Monday, February 13, 2006

Assent to the XXXIX Articles

Our conversation on a clergyman's relation to the XXXIX Articles reminds me of a fabulous passage from Father Collin Stephenson's Merrily On High...

'Canon N. P. Williams said, 'I assent to the 39 Articles as I assent to the Oxford Gas Works. I am aware of their existence, I am at the present moment engaged in no active plan for their destruction, but it does not mean that I approve of them.''

I think the famous Oxford theologian roundly summarises the position of many, if not most, Anglo-Catholics on the subject. We should remember that in the Church of England one only has to 'assent' to the XXXIX Articles, whatever that may mean.

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Reflection: The 2024 APA Clergy Retreat on G3 Unity

Reflection: The 2024 APA Clergy Retreat on G3 Unity