Другое : The Church of England
The Church of England
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Реферат по страноведению на тему:
«The Church of England»
Москва, 2002
The Church of England
Content:
Introduction
………………………………………………………………..…………3
I.
History of the
Church of England
1)
Status of Church
in England up to 1530 ………………………..4
2)
Reformation of
Church ……………………………………………4
Henry VII…………………………………………………………….4
Edward VI……………………………………………………………6
Mary I………………………………………………………………...6
Elizabeth I……………………………………………………………7
Charles II…………………………………………………….……….8
Victoria ……………………………………………………….………8
II.
The Church of England today…………………………………………………..9
1)
The essence of
being an Anglican………………………………………..9
2)
Organisation of
the Church of England ………………………………….11
III.
Church of
England becomes an International Church……………………...12
Conclusions………………………………………………………………………….13
Bibliography.…………………………………………………………………………14
Introduction
Everything in this life has its own
history, especially Religion, as it is a great institution. With the
development of history of a particular country, there will always be
development of Religion, since the Church is an integral part of State System.
Heathenism, Orthodoxy, Judaism etc.. They have been living for centuries. And
some of them were changed, penetrated each other or reformed dramatically.
England
was not exception.
The
English are not a deeply religious race. Hundreds of years ago they decided
that Roman Catholicism with its teachings about original sin and the
unworthiness of the human race could not really have been meant for them. So
they designed a Church of their own – the Church of England.
The English
Reformation was a result of the chain of events that eventually altered England
and Englishness forever. So much in history is a bastard child of both
long-standing, simmering emotion and the opportunistic seizing of a moment. By
its nature unexpected, it is also unpredictable, and shaped as much by
environment and chance as by its progenitors. The Reformation was no different.
It was going on through the ages and reigns.
I. History of the Church of England
1. Status of Church in England up to 1530
Until 1054 there
was only one Christian Church - the Catholic Church. Its leadership was
centered in five great Patriarchates -- Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and
Constantinople in the East and Rome in the West. After the Roman Empire became
Christian some bishops increasingly became involved in political matters, and
the bishops of Rome in particular began to claim power over the whole Church.
This led to a tragic division in the Church, the "Great Schism" of
1054, when it split into the "Orthodox" East and the "Roman
Catholic" West.
Not directly
involved in that split was the Church in England, which the Bishops of Rome
were determined to claim - especially after 1061, when a rival Papacy in
Lombardy claimed allegiance from the See of Canterbury. In 1066, the Duke of
Normandy (William "the Conqueror"), with the support and formal
blessing of Pope Alexander II, invaded England. After seizing the English
Crown, William replaced all but one of the English bishops with Norman bishops
loyal to Rome. The CHURCH OF ENGLAND was to remain under Papal jurisdiction for
nearly 500 years, until the reign of King Henry VIII.
2. Reformation of Church
England in the
sixteenth century was a land of contrasts. Much less urban than either Germany
or the Netherlands, it nevertheless possessed a thriving international trade
centre in London and in Oxford and Cambridge, two universities of outstanding
reputation. The universities, in fact, would play a significant role in the
early campaigns against Luther. Henry VIII turned to their finest theologians
for arguments allowing him to enter the lists against the growing threat of Lutheran
heresy. This initiative would earn him from a grateful Pope the coveted title,
Defender of the Faith.
The progress of
the Reformation in England was closely bound up with Henry's personal affairs.
His increasing desperation to secure release from his marriage to Catherine of
Aragon forced him to contemplate radical steps that went very much against the
grain of his own instinctive theological conservatism.
Henry VIII
It was the only
Henry’s chance to go outside the boundaries of the orthodoxy. Until this event,
Henry had never questioned the Pope’s authority or the validity of the Bible
passage, it banned the marriage of a brother- and sister-in-law. It was as
early as the end of 1529 that Henry first considered a complete dissociation
from the Roman church.
