Forty Days with the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion: A Devotional Guide
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Are they a dusty relic of the sixteenth century, with little to say to Anglican Christians in this brave new world of the twenty-first century? Or do they form a statement that is ideally suited to strengthen and unify them in their faith?
Robert Langmaid argues that the latter is the case. He believes that the articles, which were written by English Reformers in 1533 and put in their current revised form in 1662, provide fertile ground for the growth of churches and believers in the Communion. Furthermore, he writes, the articles not only can inform individual and corporate discussions concerning Anglican identity, but can also serve as a basis of spiritual meditation.
How is it that the articles can do all this? Because the Reformers and the English church were careful to ground them securely in the Bible and in the first four general councils of the Christian church and the three ecumenical statements of belief (the Nicene, Apostles', and Athanasian creeds). In fact, Langmaid argues, a new consideration of the articles will call Anglicans to renew their historical allegiance to the Bible and the Lordship of Christ and thereby provide the backdrop for greater and more effective diversity throughout the Anglican Communion.
Besides taking the reader through forty days of meditating on the articles, this valuable contribution to Anglican and ecumenical thought includes two essays on the Articles of Religion and Anglican identity and a version of the articles in modern English by Peter Toon.
Robert G. W. Langmaid
Robert G.W. Langmaid is a minister in the Anglican Diocese of Yukon, the fourth member of the past five generations of his family to be a member of the Anglican clergy.
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Forty Days with the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion - Robert G. W. Langmaid
PREFACE
I have written this book as a contribution to the Anglican Communion worldwide, and more specifically to the Anglican Church in Canada, in which I serve as both an evangelist in Threshold Ministries (formerly called Church Army in Canada) and a Deacon in the Parish of Watson Lake, Diocese of Yukon. The book reproduces, and comments on, the famous Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, written by English Reformers in a process that began close to five hundred years ago, in 1533. The articles were agreed on by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in Convocation at London in 1562, finalized in 1571, and revised in 1662. They became the foundational theological statement of the Church of England and thence of churches that have sprung up in that tradition around the world.
I would like to suggest three ways in which this book may be useful.
First and foremost, it is set up as a forty-day devotional or reflection guide for individual Christians in the church. It is hoped that, by spending time with the articles, such readers will become more securely grounded in their faith.
Second, it can be repurposed as a forty-week study for confirmation classes. Each weekly class in roughly a year of classes could end with one of the Articles of Religion, along with my comments as discussion points. This could help the next generation of Anglican Christians to know their spiritual heritage and their identity as people whose faith is rooted in the Lordship of Jesus and the supremacy of scripture.
Third, this book may be used by ministers as sermon material. I discovered this use quite accidentally. One week my train of thought while I was preparing a sermon led me to a devotional that I had written about one of the articles. The result, a sermon derived quite extensively from that devotional, was well received by the congregation. I offer this approach to preachers throughout the Anglican Communion.
INTRODUCTION
ANGLICAN CHURCHES in North America are experiencing a crisis of identity. Emerging Anglican groups, such as the Anglican Network in Canada and the Anglican Church of North America, as well as the mainline churches themselves – the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church (United States) – are attempting to determine the tenets of their faith and theology. Thus, those who identify themselves as Anglicans (or Episcopalians), and those attending churches that identify themselves as Anglican, are either examining or need to examine the biblical and historical background of Anglican theology.
This identity crisis is at root a theological and spiritual crisis. I myself experienced it as a spiritual crisis. I attended an Anglican church growing up. I was baptized as an infant and confirmed in early adolescence. I was both a server and crucifer in my church, and I attended Anglican summer camps. At the age of sixteen, I attended a youth retreat called Teens Encounter Christ, and I did, indeed, encounter him, in a way that changed the direction of my life. Church, instead of being something I simply attended, became a large part of who I was.
By the time I was nineteen, I was very involved with various Christian groups at university. As I got to know Christians from a variety of denominational backgrounds, I naturally began to question why I worshipped in an Anglican context instead of some other. I started to question why an Anglican expression of Christianity mattered to me. These questions led me to examine the heart of Anglican identity, and I figured the best way to do this was to explore the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion contained in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. These articles were written by Church of England theologians in the sixteenth century and were made part of the BCP, and they speak with great strength all these many centuries later.
I examined each article over a period lasting a little longer than a month. I found where each fit in the context of scripture and examined the relevant supporting biblical passages. I then asked whether my understanding of faith could fit with the article. As a result of this study, I confirmed the Thirty-nine Articles as a strong and sure framework for my faith. I have written this book to encourage you to take the same journey: to consider how your beliefs line up with Anglican Christianity as stated in the Thirty-nine Articles.
No doubt many Anglicans and others may wonder what relevance the articles have for today. You yourself may be asking why anyone should study them at all. Here are just three reasons.
First, doing so can help parishioners understand their Anglican faith at the micro level organizationally – that is, at the level of their local church. Historically, to be ordained, Anglican priests gave assent to the Canons of the Church of England and The Book of Common Prayer. (Canons
simply means laws.
