A Window to the Thinking behind the New ACNA Catechism

By Robin G. Jordan

In this fourteenth article in the series, “The New ACNA Catechism – A Closer Look,” we examine the appendices of Being A Christian: An Anglican Catechism. In addition to Prayers for Use with the Catechism of the Anglican Church in North America, A Rite for Admission of Catechumens Proposed to the College of Bishops of The Anglican Church in North America, and The Creeds appended to the new ACNA catechism are Toward an Anglican Catechumenate: Guiding Principles for the Catechesis Task Force Anglican Church in North America and Vision Paper for Catechesis in the Anglican Church of North America. The five documents provide a window to the thinking behind the new ACNA catechism (and in at least two cases, the apparent lack of thinking).

Prayers for Use with the Catechism of the Anglican Church in North America

What is notable about this collection of prayers is that it contains two prayers that differ in their view of baptism and confirmation from that of the new ACNA catechism. These prayers are: For Preparation for Baptism and For Preparation for Confirmation. One would expect that any prayers adopted for use with the catechism would be consistent with its teaching. For Preparation for Baptism infers that we are regenerated by baptism. The catechism, on the other hand, teaches that regeneration is tied to faith and that the Holy Spirit is given in baptism. For Preparation for Confirmation teaches that the Holy Spirit is given in confirmation, not baptism. It contradicts what the catechism teaches.

A Rite for Admission of Catechumens Proposed to the College of Bishops of The Anglican Church in North America

In this rite the catechumens are anointed with the Oil of Catechumens. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church the Oil of Catechumens is used to anoint the baptismal candidate before he is baptized. The anointing is a part of the baptismal rite. The Oil of Catechumens is believed to strengthen the baptismal candidate in his struggle with evil, temptation, and sin. The Roman Catholic Church classifies the Oil of Catechumens as a sacramental. The Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church defines sacramentals as “sacred signs by which effects, especially spiritual effects, are signified in some imitation of the sacraments and are obtained through the intercession of the Church.” Sacramentals include the holy water typically found in a stoup near the entrance to a Roman Catholic parish church and the blessed salt used in the rite of exorcism. The use of the Oil of Catechumens in the proposed rite of admission of catechumens points not only to the influence of unreformed Catholicism in the Anglican Church in North America but also to the tendency toward ritualism in the ACNA.

The Creeds

In the Nicene Creed the words “and from the Son” are placed in brackets and may be omitted. 

College of Bishops Resolution Concerning the Nicene Creed (Epiphany, 2013, adopted unanimously)

Resolved,

The normative form of the Nicene Creed for the Anglican Church in North America is the original text as adopted by the Councils of Nicaea (325 A.D.) and Constantinople (381 A.D.). This form shall be rendered in English in the best and most accurate translation achievable.

Resolved,

The Anglican Church in North America acknowledges that the form of the Nicene Creed customary in the West is that of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, including the words “and the Son” (filioque), which form may be used in worship and for elucidation of doctrine.

Resolved,

Because we are committed to the highest level of global unity possible, the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America seeks advice of the Theological Commission of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans concerning implementation of the recommendation of the Lambeth Conference of 1978 to use the normative form of the Nicene Creed at worship.

Toward an Anglican Catechumenate: Guiding Principles for the Catechesis Task Force Anglican Church in North America

After a lengthy and at times esoteric discussion of catechesis, the authors of this paper delineate what they describe as five guiding principles for the Catechesis Task Force. What is notable about the paper that its primary focus is the revival of an early Church practice and its use in an Anglican context. It pays little attention to the realities of the twenty-first century North American mission field. While similarities exist between the ancient pagan world and the modern secular world, there are also major differences. The paper does not attempt to examine these realities and develop a methodology for sizing up a particular community and determining what would be the most workable approach to evangelization and adult faith formation in that community. Such an exegesis of the community might point to an entirely different approach than the one which the Anglican Church in North America appears to have wedded itself.