Henry forced
Wolsey to retire, as his entire foreign policy had collapsed and he was now of
no help to the King. In July of 1531, Henry sent Catherine to Ampthill, never
to see her again. He took back her royal jewels and gave them to Anne. When
Parliament reconvened in January, 1532, Henry ordered that no further funds
would be transferred to Rome, but hinted to the Pope that the money would be
restored if the annulment was passed.
Meanwhile, most of
the bishops had been persuaded that they would not lose any power or income if
the English Church were to split from Rome. In March, the Convocation formally
announced their readiness to separate: “May it please your Highness to ordain
in the present Parliament that the obedience of your Highness and of the people
be withdrawn from the See of Rome.” On May 15, they printed a pledge to submit
all its legislation to a new committee, formed of laymen and clergymen, called
the “Reformation Parliament” and Convocation. This is where the Church of
England was born.
On January 15,
1533, Henry and Anne, who was four months pregnant, were married. However, the
King still did not have his first marriage annulled. He submitted his request
for annulment to the new Convocation, led by Thomas Cranmer. On May 23, Cranmer
declared Henry and Catherine’s marriage to be unlawful and void. Five days
later, he pronounced Henry and Anne legally wed. On May 31, 1533, Anne was
coronated as Queen of England. Although the King and new Queen rejoiced, the
silence from the crowd at the coronation spoke for much of England. Pope
Clement excommunicated the King, stating that the new marriage was null, and
that any children would be illegitimate. On September 7 Elizabeth was born.
Henry swiftly
transformed the English Church by passing various Acts through Parliament. In
March of 1534, The Act of Succession declared the marriage to Catherine
invalid, and therefore Mary illegitimate. Elizabeth was named heir to the
throne unless Anne produced a son. Royal commissioners rode through the
countryside, stopping at every house, castle, monastery, and convent to exact
oaths of loyalty to the King from every man and woman. Only a few refused;
those that did were sent to the Tower of London to be put to death.
On
November 11, 1534, the Statute of Supremacy was passed by
Parliament. This Act announced that “… the king, our sovereign lord, his
heirs and successors, kings of this realm, shall be taken, accepted, and
reputed the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England, called Anglicans
Ecclesia”. And the King “…our said sovereign lord, his heirs and
successors, kings of this realm, shall have full power and authority” to do
everything “most to the pleasure of Almighty God”. It was done to “… increase
virtue in Christ's religion, and for the conservation of the peace, unity, and
tranquility of this realm” (pp. 97-98, Milton Viorst, The Great
Documents of Western Civilization, NY, Barnes and Noble, 1965)
Innovative from
the first, the new Church simplified the liturgy, ensured it was in English
rather than Latin and set it out in a new Book of Common Prayer which
was designed to give the people of England a commonly held pattern of worship,
a sense of oneness of Church and people, with the Church sanctifying every side
of national life, giving society a Godward purpose and direction. It introduced on Day of Pentecost. It is written in
English, emphasizes the people's participation in the eucharist, and requires
the Bible to be read from cover to cover. Fast days are retained (supposedly to
help fishermen), but saints' days are not.
The political
nation was, for the most part, obediently compliant rather than enthusiastic.
There is no evidence of any great hostility towards the church and its
institutions before the Reformation; on the contrary, both the English
episcopate and parish clergy seem to have been, by the standards of other
European lands, both well-trained and living without scandal. Cardinal Wolsey,
who fathered an illegitimate son, was very much the exception. On the other hand,
few were prepared to defy the King to defend the threatened institutions of the
old church. Many benefited from the windfall of church property that followed
the confiscation of monastic lands.
Edward VI
During Edward's
reign (Henry’s son), the Church of England became more explicitly Protestant
- Edward himself was fiercely so. The Book of Common Prayer was introduced in
1549, aspects of Roman Catholic practices (including statues and stained glass)
were eradicated and the marriage of clergy allowed. The imposition of the
Prayer Book (which replaced Latin services with English) led to rebellions in
Cornwall and Devon.
