What do Anglicans Believe? – A review
by Martin Davie:
What do Anglicans believe? [1] is a study guide to Christian doctrine which has been produced by:
‘… members of the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO) working in partnership with the Anglican Communion’s department of Theological Education in the Anglican Communion (TEAC)’ (p.5)
According to its Introduction, it is intended to provide:
‘… a concise and well-grounded introduction to Christian doctrine….for use in home groups, study programmes, seminaries and theological colleges across the Anglican Communion.’ (p.5)…
[…] There are three positive aspects of the approach taken by What do Anglicans Believe?
- It is useful to try to get Anglicans to take doctrine more seriously.
- It is useful to introduce Anglicans to the texts produced as a result of ecumenical dialogue since these texts contain much helpful material.
- It is good to encourage people to not only understand doctrines better, but to think how this better understanding ought to lead to changes in both personal discipleship and in the Church’s worship and mission.
Unfortunately, alongside these three positive aspects of its approach the text also has a number of major weaknesses.
First, in spite of its title, this is not a guide that explains at all adequately what Anglicans believe.
The guide only concentrates on one specific area of doctrine, namely ecclesiology, and says literally nothing about other key doctrinal topics such as the doctrines of God, creation, anthropology, salvation and eschatology. The reader will learn absolutely nothing about what Anglicans believe about these topics.
Read Martin’s review in full here
A thin gruel for the soul, by Canon Phil Ashey, AAC: a review of the book, What Do Anglicans Believe? (Anglican Consultative Council, 2020). “ Throughout the 48 pages of this study, you will find …a simple but profound reversal of the way we approach the Bible, reinforcing the doctrinal drift in the Anglican Communion that has occurred over the last 50 years. Using their approach, “the context of the learner” is as authoritative as the text of God’s revealed word, the Bible. When we begin with our own context, we begin by listening to ourselves rather than to God.”
Christian doctrine is not just about methodology, by Andrew Davison, Church Times:
[‘What do Anglicans believe’ says:] “an engaging way of studying doctrine is to begin with analysing the place of doctrine in the life of the Church.” I disagree. Much better to jump in with something more arresting. Begin with the doctrine of creation: with the variety, fragility, and giftedness of what’s all around us.
Or begin with sin, selfishness, and estrangement from God, and the offer and experience of grace. The hallmark of authentic Christian teaching, as Thomas Aquinas noted, is that it leads us to God, as our maker and truest happiness. We illustrate that far better by beginning with creation or redemption than by beginning with a more abstract discussion of the nature of doctrine.
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