What is also notable about this paper is that its authors represent the two dominant theological strands in the Anglican Church in North America—what Gerald Bray has described as “charismatic open evangelical ritualism” and Anglo-Catholicism. The dominance of these two theological strands in the ACNA accounts in large part for its efforts to revive the catechumenate. Behind these efforts can be discerned the influence of the late Robert Webber and the Ancient-Future worship renewal movement, the Roman Catholic Church, and to some extent the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Those who closely monitor developments in the ACNA have noted a steady movement in the direction of unreformed Catholicism. This is quite evident in the method the ACNA College of Bishops has adopted to select a new Archbishop, as well as in the ACNA fundamental declarations, its canons, its “theological lens,” its ordinal, its trial services, its new catechism, and its proposed rite for admission of catechumens.

Vision Paper for Catechesis in the Anglican Church of North America

The vision paper is insistent that all churches in the Anglican Church in North America must adopt the same approach to adult faith formation. It does not consider that the method it promotes—the revival of the catechumenate—has its drawbacks. Vatican II revived the catechumenate in the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960s. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), however, has had mixed success. While adults and older children are being catechized, baptized, and confirmed, they are not being converted. The Roman Catholic Church continues to lose members. While Roman Catholic Church has attracted a number of high profile evangelicals, it has lost substantially more of its own members to evangelical denominations.

What is noticeably missing from the vision paper is any recognition of the need to instruct inquirers, new Christians, and church members in what New Testament teaches about the Great Commission, the priesthood of all believers, the interdependence of the Body of Christ, and the gifts of the Spirit. Without a solid grounding in these basics, they will never become effective, fruit-bearing disciples of Jesus Christ. There is a growing body of evidence that in order to engage and reach the unchurched population of North America churches must abandon an attractional approach and adopt in its place a missional approach. This requires that believers not only be committed to bringing the gospel to the lost but also be equipped to do so.

Also conspicuously absent is any recognition of the need to develop a course of instruction that may be adapted to the culture, educational level, and language skills of those receiving instruction. The unchurched population in North America is not monocultural. The educational level of its members varies from illiterate to doctoral level. It includes a large segment for whom English is not their first language and whose language proficiency ranges from negligible to bilingual proficiency.

The vision paper is clear as to which “Hermeneutic Tradition” it is referring. Anglicans are divided over how the Scriptures should be interpreted and understood. Hermeneutical principles that are acceptable to Anglo-Catholics are not acceptable to evangelicals.

Sacraments receive a decided emphasis in the vision paper. As we seen in our examination of the catechism proper, in its use of this term the Catechesis Task Force is not just referring to baptism and the Lord’s Supper but also to confirmation, absolution, ordination, marriage, and anointing of the sick.

The vision paper makes a number of statements about the sacraments that merit comment. It states, baptism and confirmation bring the individual into the life of the Church, incorporate him into the body of Christ, and regenerate him to new life.” In this statement the vision paper articulates a Roman Catholic view of baptism and confirmation contradicts what is taught in the new ACNA catechism. The latter teaches that regeneration follows faith and precedes baptism. The catechism does not tie regeneration to baptism, only the gift of the Holy Spirit. According to the catechism, the grace conferred in confirmation is the strengthening of the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer for Holy Spirit’s daily increase in the believer’s Christian life and ministry.

The vision paper also places teaching of the Word second in order to the sacraments: “The grace of God works through the sacraments and also through the teaching of the Word [emphasis added].”

The vision paper offers a Roman Catholic view of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

The Holy Communion feeds God’s people “in an heavenly manner” with the Body and Blood of Christ.  Christ is really given to the faithful in the Holy Communion.  This is the continued grace of God in the believer’s life which, co-working with the work of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of the Word, continues to sanctify and grow the believer, with the Church of Jesus as a whole, “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

What the foregoing paragraph refers to as “the continued grace of God in the believer’s life” is what the Roman Catholic Church calls “sanctifying grace.” See Grace: What It Is and What It Does. The vision paper does not identify the source of the quote, “in a heavenly manner.” It does not come from the Prayer Book Catechism or the Thirty-Nine Articles. It does, however, suggest C. B. Moss’s reinterpretation of Article 28 in a Romeward direction. Moss claimed that Article 28 taught that Christ was substantively present in the Holy Communion, in the consecrated bread and wine. This paragraph appears to imply the same thing. The Declaration on Kneeling in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer excludes any substantive presence of Christ in the elements.