“Images"
ordered removed from all churches by the council of regents. This also means no
vestments, ashes, palms, holy water, or crucifixes. This causes so much
resentment that an order suppressing all preaching follows.
Mary I
Edward VI dies.
People are tired of Protestant looting of churches. Mary Tudor ("Bloody
Mary"), a militant Roman Catholic, becomes queen, she returned the English church to communion with Rome.
She was Popular at first, but soon marries the hated Philip II of Spain.
Persecution of Protestants begins; Mary appoints new bishops and fires all
married priests. During her reign, about 300 Protestants were burned, including
5 bishops, 100 priests, and 60 women. An attempt by Cardinal Pole (Mary's
archbishop of Canterbury) to restore monasticism fizzles when, among 1500
surviving monks, nuns, and friars, fewer than 100 are willing to return to
celibacy. All this ensures Roman Catholics will remain unpopular in England.
Elizabeth I
Mary dies.
Elizabeth I, (a Protestant), becomes queen. Despite many problems (including
frequent assassination plots from Roman Catholics), she supports the
enterprising middle class and England prospers. With her accession an
independent church was restored and steered along a middle ground between Roman
Catholicism and Calvinism.
Since 1564 the Era
of Puritanism had began. The word "Puritan" appears for
the first time. It was biblically based on Calvinistic Protestantism - with
emphasis upon the "purification" of church and society of the
remnants of "corrupt" and "unscriptural" "papist"
ritual and dogma. The characteristics of their movement were the following: a
disciplined, godly life, and the energetic evangelical activities. They want:
- a skilled, educated
preaching ministry, based on the Bible
- as few ceremonies in church
as Biblically possible (no surplice, no signing of the cross)
- abolition of the
traditional role of bishop, and replacement of the episcopate by a
presbyterian system
- one legal government
church, controlled by Puritans.
By the 1660s Puritanism
was firmly established amongst the gentry and the emerging middle classes of
southern and eastern England, and during the Civil Wars the Puritan
"Roundheads" fought for the parliamentary cause and formed the
backbone of Cromwell's forces during the Commonwealth period. After 1646,
however, the Puritan emphasis upon individualism and the individual conscience
made it impossible for the movement to form a national Presbyterian church, and
by 1662, when the Anglican church was re-established, Puritanism had become a
loose confederation of various Dissenting sects. The growing pressure for
religious toleration within Britain itself was to a considerable degree a
legacy of Puritanism, and its emphasis on self-discipline, individualism,
responsibility, work, and asceticism was also an important influence upon the
values and attitudes of the emerging middle classes.
Thirty-Nine
Articles (1571) drafted as a doctrinal statement by a
convocation of the Church of England. The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion,
along with the historic Creeds, are the doctrinal standard for Anglicanism. They are printed in the back of most editions of the
Prayer Book and tell us not only about the main postulates (e.g. Of faith in
the Holy Trinity, Of the Word, or Son of God, which was made very man; Of
Original or Birth Sin; Of Free Will etc.), but also about Sin after Baptism, Of
the Church, Of the Authority of the Church, Of the authority of General
Councils, Of speaking in the Congregation in such a tongue as the people
understandeth etc.
Charles II
With
accession of Charles II in 1660 the Restoration of the monarchy began.
Everyone is tired of Puritan rule. Puritan laws and censorship are repealed;
the theaters re-open. The "Declaration of Breda" results in tolerance
for Puritan views within the Anglican fold. The conflict with Puritanism leaves
distrust for religious individualism and emotionalism ("enthusiasm")
among Anglicans. This will continue
through the "Great Awakening" (1738-1784: Christian revival in
England and America). This coincides with the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason,
during which many educated people cease to consider themselves Christians.
Act of
Toleration (1689), partially restores
civil rights to Roman Catholics and Dissenters. The events since the
Reformation have finally convinced most Anglicans of the virtues of tolerance
and mutual forbearance.
