'To search is rashness, to believe is piety': William Nicholson, the Catechism, and Trinitarian minimalism

If we had to point to a key classical text for an Anglican 'Trinitarian minimalism', it would surely be in the 1662 Catechism:

What dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy Belief?

Answer. First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who hath made me, and all the world; Secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all mankind; Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the elect people of God.

This summary of the Apostles' Creed is a sufficient statement of Trinitarian faith. This is a sufficient account of the Articles of Belief, what is necessary for salvation. Notice what is missing from this summary. There is a complete absence of doctrinal Trinitarian terminology. Such terminology is not required for saving faith.

In his 1655 An Exposition of the Catechism of the Church of England, William Nicholson - appointed Bishop of Gloucester in 1661 - gave expression to a significant conviction of Trinitarian minimalism. The Holy Trinity is to be adored rather than be a cause of theological speculations:

In a word, this is a mystery revealed by God, therefore to be believed by us, and not curiously searched, to be adored, rather than to be explored. To search is rashness; to believe, is piety; to know, is life. An object for our faith, not for our reason, the reason of our belief in this being God's revelation. So that he that will be curious and inquisitive about it, must remember what is written, [Proverbs 25:27] "It is not good to eat much honey; for men to search their own glory, is not glory."

This should not surprise us. Nicholson was an associate of Jeremy Taylor and a patron of George Bull, both significant voices for Trinitarian minimalism.

Nicholson does take care to ensure that the summary provided by the Catechism is not misunderstood in a non- or anti-Trinitarian fashion: "Three Persons there are in the Holy Trinity, and these have their distinct actions, which yet are so terminated in each one, that the other are not excluded, but rather included". The chief concern of the Catechism, however, is to affirm the divinity of the Three Persons of the Trinity:

They are distinguished by their manner of working outwardly; for,

1. The Father creates.

2. The Son redeems.

3. The Holy Ghost illuminates and sanctifies.

These things all the Persons work equally and inseparably in respect of the cause and effect for what one doth, all do. Yet in congruity we attribute a distinct act in respect of the order and object.

It is our Baptism in the Name of the Triune God that Nicholson highlights as giving expression to the "whole Creed", to the working of the Holy Trinity in the life of the baptised:

For the comfort and assurance of those who are baptized, that the whole Trinity do ratify and confirm what is promised and sealed in Baptism, to wit, remission of sin, and acceptance to favour.

This lays an obligation upon the baptized person, and that divers ways. To acknowledge these three Persons, and consequently his whole Creed; to believe in God the Father that made him, God the Son that redeemed him, and God the Holy Ghost that sanctifieth him and all the elect people of God.

Holy Baptism and Apostles' Creed: here we have what is sufficient for Trinitarian faith, as summarised in the Catechism. No curious searching beyond this is either required or edifying. We are to confess this faith in the Holy Trinity - the Father who creates, the Son who redeems, the Holy Ghost who sanctifies - and adore. This is indicative of the strength of Trinitarian minimalism. There is no need to attempt to bring people to know and understand the doctrinal terminology. A proclamation of and faith in the Three Persons of the Godhead, revealed in the work of creation, redemption, and sanctification, is sufficient for our salvation.

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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