The vision paper’s reference to “mother church” is unusual in a purportedly Anglican document. A similar reference is also found in Toward an Anglican Catechumenate: Guiding Principles for the Catechesis Task Force Anglican Church in North America. The use of this phrase is typical of Roman Catholic documents.

The footnotes to the vision paper contain a selective use of a quote from the Proposed Canons of 1571 that is typically found in the works of Anglo-Catholic writers. When the passage is read in the context of the canon in which it is found, it is clear that these writers are misinterpreting this passage.

But chiefly they shall take heed, that they teach nothing in their preaching, which they would have the people religiously to observe, and believe, but that which is agreeable to the doctrine of the old Testament, and the new, and that which the catholic fathers, and ancient Bishops have gathered out of that doctrine [emphasis added][33]. And because those articles of Christian religion, agreed upon by the Bishops, in the lawful, and godly convocation, and by their commandment, and authority of our noble princess Elizabeth assembled and holden [= held], undoubtedly are gathered out of the holy books of the old, and new Testament, and in all points agree with the heavenly doctrine contained in them: because also the book of common prayers, and the book of the consecration of Archbishops, Bishops,  Ministers and Deacons, contain nothing repugnant to the same doctrine, whosoever shall be sent to teach the people, shall not only in their preaching, but also by subscription confirm the authority, and truth of those articles. He that doth otherwise, or troubleth the people with contrary doctrine, shall be excommunicated.

This passage, when read in context, does not support whatever notions of “Hermeneutic Tradition” the vision paper is promoting. 

The Preface to the Ordination Service cited in the same footnote is the Preface to the Ordination Service in the ACNA Ordinal, not the 1662 Prayer Book Ordinal. The ACNA Ordinal alters the Preface to the Ordination Service, substituting “three” for “these.” The footnote does not identify the source of the Thomas Cranmer quote, the date of that quote, or the context. It may be assigning a different meaning to the quote than what Cranmer himself meant, which can be determined from the context. It also may not represent Cranmer’s mature thinking but his earlier thinking. Here the source and date of the quote is invaluable. What you see in this footnote further evidence of the Catechumenate Task Force’s proclivity for “cherry picking.” This proclivity does not inspire any confidence in the task force’s scholarship or its ethicality.

The appendices to Being A Christian: An Anglican Catechism, like the catechism itself, confirm the movement of the Anglican Church in North America in the direction of unreformed Catholicism. Anglicans who fully accept the authority of the Bible and the Anglican formularies and stand in continuity with the English Reformers, particularly those are presently members of a congregation in the ACNA or are clergy in the ACNA need to take note of the direction in which the special interest groups are taking the ACNA. Implied in the vision paper’s insistence that all ACNA churches adopt the approach to adult faith formation that it is championing is that they also teach what the new ACNA catechism teaches. The handwriting is on the wall!

Does the new ACNA catechism teach the Roman Catholic doctrines of grace and justification?

By Robin G. Jordan

In this article we examine Part IV of Being a Christianity: An Anglican Catechism. Titled “Behaving Christianly: The Ten Commandments and Obedience to Christ,” this part of the new ACNA catechism goes well beyond an exposition of the Ten Commandments. It serves as a platform for indoctrinating those studying the catechism in the teachings of one particular school of Anglican thought in a number of key doctrinal areas.

Both the answer to question 256 and the answer to question 259 give the appearance of having been taken from an unidentified work on the Ten Commandments. The new ACNA catechism, however, does not provide footnotes identifying its sources. Such footnotes should have been included with the catechism.

In the answer to question 263 we are introduced for the first time to how the new ACNA catechism views sanctification: “I learn God’s Law now so that, having died to sin in Christ, I might love him as I ought, delight in his will as he heals my nature…” This view of sanctification does not exclude the Roman Catholic view of grace and justification. As we shall see, the Catechism of the Catholic Church has a similar view of sanctification.

