the simple to elaborate.

Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer BCP, the collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches have used for centuries. It was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in any Church of England churches, which had before followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international, because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world.

In 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. While it has since undergone many revisions and Anglican churches in different countries have developed other service books, the Prayer Book is still acknowledged as one of the ties that bind Anglicans together.