TEACHING AND SCRIPTUREWhat Anglicanism restored — and where it stopped
The Anglican Reformation rejected a number of later Roman Catholic dogmas and restored important truths of the apostolic gospel. On the left — what was restored, what was preserved, or where the tradition stopped. On the right — Scripture. Below — the conclusion.
PART ONE
What was restored
01The sufficiency of Scripture
ANGLICANISM RESTOREDThe 39 Articles state plainly: Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation, and nothing may be required as necessary belief that is not contained in it and cannot be proved by it.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS2 Timothy 3:16–17God-breathed Scripture is able to fully equip the man of God for every good work.
Restored truthThe Anglican Reformation restored this apostolic principle: the Church’s required faith cannot rest on what Scripture does not contain and cannot prove.
Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation.
ANGLICANISM RESTOREDA person is accounted righteous before God for the merit of Jesus Christ, through faith, and not for his own works or deservings.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSRomans 3:28A person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.Romans 4:5God justifies the one who believes, not the one who has earned justification.Ephesians 2:8–9“By grace you have been saved through faith… not of works.”
Restored truthThis is the heart of the gospel. The Anglican 39 Articles returned it to the Church after the medieval system of merits.
God accepts a person through faith in Christ, not through his own merits.
03Christ as the ground of salvation
ANGLICANISM RESTOREDSalvation is possible only through Jesus Christ.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSActs 4:12“There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”1 Timothy 2:5“There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Restored truthThe Anglican Reformation rejected an extra system of mediators and restored to the Church the only ground of salvation — Christ.
Salvation is possible only through Jesus Christ.
04The rejection of purgatory and later Roman dogmas
ANGLICANISM RESTOREDThe historic 39 Articles rejected purgatory and certain other medieval practices as having no sufficient warrant in Scripture.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSHebrews 9:27It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment — not an intermediate purification after death.Hebrews 10:14By a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Restored truthIf Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient, purgatory is not needed. Anglicanism restored this conclusion of Scripture to the Church.
Purgatory has no warrant in Scripture; Christ purifies by His sacrifice.
KEPT
What Anglicanism preserved
ANGLICANISM PRESERVEDUnlike many later Protestant movements, Anglicanism did not abolish historic church form. It kept episcopal ministry, ordination, liturgical life, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and the historic succession of church ministry.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSActs 2:42The apostolic Church devoted itself to the apostles’ teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers.Acts 14:23They appointed elders in every church.1 Corinthians 11:23–26The Supper was received from the Lord; by it the Church proclaims the Lord’s death until He comes.
Preserved truthThe apostolic Church had the Word, the breaking of bread and appointed ministry. Anglicanism kept this churchliness, while many later movements greatly weakened it.
The Church is not an empty gathering without sacraments and ministry; Anglicanism kept this.
02Sacraments as effectual signs of grace
ANGLICANISM PRESERVEDThe Anglican 39 Articles speak of the sacraments not as empty signs, but as “effectual signs of grace,” through which God works in believers.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSMatthew 28:19–20Christ commands baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and promises to be with the disciples.1 Corinthians 10:16“The cup of blessing… is a participation in the blood of Christ,” and “the bread… is a participation in the body of Christ.”1 Corinthians 11:27–29Unworthy participation makes a person “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.”
Preserved truthThis is an important difference from the purely symbolic view of later Protestant movements: Baptism and the Supper are bound to God’s promise and action, not only to human remembrance.
The sacraments are not empty signs, but effectual signs of grace through which God acts.
THE TURNWhere they stopped
The Anglican Reformation restored:
Scripture → justification by faith → the sufficiency of Christ → a cleansing from some later Roman dogmas,
but it kept a large part of the former church structure and did not restore in its fullness the dynamic life of the apostolic Church in the Holy Spirit.
Historic Anglicanism was first of all:
Word + sacrament + liturgy + episcopate.
In the book of Acts we see another dimension:
Word + sacrament + Holy Spirit + power + gifts + prophecy + the supernatural action of God.
PART TWO
What still remained to restore
01Baptism in the Holy Spirit and power from on high
WHERE IT STOPPEDThe classical Anglican Reformation restored the Word and the sacraments, but baptism in the Holy Spirit as being clothed with “power from on high” did not become the centre of restored church life.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSLuke 24:49Christ commands them to stay in the city until they are clothed with power from on high.Acts 1:4–8The promise is: “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” and “you will receive power.”