Victorian
Era
The trend during
this period will be rediscovery of liturgy and church history - High church
- and spreading Christianity – Low сhurch.
The Evangelical
branch of the Anglican Church coincided very nearly with the "Low
Church" party. Evangelical, a term literally meaning "of or
pertaining to the Gospel," designated the school of theology adhered to by
those Protestants who believed that the essence of the Gospel lay in the
doctrine of salvation by faith in the death of Christ, which atoned for man's
sins. Evangelicalism stressed the reality of the "inner life,"
insisted on the total depravity of humanity and on the importance of the
individual's personal relationship with God and Savior. They put particular
emphasis on faith, denying that either good works or the sacraments (which they
perceived as being merely symbolic) possessed any salvational efficacy.
Evangelicals, too, denied that ordination imparted any supernatural gifts, and
upheld the sole authority of the Bible in matters of doctrine
High church was
associated with the Tractarian movement began about 1833 and
ended in 1845 with John Henry Newman's conversion to Roman Catholicism. It was
also called the Oxford Movement because Newman, a fellow of Oriel College (part
of Oxford University) and vicar of St. Mary's, the University church, and
others were based there when they began the Tracts for the Times in
1833. There were exactly 90 Tracts, the majority written by Newman, arguing in
general that the truth of the doctrines of the Church of England rested on the
modern church's position as the direct descendant of the church established by
the Apostles. Pretty obviously, such an argument was a conservative answer to
the various contemporary challenges to the authority of religion in general,
Christianity in particular, and specifically Anglicanism Catholicism, fueled by
the same need for reassurance as was the Evangelical revival. Since the 16th
century the Church of England had prided itself on being the via media, or middle road, between Roman Catholicism
and a more radical Protestantism.
The
Church of England has, in its several ways, been the Church to uphold the
dignity of the individual. It gave the lead, for example, not only in the abolition
of slavery but it played a critical role in stopping the slave trade
itself. Today, of course, it is a Church at the forefront of the practical
fight to right injustices, restore the dignity of people everywhere and put the
world on a sustainable economic footing without ruining the planet upon which
God put us.
II. The Church of England today
We are now in what
many call the post-modern era and the Church of England is experiencing a
resurgence of interest in matters of faith as well as in the Church itself.
Calls to the ministry are up, giving for the Church's work is up and the Church
is confident that, with and by God's grace, it can make an increasingly
valuable contribution to the life of the nation, its people, and do so far
beyond its borders as well.
Anglicans are numerous on every continent and
constitute the principal Christian community in many areas, notably in Africa.
The Book of Common Prayer exists in 170 languages. There are about 45 million
Anglicans worldwide. There are three million Episcopalians in the US.
At least one survey indicates that, among all denominations in this country, we
have the highest percentage of members who take time for daily prayer.
There is little doubt that, among all groups of Christians, we Anglicans are
the most diverse and the most tolerant. Anglicans are still facing persecution
in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, Communist China, the Soviet bloc
nations, Central Africa, and Central America.
Throughout the world, over one thousand new Christian churches open their doors
each Sunday. As always, Christianity flourishes wherever it shows people its
highest ideals.
1)
The essence of being an Anglican
The Scriptures and the Gospels, the Apostolic
Church and the early Church Fathers, are the foundation of Anglican faith and
worship. The basic tenets of being an Anglican are:
* They view the
Old and New Testaments 'as containing all things necessary for salvation' and
as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith.
* They understand
the Apostles' creed as the baptismal symbol, and the Nicene creed as the
sufficient statement of the Christian faith.
* The two
sacraments ordained by Christ himself - Baptism and the Supper of the Lord -
are administered with unfailing use of Christ's words of institution, and the
elements are ordained by him.
* The historic
episcopate is locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the
varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the unity of his
Church.
