By Robin G. Jordan
In the Introduction to To Be a Christian: An AnglicanCatechism J. I. Packer refers to three guidelines that he maintains the writing team followed in drafting the document. These guidelines are:
1. Everything taught should be compatible with, and acceptable to, all recognized schools of Anglican thought, so that all may be able confidently to use all the material.
2. Everything taught should be expressed as briefly as possible, in terms that are clear and correspond to today’s use of language. There should be as little repetition as possible, though some overlap is inevitable.
3. All the answers and questions should be as easy to explain and to remember as possible.
But as we shall see, everything taught in the catechism is not compatible with and acceptable to all recognized schools of Anglican thought. Indeed the catechism favors the doctrinal views of one particular school of Anglican thought over the views of the other schools of thought. Everything taught in the catechism is not explained in clear terms. At times the use of language is awkward and clumsy. All the answers and questions are not easy to explain and remember. The catechism also suffers from a number of other defects.
The version of the catechism that we will be examining is the extended version, which includes, in addition to the Introduction, the Letter of Commendation of the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America, and Parts I-IV of the catechism, five appendices. Among these appendices are Toward an Anglican Catechumenate: Guiding Principles for Catechesis Task Force, Anglican Church in North America, June 2010 and Vision Paper for Catechesis in the Anglican Church in North America.
We will be looking at key sections of this document. They exemplify the particular weaknesses of the catechism and show that all recognized schools of Anglican thought are not able to use all the material in the catechism with confidence.
In the ACNA College of Bishops’ Letter of Commendation a reference is made to the Articles of Religion of 1563 as “the doctrinal norm for Anglicans around the world.” However, historic Anglicanism’ s confession of faith is the Articles of Religion of the 1571, not the Articles of Religion of 1563. Under Archbishop Matthew Parker, during the reign of Elizabeth I, Thomas Cranmer’s Forty-Two Articles were revised. These revised Articles were submitted to Convocation, which reduced them to thirty-nine. Only thirty-eight were published in 1563: one was apparently omitted by the Queen herself. Between 1563 and 1571 the Articles would be revised again. They would be strengthened in a Protestant direction.
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