The 'real Presence' of High Church Receptionism

Referring to the Hackney divines (the early 19th century High Church fraternity) Nockles notes that while they did come under the influence of Virtualism, "the effect on them was not permanent - they came to prefer the rival doctrine of receptionism". Rather than regarding this, however, as embracing a 'lower' doctrine of the Eucharist, we might consider James Smith's description of the "dynamic receptionist interpretation" within the High Church tradition.

In his 1814 Bampton Lectures, Van Mildert, a member of the Hackney Phalanx, summarised High Church Receptionism with his paraphrase of the words of Institution:

This Bread represents my Body, and this Wine represents my Blood: and this act of receiving Bread and Wine, according to my Institution and by virtue of its efficacy through Me, is, to the faithful communicant, the act of spiritually receiving my Body and Blood; that is, of receiving the benefits of the sacrifice which I am about to offer, in giving my Body, and shedding my Blood, for the remission of sins.

Contrasting this with those views which resulted in "the ordinance being reduced to a bare commemorative act, or a sign unaccompanied with the benefits of the thing signified", van Mildert applied the term 'real Presence' to High Church Receptionism:

Accordingly, in her Communion Office, although the very words of Scripture are adhered to in the Consecration and the Administration of the Elements, yet they are so applied in other parts of the Service, as to make it impossible to understand them in any other than a metaphorical sense: and while the doctrines of Transubstantiation and Consubstantiation are virtually disclaimed, that of the real Presence, spiritually, mystically, and sacramentally understood, is no less clearly implied.

In footnotes, he quotes from the 1728-29 Lady Moyer lectures of High Church theologian Henry Felton, from which he appears to have derived the use of 'real Presence':

These expressions are to be understood in a figurative, symbolical, and commemorative sense, so that the Bread and the Cup are a real Communion of his Body and Blood. The outward part, or visible sign of this Sacrament, is, as our Church Catechism teacheth, Bread and Wine; the inward part, or thing signified, is the body and blood of Christ, which is verily and indeed taken and received, in all their real and spiritual effects, by the Faithful. This is the real Presence, which we hold. He is so present, as to annex the very benefits of his Body and Blood to our Communion of the Bread and Wine, which are now made the spiritual food and nourishment of our souls; that as He loved us and gave Himself for us, we might ever be partakers of, and give thanks unto Him for his unspeakable gift.

Van Mildert's affirmation that "the full sense of the words of Institution is undoubtedly mystical" indicates that High Church Receptionism was no less richly sacramental than Virtualism, worthy of Smith's use of the term "dynamic". Contrary to the later Tractarian (rather absurd) attempt to deny that Receptionism was ever a High Church doctrine, it was the majority High Church eucharistic understanding throughout the 18th century and into the 19th, giving expression to and sustaining a vibrant sacramental piety. Above all, High Church Receptionism was no cold, bare affair, but proclaimed - in Van Mildert's words - "the deeper signification" of the words of Institution, the "hidden or spiritual intent in the action itself". In other words, "the real Presence", "the means of imparting to the communicant the benefits of our Lord's death and passion".

(All quotations are from Van Mildert's 1814 Bampton Lectures, found in The Theological Works of William Van Mildert, Volume IV.)

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...

1928 practices and the 1979 book: unthinking conservatism or popular piety?

Those responsible for Earth & Altar - a new blog emanating from a group within TEC - are to be congratulated for an excellent contribution to wider Anglican discussion and debate. The commitment to "an expansively conceived credal orthodoxy as fully compatible with LGBTQ inclusion, gender equality, and racial justice" is an important part of a wider retrieval of creedal orthodoxy within what we might call the post-liberal generation. It is in this spirit that I want to respond to a recent post on the site by Andrew McGowan , Dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Professor of Anglican Studies at Yale Divinity School. Against the background of another round of "ill-defined" liturgical revision in TEC, he understandably urges that a fuller reception of the 1979 BCP should occur before further reforms. In doing so, however, he takes aim at what he describes as "clinging to the ritual structures of 1928" while using the text of 1979. We ...

laudable Practice

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