Anglicans uphold
the Catholic and Apostolic faith. Following the teachings of Jesus Christ, the
Churches are committed to the proclamation of the good news of the Gospel to
the whole creation. In practice this is based on the revelation contained in
Holy Scripture and the Catholic creeds, and is interpreted in light of
Christian tradition, scholarship, reason and experience.
By baptism in the
name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a person is made one with Christ and
received into the fellowship of the Church. This sacrament of initiation is
open to children as well as to adults.
Central to worship
for Anglicans is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, also called the Holy
Communion, the Lord's Supper or the Mass. In this offering of prayer and
praise, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are recalled through
the proclamation of the word and the celebration of the sacrament. Other
important rites, commonly called sacraments, include confirmation, holy orders,
reconciliation, marriage and anointing of the sick.
Worship is at the
very heart of Anglicanism. Its styles vary from simple to elaborate, or even a
combination. The great uniting text is The Book of Common Prayer, in its
various revisions throughout the Communion. The Book of Common Prayer,
alongside additional liturgies gives expression to the comprehensiveness found
within the Church whose principles reflect that of the via media in
relation to its own and other Christian Churches. The Lambeth Conferences of
the 1950s and 1960s called for more up-to-date national liturgies and this is
going on today. No matter how distinctive each is, they are all clearly of the
lineage of The Book of Common Prayer.
Another
distinguishing feature of the corporate nature of Anglicanism is that it is an
interdependent Church, where parishes, dioceses and provinces help each other
to achieve by mutual support in terms of financial assistance and the sharing
of other resources.
To be an
Anglican is to be on a journey of faith to God supported by a fellowship of
co-believers who are dedicated to finding Him by prayer and service.
2)
Today’s Organisation of the Church of England
The Church of England is organised into
two provinces; each led by an archbishop (Canterbury for the Southern
Province and York for the Northern). These two provinces cover every
inch of English soil, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly
and even a small part of Wales.
Each province is
built from dioceses. There are 43 in England and the Diocese in Europe has
clergy and congregations in the rest of Europe, Morocco, Turkey and the Asian
countries of the former Soviet Union.
Each diocese
(except Europe) is divided into parishes. The parish is the heart of the Church
of England. Each parish is overseen by a parish priest (usually called a vicar
or rector). From ancient times through to today, they, and their bishop, are
responsible for the 'cure of souls' in their parish. That includes everyone.
And this explains why parish priests are so involved with the key issues and
problems affecting the whole community.
Her Majesty the
Queen is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and she also has
a unique and special relationship with the Church of Scotland, which is a Free
Church. In the Church of England she appoints archbishops, bishops and deans of
cathedrals on the advice of the Prime Minister. The two archbishops and 24
senior bishops sit in the House of Lords, making a major contribution to
Parliament's work.
The Church of England
is episcopally led (there are 108 bishops) and synodically governed. The
General Synod is elected from the laity and clergy of each diocese
and meets in London or York at least twice annually to consider legislation for
the good of the Church.
The Archbishops'
Council was established in 1999 to co-ordinate, promote, aid and further
the mission of the Church of England. It is composed of 19 members and 7
directors whose task is to give a clear sense of direction to the Church
nationally and support the Church locally.
The Church of
England issues its own newspaper: The Church Times, founded in
1863. It has become the world's leading Anglican weekly newspaper. It has
always been independent of the Church of England hierarchy. It was a family
concern until 1989, when ownership passed to Hymns Ancient & Modern, a
Christian charitable trust. The Church Times was started to campaign for
Anglo-Catholic principles, which it did with vigour and rudeness. But in the
1940s and '50s the paper began the move to broaden its outlook and coverage. It
now attempts to provide balanced and fair reporting of events and opinions
across the whole range of Anglican affairs. The rudeness we now leave to our
readers. For a longer history of the paper
III. Church of England becomes an
International Church
Anglicans trace
their Christian roots back to the early Church, and their specifically Anglican
identity to the post-Reformation expansion of the Church of England and other
Episcopal or Anglican Churches. Following the discovery of the "New
World", Anglicanism spread to the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania (the
central and south Pacific). Some 37 national and regional Anglican Churches
were established in various parts of the world, which together became known as
the Anglican Communion.
