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News and Ideas from around the Anglican World |
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October 2005
A tale for such a time as this
Ron Dart
The second phase of the English Reformation was initiated by Thomas Bilney in the 1520s at the White Horse Tavern at Cambridge, and such a gathering brought together luminaries such as Hugh Latimer, Nicolas Ridley, Thomas Cranmer, William Tyndale, John Frith and Miles Coverdale. Each of these reformers was committed to the reformation of the English church, but they tended to disagree on how and when this should take place. Thomas Bilney was the most impatient and head strong. Latimer and Ridley were more patient, and Cranmer more patient still. It was the patience of Cranmer that gave us the well wrought urn of the Prayer Book.
The third phase of the English Reformation was brought about by the Marian exiles. The 1550s in England saw much bloodshed, and many reformers fled to the continent. When Mary died, many returned and carried on the reformation of the English church under Elizabeth. Matthew Parker, John Jewel and others built on the solid and secure foundation of the Oxford Reformers and the White Horse Tavern reformers. It is important and timely to note that the differences between the White Horse Tavern reformers were not about the need for reform; they all agreed on this, and most died for it. They disagreed on the meaning and timing of reform. I think we can learn much from these men in such a time as this.
The fourth phase of the English Reformation was brought together in a solid, thoughtful and informed way by Richard Hooker. Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity was published between 1594-1597. The judicious Hooker left to the Anglican Tradition a balanced and wise way of doing theology and understanding the role of the Church in the world of thought and action. I have often sat in Hooker’s parish church in Bishopsbourne, and wondered what he would say to us today.
Colet initiated the English Reformation in 1496, and by 1597 we see the mature flowering of the English Reformation in Hooker. The Reformation of the English church took more than a century. Why should we think that the reformation we are going through will go at a faster pace? The task of digging deep, laying solid foundations, a rock firm edifice and roof and a well wrought interior takes time. Surely, this is what we must give ourselves to if we ever hope to bring about a lasting reformation in the Anglican Church of Canada and the Anglican Communion.
There is a tale from history speaking to us if we have but ears to ear. This tale is for such a time as this.
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The
English Reformation took more than a century from beginning to end,
and when the end was reached, the Anglican Tradition had both a
solid and sane Prayer Book, and a sensible and sound theological
grounding. The Anglican Church of Canada and the Anglican Communion,
I suspect, can learn much from the English Reformation. The first
phase of the English Reformation began when John Colet lectured on
Romans in 1496 at Oxford University. The Oxford Reformers (John
Colet, Erasmus, Thomas More) saw deeper than most the need for
reform, and how a wise notion of reform could and would take place.
The publication of the Enchiridion (1501), by Erasmus, pointed the
way, in both a theological and political sense, to the meaning of
reform. The Oxford Reformers were, in many ways, the morning stars
of the English Reformation.|
Copyright The Anglican Planet © 2005 |