"Too bold and too busy"

In his Whitsunday sermon 1619, "preached before the King's Majesty", Lancelot Andrewes equated the pronouncements on predestination by Calvinist school-authors with the authority claimed by the See of Rome:

I speak it for this, that even some that are far enough from Rome, yet with their new perspective they think they perceive all God's secret decrees, the number and order of them clearly; are indeed too bold and too busy with them. Luther said well that every one of us hath by nature a Pope in his belly, and thinks he perceives great matters. Even they that believe it not of Rome, are easily brought to believe it of themselves.

This comparison with papal pretensions exemplifies how avant-garde Conformists regarded those advocating a definition of predestination beyond the terms of Article XVII as threatening the peace and unity of the ecclesia Anglicana, being "too bold and too busy".

It is important to note how Andrewes explicitly gives voice to Augustinian concerns in the sermon. He quotes Augustine: "that thus it is, it is no weight or worth of man's merit, it is but the very order and course of God's dealing". He echoes Thomist insights when he declares, "there is no necessity that God accept us", as "the Schoolmen express it well". And a Reformed emphasis is evident in his insistence that "our work is this, our labour this, this is all in all, to get men to do well, and yet not ween well of their well-doing".

That sets all safe, that brings all to God, and there leaves it.

The critique of the Calvinist school-authors articulated by Andrewes, therefore, represents no retreat from an Augustinian vision.

How the sermon concludes is also significant. In contrast to the "too bold and too busy" speculations regarding "God's secret decrees", and the sectarianism to which this gave rise, Andrewes points to the simplicity of the Table, the practice which embodied the generosity and inclusion of the parish in the ecclesia Anglicana:

For this is indeed the true receiving, when one is received to the table, to eat and drink, to take his repast there; yes ... to take, and take into him 'that body, by the oblation whereof we are all sanctified,' and that blood 'in which we have all remission of sins.' In that ended they, in this let us end.

Comments

Why I support the ordination of women: a High Church reflection

A number of commenters on this blog have asked about my occasional expressions of support for the ordination of women to all three orders. With some hesitation, I have decided to post a summary of my own views on this matter. The hesitation is because I have sought on this blog to focus on issues and themes which can unify those who identify with or have respect (grudging or otherwise!) for what we might term 'classical' Anglicanism (the Anglicanism of the Formularies and - yes - of the Old High Church tradition). Some oppose the ordination of women (and I have friends and colleagues who do so, Anglo-Catholic, High Church, and Reformed Evangelical). Some of us support it (again, friends and colleagues covering a wide range of theological traditions). Below, I have organised my thinking around 5 points (needless to say, no reference to Dort is implied). 1. The Declaration for Subscription required of clergy in the Church of Ireland states: (6) I promise to submit ...

How the Old High tradition continued

Charles Gore's 1914 letter to the clergy of his diocese, ' The Basis of Anglican Fellowship ', can be regarded as a classical expression of the Prayer Book Catholic tradition. A key part of the letter - entitled 'Romanizing in the Church of England' - addressed the "Catholic movement", questioning beliefs and practices within it which tended to "a position which makes it very difficult for its extremer representatives to give an intelligible reason why they are not Roman Catholics". Gore provides the outlines of an alternative account and experience of catholicity within Anglicanism, defined by three characteristics. What is particularly interesting about these characteristics is their continuity with the older High Church tradition. Indeed, the central characteristic as set out by Gore was integral to High Church claims over centuries: To accept the Anglican position as valid, in any sense, is to appeal behind the Pope and the authority of t...

Pride, progressive sectarianism, and TEC on Facebook

Let me begin this post with an assumption that will be rejected by some readers of laudable Practice , but affirmed by other readers. Observing Pride is an understandable aspect of the public ministry of TEC. On previous occasions , I have rather robustly called for TEC to be much more aware and respectful of the social conservatism of the Red states and regions in which it ministers. A failure to do so risks TEC declining yet further into the irrelevance of progressive sectarianism. At the same time, TEC also obviously ministers in deep Blue states and metropolitan areas - and is the only Mainline Protestant tradition in which a majority of its members vote Democrat .* With Pride now an established civic commemoration, particularly in such contexts, there is a case for TEC affirming those aspects of Pride - the dignity of gay men and lesbian women, their contribution to civic life, and their place in the church's life - which cohere with a Christian moral vision. (I will n...

laudable Practice

Search This Blog