Gospel truthThe apostolic Church knew not only liturgy and sacraments, but also being clothed with power from on high.
Word and sacraments are the foundation. Baptism in the Holy Spirit as power from on high is the next apostolic reality.
02Receiving the Holy Spirit as a lived reality
WHERE IT STOPPEDHistoric Anglicanism confessed the Holy Spirit in the creeds, but receiving the Spirit as a distinct experience after believing was not usually the norm of church life.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSActs 8:14–17Already believing and baptized Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit.Acts 19:1–6After the Holy Spirit comes upon them, believers speak in tongues and prophesy.
Gospel truthIn Acts those who had believed could after conversion separately receive the Holy Spirit. This is not a synonym for water baptism, nor only a dogma about the Third Person of the Trinity.
Receiving the Holy Spirit is a lived apostolic reality, not only an article of the creed.
WHERE IT STOPPEDAnglicanism kept the preaching of the Word and the liturgical reading of Scripture, but prophecy as a living gift of the Church was largely not restored.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSActs 2:17–18“I will pour out My Spirit… and they shall prophesy.”1 Corinthians 14:1“Earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.”1 Thessalonians 5:19–21“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things.”
Gospel truthProphecy is the norm of the Spirit’s outpouring, not a rare exception of liturgical preaching.
Sound preaching does not cancel prophecy; the apostolic response is not a ban, but testing.
WHERE IT STOPPEDIn classical Anglican practice other tongues did not become a normal gift of the Church.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSActs 2:4The believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.Acts 10:44–46The Spirit falls on Cornelius’ household; they speak in tongues and magnify God.Acts 19:6After the Holy Spirit comes upon them, the believers speak in tongues.1 Corinthians 14:39“Do not forbid speaking in tongues.”
Gospel truthOther tongues in Acts and in Paul are not a periphery, but part of being filled with the Spirit.
The gift of tongues belongs to the New Testament Church; its absence cannot be presented as Anglican fullness of the gospel.
05Gifts of healing and miracles
WHERE IT STOPPEDPrayer in the liturgy remained, but gifts of healing and miracles as standing gifts of the Spirit usually did not become part of ordinary church life.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Corinthians 12:7–11The Holy Spirit gives the Church prophecy, healings, miracles, tongues, interpretation and other gifts — to each for the common good.
Gospel truthLiturgical prayer is good. The New Testament also speaks of gifts by which God heals and acts supernaturally in the Church.
Healings and miracles are part of the apostolic norm, not an extra that liturgy makes unnecessary.
06The fullness of the fivefold ministry
WHERE IT STOPPEDAnglican church form largely reduced this to bishops, priests and deacons. Christ gave the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSEphesians 4:11–13Christ gave the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers — until we all attain to the unity of the faith and to the fullness of Christ.
Gospel truthBishops, priests and deacons are a historic form of ministry. But Paul also names apostles and prophets among Christ’s gifts to the Church.
Christ gave the Church five ministries until she comes to His fullness; to shorten that list is to narrow what He Himself established.
THE NEXT STAGEFrom Anglicanism the next stage begins
This is especially interesting historically: John Wesley was an Anglican priest.
It is inside the Anglican world that a movement arises which places the next strong accent:
personal new birth → the witness of the Holy Spirit → sanctification → the experienced action of God’s grace.
Wesley remained an ordained Anglican priest, though the Methodist movement that grew through his ministry later became a separate tradition.
So in the history of restoration a striking line appears:
Anglican Reformation → Wesley → Methodist revival → holiness movement → the later restoration of the fullness of baptism in the Holy Spirit and of the gifts.
A NOTEAn important note on contemporary Anglicanism
Today Anglicanism is very diverse. There are high-church, evangelical and charismatic Anglican congregations, so it cannot be said that all contemporary Anglicans reject the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
It is historically more accurate to say:
the classical Anglican Reformation had not yet placed baptism in the Holy Spirit and the supernatural gifts at the centre of restored church life; later, within Anglicanism itself, movements arose that went much further in this direction.
Anglicanism restored and kept an important pairing:
Scripture + grace + faith + churchliness + the holiness of the Supper and of Baptism.
But apostolic fullness still requires:
the living action of the Holy Spirit → power from on high → gifts → prophecy → healings → the fullness of ministries.
So Anglicanism can be seen as an important bridge between ancient church form, the Reformation and the later movement of spiritual revival.