"No empty or useless ceremony": absolution at Mattins and Evensong

The first lesson at Mattins on Tuesday of last week was Numbers 6, concluding with the blessing to be given by the Aaronic priesthood: "On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel".

Calvin's commentary on this - "And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them" - applies it to the Church's ordained ministers:

The promise, which is finally subjoined, gives assurance that this was no empty or useless ceremony, when He declares that He will bless the people. And hence we gather, that whatsoever the ministers of the Church do by God’s command, is ratified by Him with a real and solid result; since He declares nothing by His ministers which He will not Himself fulfill and perform by the efficacy of His Spirit.

Reading Calvin's words immediately brought to mind those of Cranmer in the absolution at Morning and Evening Prayer:

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness, and live; and hath given power, and commandment, to his Ministers, to declare and pronounce to his people, being penitent, the Absolution and Remission of their sins: He pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel ...

Or, as Calvin put it, "a real and solid result", for this absolution is "no empty or useless ceremony". The proclamation of absolution given by the Church's ministers is "ratified" by "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ", in "the Holy Spirit".

Reading Cranmer's absolution alongside Calvin's words - and, indeed, Hooker - sets a foundation for how the Old High tradition (including, Keble) regarding this absolution as having the same efficacy as that in the Holy Communion and the Visitation of the Sick. We might note this not only critiques later Tractarian accounts which viewed private absolution as having a particular and different efficacy; it also contradicts the Low Church view that such ministerial declaration was not actually absolution and, as in much contemporary evangelical Anglican practice, could be dispensed with. This latter view may now pose as Reformed, but it is no such thing. To deprive the church's ministry of a power bestowed by Word and Spirit is Anabaptist, not Reformed.

But why address this during Holy Week? It is a reminder that Anglicans over centuries, while not practising private confession and absolution, did not approach the observance of Good Friday and the Sacrament on Easter Day without "the benefit of absolution". In the week before Easter, to use the words of Keble, "Each morn and eve, the Golden Keys Are lifted in the sacred hand". And "this was no empty or useless ceremony". Over the centuries, Anglicans - for whom private absolution was a very rare occurrence, usually only known during grave illness or towards the end of life - have approached Good Friday and the holy Sacrament on Easter Day duly absolved, for "the Absolution and Remission of their sins" was bestowed day by day, in a weighty penitential rite (Sentences, Exhortation, Confession, Absolution), through the ministry of presbyters in the Church.

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...

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