"The hereditary fellowship of his Apostles": Jelf's Bampton Lectures on the Episcopal Succession

In the third of his 1844 Bampton Lectures, An inquiry into the means of grace, their mutual connection, and combined use, with especial reference to the Church of England, Jelf - one of those whom Nockles lists as the 'Zs', the post-1833 continuation of the Old High tradition - celebrated the historic succession maintained by the ecclesia Anglicana. He did in terms which exemplified the Old High tradition, considering Reformation and catholicity as complementary rather than contradictory (unlike the Tractarians). His rejoicing in the preservation of the historic succession amidst the trauma of the 1640s and 1650s reflects Old High native pride in the restoration of the Church and episcopate, in a manner echoing Taylor's great sermon at the restoration of the Irish episcopate in 1661. And underpinning it all is a profound sense of gratitude for the episcopal succession as a gift of grace.

And here let us pause to offer our thanksgivings to Him, from whom "every good gift, and every perfect gift cometh down," for His inestimable mercy, in having placed a branch of His true candlestick amongst ourselves; in so ordering the course of our Reformation, that we were not severed from the unity of Christ's body, nor cut off from the hereditary fellowship of His Apostles. It was not our merit, nor our foresight, nor any human device, but His Almighty Providence which overruled the mode of our purification from Romish error. He turned the hearts of certain Bishops, canonically ordained, from Popery to the true Catholic Faith; and the gifts which they had received from real, though erring, successors of the Apostles, they were empowered to transmit unbroken to an equally Apostolical ministry in a pure Church. Amidst all our sins, notwithstanding our many civil convulsions, in spite of hostility, and treachery, and calumnies, which have only led to a more triumphant vindication of the validity of our Orders, this emblem and element of primitive unity has been preserved to us unimpaired. And, by God's grace, it will be preserved to us still; since He is giving us a growing appreciation of its value, towards the edification and efficiency of our Church both at home and beyond sea.

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...

'Whether the Lutheran Churches have right Ordinations and perfect succession of Bishops': Jeremy Taylor, 'Episcopacy Asserted', and Lutheran orders

Amidst the bitter controversies over episcopacy in the Three Kingdoms during the early 1640s, controversies which had become war in Scotland in 1637 and then in England in 1642, Jeremy Taylor wrote his Laudian defence of episcopal order, The Sacred Order and Offices of Episcopacy Asserted and Maintained . He proposed in this work that the non-episcopal Reformed churches could have had episcopally-ordered clergy: Those good people might have had order from the bishops of England or the Lutheran churches, if at least they thought our churches catholic and Christian. Leaving aside the reality that, for example, French Protestants would have been placed in an invidious political position if they had done as Taylor proposed, it is the reference to "the Lutheran churches" which is significant. To begin with, a large portion of the Lutheran churches - those in the German lands - were governed by a system of superintendency. It is almost inconceivable that Taylor was not aware of th...

laudable Practice

Search This Blog