A helpful reminder from the Affirmation of Saint Louis (1977). If one might be tempted to think that the Affirmation is dated or not useful to the present theological and moral formation of orthodox Christians and Traditional Anglicans, please read on...
Sacraments
The Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist, Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders, Penance and Unction of the Sick, as objective and effective signs of the continued presence and saving activity of Christ our Lord among His people and as His covenanted means for conveying His grace...
II. PRINCIPLES OF MORALITY
The conscience, as the inherent knowledge of right and wrong, cannot stand alone as a sovereign arbiter of morals. Every Christian is obligated to form his conscience by the Divine Moral Law and the Mind of Christ as revealed in Holy Scriptures, and by the teaching and Tradition of the Church. We hold that when the Christian conscience is thus properly informed and ruled, it must affirm the following moral principles:
Individual Responsibility
All people, individually and collectively, are responsible to their Creator for their acts, motives, thoughts and words, since "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ . . ."
Man's Duty to God
All people are bound by the dictates of the Natural Law and by the revealed Will of God, insofar as they can discern them.
Family Life
The God-given sacramental bond in marriage between one man and one woman is God's loving provision for procreation and family life, and sexual activity is to be practiced only within the bonds of Holy Matrimony.
Christian's Duty to be Moral
We believe, therefore, it is the duty of the Church and her members to bear witness to Christian Morality, to follow it in their lives, and to reject the false standards of the world.
The Church as Witness to Truth
We recognize also that, as keepers of God's will and truth for man, we can and ought to witness to that will and truth against all manifest evils, remembering that we are as servants in the world, but God's servants first.
2 comments:
Thanks be to God!
I attended worship at an Anglican Catholic parish this past Sunday and it was refreshment to my soul.
Thank you for being faithful.
Ever since St. Louis the and the creation of the Continuing Movement Churches, you Anglicans have been paying lip service to Orthodoxy. The ACNA is doing the same thing. One group, which broke away from the Anglican Catholic Church (one of several) even stated in it original statement of establishment that its intention was to become more in line with the Orthodox Churches and enter into communion. That group, THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH-ANGLICAN RITE did make the Filioque optional but has done nothing else since. In fact they have dwindled showing no growth and the diocese under Bishop Anthony Rasch isn't even listed on the website although still in existence. Tried to get in touch but no response.
The ACNA it's the same way. All talk, no action, even in defining your doctrines and dogmas. Even if you never unite with the Churches of the East it would be good to be able to show a side by side comparison. Even where there are differences of interpretations show that both are valid. As Metropolitan Jonah told the ACNA, you must discard the Calvinistic 39 Articles. I know some like Fr. Robert Hart tries to prove they are distinctly Anglican and the Church of England Reformers were not Calvinists but those who want to keep them definitely don't buy it and are nothing but Calvinists. Wake up and smell the incense.
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