Historically,
there were two main stages in the development and spread of the Communion.
Beginning with the seventeenth century, Anglicanism was established alongside
colonisation in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South
Africa. The second state began in the eighteenth century when missionaries
worked to establish Anglican churches in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
As a worldwide
family of churches, the Anglican Communion has more than 70 million adherents
in 38 Provinces spreading across 161 countries. Located on every continent,
Anglicans speak many languages and come from different races and cultures.
Although the churches are autonomous, they are also uniquely unified through
their history, their theology, their worship and their relationship to the
ancient See of Canterbury.
The Anglican
Communion has no constitution, governing body, central authority or common
liturgy. It is merely a loose association of autonomous Churches with similar
origins. Since 1970 it has been disintegrating, as some member churches have
brazenly tampered with essential elements of the Faith and con no longer claim
to have the same Scriptures, Creeds, Sacraments and Ministry as the rest of the
Catholic church. Since 1987 those Churches have included the CHURCH OF ENGLAND
herself.
Conclusions
There
have been Christians in Britain since AD200 and probably earlier. Through war,
peace, famine and prosperity, the Church was critical in the development of
society, law, buildings and the quiet piety of the people. English civil power
and the Church developed in an increasingly uneasy parallel. Two points of
contention were the Church's wealth and its ties with Rome. These differences
came to a head in the 1530s, when King Henry VIII wished to obtain a divorce
from Queen Catherine of Aragon. And Act of Supremacy was issued. This
Act reaffirmed the King’s sovereignty over the English Church and State and
gave Henry power over all moral, organizational, heretical, and ecclesiastical
reform which until this point had been left to the Church. The new church was
christened Ecclesia Anglicana.
But in 1550's, however, under Edward VI, the English
Church became Protestant in doctrine and ritual, and even then it remained
traditional in organization. Under the Roman Catholic Mary I a
politico-religious reaction resulted in the burning at the stake of some
prominent Protestants and the exile of many others, which led in turn to a
popular association of Catholicism with persecution and Spanish domination. When
Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne in 1558, however, she restored a moderate
Protestantism, codifying the Anglican faith in the Act of Uniformity,
the Act of Supremacy, and the Thirty-Nine Articles.
Under reign of
Charles II. Puritan laws and censorship are repealed; the theaters re-open. The
conflict with Puritanism leaves distrust for religious individualism and
emotionalism ("enthusiasm") among Anglicans. This will continue
through the "Great Awakening". During "Great Awakening"
Christian revival took place in England and America.
The trend during
Victorian Era rediscovered of liturgy and church history and spreading
Christianity. In the mid-nineteenth century, then, the Church of England was
disorganized. Though its adherents were largely conservative, a considerable
portion of its leadership was, ideologically speaking, perilously close to
Catholicism, and the religious census of 1851 showed that it was reaching only
about fourteen percent of the population of England.
When the British
Empire expanded in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, so too did the Church.
And today the Anglican Communion has more than 70 million adherents in 38
Provinces spreading across 161 countries. Te Churches are committed to the
proclamation of the good news of the Gospel to the whole creation. In practice
this is based on the revelation contained in Holy Scripture and the Catholic
creeds, and is interpreted in light of Christian tradition, scholarship, reason
and experience. The Anglican Church is open for people who are united in their
creed and their love of Christ Jesus, the Son of God and what He means for them
and for the world around them.
Bibliography
1. The
Anglican Catholic Church, second edition, 1998, published by The Anglican
Catholic Church
2. Dickens,
A.G. The English Reformation. Second Ed. University Park, PA: The
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1989
3. Rupp,
Gordon. Religion in England 1688-1791. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986
4. Morgan,
Kenneth O., ed. The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1986.
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