"Sacramental, ritual, and ceremonial things": Donne, the Incarnation, and the order of signs

God "placed Himself in the order of signs".

Poet and artist David Jones.

Therefore the Lord shall give you a sign; Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 8:14, and the text for Donne's 1624 Christmas Day sermon.

We must so far satisfy ourselves with the word of God as that we despise not those other subsidiary helps which God in his church hath afforded us; which is true (as of sacraments especially,) so of other sacramental, and ritual, and ceremonial things, which assist the working of the sacraments, though they infuse no power into the sacraments. For, therefore does the prophet say when Ahaz refused a sign, Is it a small thing to weary men, but that you will weary God himself. He disobeys God in the way of contumacy, who refuses his signs, his outward assistances, his ceremonies which are induced by his authority, derived from him, upon men, in his church, and so made a part, or a help, of his ordinary service, as sacraments and sacramental things are.

From Donne's 1624 Christmas sermon.

(The illustration is from Edward Burne-Jones, 'The Nativity'.)

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