) The BCP includes the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion as well as the official order of the various worship services, including services of ordination.¹
This means that every priest ordained in Canada and England and several other places in the Anglican tradition have given assent, at least nominally, to the articles. (The main exception to this requirement is the Episcopal Church, United States.) Therefore, (a) an Anglican priest’s expression of faith should reflect the faith defined by the articles as the starting point of Anglican theology and (b) when parishioners understand the articles, they have a picture, in broad strokes, of how their church and their priest are to conduct themselves.
_________
1 Canons of the Church of England, 1970, Canon A2; The Book of Common Prayer, Canada, 1962.
Second, understanding the Thirty-nine Articles helps parishioners understand their Anglican faith at the macro level of the Anglican tradition. While giving great leeway for different expressions, and even beliefs, in the Christian faith, the articles also clearly distinguish Anglican Christianity from other streams of the Christian faith. This may be seen in various articles, including XXII and XXVII.
Third, the articles are part of a major Anglican spiritual inheritance at an even greater macro level, the ecumenical level. Yes, The Book of Common Prayer, including the articles, is specific to churches in the Anglican Communion, but the articles themselves draw on the major sources of orthodox Christianity: the Old Testament and New Testament, the first four general councils of the church, and the three ecumenical creeds.¹
In short, a deeper understanding of the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion can ground you in your Christian faith, understanding, and practice at the local, traditional, and ecumenical levels.
I encourage you to take the journey of this book with me. Each chapter in Part I explores one article and concludes with an invitation to prayer and suggestions for applying the article to your own life. This part of the book is divided into forty days; there is one article for each day and a concluding day encouraging you to move forward in the faith. You will benefit most from this book if you develop a consistent daily reading practice.
_________
1 Stephen Neill, Anglicanism, p. 399.
In Part II, I explore the articles and Anglican identity more theologically, for those who wish to go deeper into the background of the articles.
The book also includes an appendix with a modern translation of the Thirty-nine Articles, which may be referred to if the original text is confusing – after all, the original wording of the articles was written in a much earlier form of the English language.
May the Lord Jesus richly bless you as you gain a deeper understanding of your faith.
PART I
FORTY DAYS
WITH THE
THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES
DAY 1
ARTICLE I
OF FAITH IN THE HOLY TRINITY.
There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker, and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
THE first Article of Religion helps us understand the nature of God, both as Trinity and as the everlasting, all-powerful One. As we think about God, we need to remember some key things.
The first is that there is only one God. Anything or anyone claiming to be a god
among many gods cannot be the true God. Yet we live in a world where many people hold various conflicting religious beliefs and moral philosophies. Sometimes when we deal with people from different backgrounds, we are tempted to seek harmony, even when our beliefs are contradictory. However, once we compromise essentials, such as the belief that there is only one God, represented in the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we begin to lose part of our own identity.
I believe a better alternative to dealing with a diversity of beliefs is for us to cling more strongly to our own faith. When we have a well-rooted belief in the Triune God, we can more easily identify the positive aspects in another’s belief system without sacrificing our own spiritual identity. A Bible verse that reminds us of the Oneness of God is Deuteronomy 6:4: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
This verse forms the preamble to what Jesus calls the greatest commandment: … Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind
(Matthew 22:37).
Some readers may be thinking, Wait, the verse in Deuteronomy speaks of God as one. How can we then say that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? The answer to this is twofold. First, the word used for one
in Deuteronomy can be interpreted as plural and singular at the same time. Second, God, or the Godhead, as the article describes him, comprises the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: three different persons with the same substance and power. They are different from each other, yet still so much the same in nature that it is impossible to tell them apart. Consider the analogy of a helicopter with three blades. When the blades are spinning, it is impossible to perceive any blade individually. They move so fast and in such unity that they are indistinguishable from each other. Together, they comprise the mechanism for flying the helicopter. This is similar to our understanding of the Trinity as being three persons in one.
The second thing to remember is God’s everlasting nature. This concept may be an even harder concept for us to wrap our head around than the mystery of the Trinity. However, if God is the creator of everything, then even time itself is something he created, not something he is subject to. As a result, it is impossible to talk about a time before God; without him there is no before. Genesis 1:1 states, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
John 1:1 reinforces this concept: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
God pre-exists time.
What does all this mean for us? First, it means we need to cling to God. Many other religious traditions may come our way, and although we can learn from them, we cannot compromise the belief that there is only one true God who has revealed himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Second, recognizing the eternal nature of God, we can start to understand that even if we don’t comprehend the past or the future, he does. When we trust in God, he can help us move forward in healthy ways, so we can grow to know him more.
Spend five minutes in silent prayer, focusing on God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Ask him to bring to mind what this means for you. Ask him to show you how he has been present in your life. Then, if you feel comfortable doing so, speak out a prayer of thanks to God for his presence with you thus far.
DAY 2
ARTICLE II
OF THE WORD OR SON OF GOD, WHICH WAS MADE VERY MAN.
The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, and of one substance with the Father, took