Crypto-Puritanism Redux
Embryo Parson Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 01:40AM Glutton for punishment that I am, I've once again gone mano-a-mano with another Presbyterian with a prayer book, one Chris Arnzen, who does this dreadful podcast. The exchange happened tonight at the dubiously named Prayer Book Anglican Facebook discussion group. Here's how it went down. (I know something of Rev. Salter, so I started asking niggling questions about him since Arnzen is publicizing a podcast to be done with him.) :
So there we have it, ladies and gentlemen, proof positive that Puritanism STILL exists, but thankfully as no more than a curious museum piece. Amusing to those of us who know what real Anglicanism is, but unfortunately a potential trap for people who don't know but who have somehow become interested in Anglicanism and stumble upon these guys. So that's the purpose of this post, to warns seekers who stumble in here not to stumble on to Salter, Veitch, Arnzen & Co. They are not Anglican in any way, shape or form. They are merely Calvinists bearing a prayer book that does not belong to them. The Calvinists had their shot at making the Church of England an English Reformed Church, but they were rebuffed by the Crown and wiser divinity, and were left behind in the dust. Anglicanism cannot be defined by its Edwardine phase or by the half-educated ravings of the Puritans. The term "Anglican" didn't even appear as a descriptor until long after the Puritans left the Church of England, a time when anti-Calvinist Caroline Divinity began to hold sway and has continued to hold sway in orthodox Anglicanism today. These people have no part with us. They need to be honest, acknowlege their defeat and commit to Presbyterianism. It's that simple.
39 Articles, Anglican Formularies, Anglo-Calvinism, Book of Common Prayer, Caroline Divines, Chris Arnzen, Church of England, Continuing Anglicanism, Donald Philip Veitch, Ecclesiology, English Reformation, Historical Theology, John Calvin, Justification By Faith, The Gospel, The Problem of Anglican Identity, Tractarian Divines, Traditional Anglicanism, Why Anglicanism?
Reader Comments (3)
He's quite right that the more important question is whether somebody is Christian. I have yet to read an argument about whether someone is a "real Anglican" that added even a photon of light to Christ's church.
He's also quite right, of course, that Anglo-Catholicism is in extreme tension with the 39 articles (and thus with the prayer book). And you're quite right that "independent" Anglicanism is. And now if only we could stop worrying about whom Pope Cranmer (or Pope Laud) would anoint as the *real* Anglicans and return attention to the faith once delivered, and to building each other up in love....
I am not Anglican, but do have a genuine interest in it. I tend to agree with the author of this blog that the ecclesiology represented by the group mentioned in the blog post exhibits behaviors that run contrary to historically established Anglicanism which is unequivocally episcopal. In my estimation the group in question might seem more like that of sectarians and separatists. If they are unanswerable to a Presbyterian body, I might tender that they could even fit into the Congregationalist or Independant mold, which is even less Anglican in tendency and indeed standing squarely in succession to the Puritans of yesteryear. One might also consider the long standing canons of 1604 of the Church of England which made its mind clear with respect to impugners of the government of the C of E.
Yes,and I agree with that. On the few occasions I've seen "independent Anglican" churches, I've never been at all tempted. Presbyterian churches are much more appealing -- at least they have structure and accountability.