When it comes right down to it, my knowledge of Anglicanism is miles wide and inches deep. I cannot speak for long about the great figures of Anglicanism. I cannot quote form Hookers *Laws*, nor can I recite any of the Tracts. I know Cranmer only through the Prayer Book (and that but an echo). I quote Archbishop Temple all the time (“The church is the only organization on Earth that exists primarily for the benefit of its non-members”), but I probably don’t have the quote right, and I have no idea where it comes from.
Of modern Anglicans I can do a little better. With CS Lewis’s work I am very familiar. I have read much of NT Wright. But I remain mostly ignorant of the current occupant of Canterbury.
I can give the most tenuous of sketches of the broad sweep of Christianity in the British Isles. I cannot answer the question of whether Joseph of Arimathea really came to England, nor do I understand the political intrigue that surrounds the martyrdom of Thomas Becket. And who is in line to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury? I don’t know.
But I have two challenges to the learned among us.
First, defend if you can this worship of Hooker that goes on. Great man that he apparently is, why should *I* hold him in such high esteem? Unwashed member of the masses that I am, I would claim for Cramner, if any one, the honor of the “Founder father” of Anglicanism. But even that would be a mistake, for we have received Anglicanism as a gift from *all* those who have come before. Even the people who I would be in most serious disagreement have their part to play (I have in mind the 17th century Latitudinarians, who foster a Deism that I abhor, but who rightly remind us of the Humanism that is a part of the Gospel). It is well and good that Hooker should be an “Anglican prophet of reason” for us, But there are many prophets in our history who also must be heard (even the hard ones like Newman).
Second, don’t let us forget this broad sweep of history, especially in this time of conflict. Anglicanism has hit many rough patches before, where it appeared that this special gift would be lost. Near its founding, Anglicanism nearly lost its “catholic-ness” and in the 18th century almost lost its very faith in a powerful, active God. But God has been faithful, and I do not believe he will leave us now. Israel constantly forgot how the LORD had led them, and faced discipline because of their forgetfulness. Help us to not be like them!