The new ACNA catechism’s view of sanctification also appears to be indebted to the psychologizing of Christianity, a twentieth century development that influenced a number of denominations, including the Episcopal Church. The Anglican Church in North America is an offshoot of the Episcopal Church. Most of its bishops and other clergy were trained in seminaries in the Episcopal Church or other denominations influenced by this development.

The answer to question 264 reiterates what the catechism teaches about faith, regeneration, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The answer to question 265 infers a particular doctrine of the Church, doctrine that is historically associated with Anglo-Catholicism and Roman Catholicism and is based on tradition, not Scripture. It is not a doctrine of the Church with which all Anglicans are in agreement. The answer to question 266 emphasizes a connection between the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper and the process of “learning and living God’s Law.”

In the Lord’s Supper or Holy Eucharist, I hear the Law read, hear God’s good news of forgiveness, recall my baptismal promises, have my faith renewed, and receive grace to follow Jesus in the ways of God’s Laws and in the works of his Commandments.

What is notable about the answer to question 266 is that it presumes that the Ten Commandments will be read at every celebration of the Holy Communion. This is certainly not the case for ACNA congregations using the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Even the trial services of Holy Communion authorized by the ACNA College of Bishops do not require the reading of the Ten Commandments at every celebration of the Holy Communion. 

What is also notable about this answer is that it infers a Roman Catholic view of grace. See the explanation of actual grace and sanctifying grace in Grace: What It Is and What It Does on the Catholic Answers website. It certainly does not infer the Protestant view of grace as unmerited and unearned divine favor, a view of grace that historic Anglicanism has shared with other forms of Protestantism.

The answer to question 276 offers a part of the rationale that Anglo-Catholics have used to justify their practice of decorating their churches with crucifixes, paintings, and statues, a Medieval practice that the English Reformers rejected as idolatrous in the sixteenth century and over which Anglicans are divided in this century. The inclusion of question 276 appears to be unwarranted except to provide an argument that Anglo-Catholics can use to support their continuation of this practice and to promote its adoption by other Anglicans.

In the answer to question 279 we encounter the tendency to use terminology associated with the psychologizing of Christianity. As we shall see, this tendency is pronounced in the new ACNA catechism’s discussion of sanctification.

In question 280 and the answer to that question we see another tendency in the new ACNA catechism. It is to use the discussion of one topic as a springboard to start a discussion of something else, which may at be best be only indirectly related to the topic under discussion. This question and answer appears to have been included to reinforce a view expressed earlier in the catechism.

280. How can you love God in worship?

The Holy Scriptures teach me how to worship God, and the Church’s liturgy guides my worship in keeping with the Scriptures. I can show love to God by worshiping him in this way.

T he answer to question 280 raises the authority of “the Church” to the level of the authority of the Scripture. Whether the liturgy of a particular church is capable of guiding the worship of its members in accordance with what the Scriptures teach depends upon the extent that such liturgy conforms to the teaching of the Scriptures. This in turn depends upon a particular church’s willingness to fully accept the authority of the Bible. The Anglican Church in North America has so far produced services that depart from the Scriptures as well as the Anglican formularies in doctrine and practice.

The answer to question 280 also infers that the celebration of the liturgy (and by implication the sacraments) as a form of worship is superior to a life that honors God in all things. This is, however, not what the Scriptures teach. Rather the Scriptures teach that obedience to God lies at the heart of true worship.

We see in the answer to question 285, “How can honor God’s Name?” further evidence of the inability of the authors of the new ACNA catechism to use language that is clear and correspond to today’s use of language and to make the questions and answers easy to explain and remember.

I honor and love God’s Name, in which I was baptized, by keeping my promises and by upholding honor in relationships, charity in society, justice in law, uprightness in vocation, and holiness in worship.

A simpler answer drawn from the Scriptures themselves would have been a better choice.

The new ACNA catechism appears to have been written with a particular target group in mind—individuals who are fairly educated and literate and have a good grasp of the English language. Its choice of vocabulary would be a significant obstacle to its use with a large segment of the unchurched population in North America. It suggests a lack of a genuine commitment to the Great Commission’s mandate to make disciples of all people groups.

The answer to question 298 takes the position that we honor the Fifth Commandment by respecting “tradition,” among other things. We, however, do not find any support in the Scriptures for the notion that respecting tradition is a fulfillment of the commandment to honor one’s father and mother. Nor do we find such support for the notion that respecting authority figures is likewise a fulfillment of the same commandment. None of the New Testament writers unambiguously express such ideas. The answer to question 298 is clearly an unscriptural attempt to give the authority of the clergy and church tradition the added weight of the Fifth Commandment.

In Concise Theology: A Guide to Historical Belief J. I Packer identifies the three purposes of God’s moral law. These three purposes are to convict the sinner, “to restrain evil,” and “to guide the regenerate into the good works that God has planned for them.” They are how Anglicans have historically viewed the Ten Commandments. Only the first of these three purposes receives any mention in the new ACNA catechism.

The answers to questions 339-345 articulate the new ACNA catechism’s view of sanctification.

339. What is the first benefit of Christ’s sacrifice?

My sins are forgiven when I confess them and ask for pardon through Christ’s shed blood. I live by being forgiven. (1 John 1:8-9; Hebrews 9:11-12)

340. Are you still broken, despite God’s forgiveness?

Yes. Sin leaves me wounded, lonely, afraid, divided, and in need of Christ’s healing ministry. (Psalms 32:1-5; 51; 130; Matthew 15:19; 1 John 2:1-2)

341. How does Jesus heal you?

Through the gift and fruit of the Holy Spirit, Jesus mends my disordered soul from the effects of sin in my mind, will, and desire. (Acts 2:38; Romans 8:26; 12:2)

342. What is this healing called?

This healing is called sanctification. In it, by the work of the Holy Spirit, my mind, will, and desires are progressively transformed and conformed to the character of Jesus Christ. (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:1-3; 3:14-21; 4:17-19; Philippians 2; Colossians 2-4; 1 John 3:2-3)

343. What does the Church offer you as helps for your sanctification?

The Church’s teaching, sacraments, liturgies, seasons, ministry, oversight, and fellowship assist my growth in Christ and are channels of God’s abundant care for my soul. (Ephesians 4-6; Philippians 3; Colossians 3; Ascensiontide Collects)

344. For what does sanctification prepare you?

Sanctification prepares me for the vision and glory of God in conformity to my Lord Jesus Christ, who has promised that “the pure in heart shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

345. With what attitude should I live a life of sanctification?

God calls me to a life of joy. Constant thoughts of God’s love for me, and of my hope in Christ, will keep me always rejoicing. (Philippians 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19)

Compare the answer to these questions with what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about grace and justification.

1989 The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. "Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.

1990  Justification detaches man from sin which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin. Justification follows upon God's merciful initiative of offering forgiveness. It reconciles man with God. It frees from the enslavement to sin, and it heals [emphasis added].

1999 The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin [emphasis added] and to sanctify it. It is the sanctifying or deifying grace received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification....

2000 Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love. Habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God's call, is distinguished from actual graces which refer to God's interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification.

2003 Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favor," "gratuitous gift," "benefit." Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church.

Note that the ACNA catechism’s view of sanctification does not exclude Roman Catholic teaching on grace and justification. The catechism does not unequivocally articulate the New Testament doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. This is one of its major weaknesses. This doctrine is central to the historic Anglican understanding of the gospel—an understanding that the Thirty-Nine Articles seek to protect and to which the 1662 Book of Common Prayer gives liturgical expression.

It is also worthy of note that the new ACNA catechism does not entirely exclude the Eastern Orthodox view that while humanity bears the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin, it does not bear the guilt of their sin. The catechism teaches that human conscience is corrupted by sin and the human will is the captive of sin to the point that human beings cannot save themselves by their own efforts. They need divine help. But that is the extent of its teaching. It does not teach that humanity bears both the consequences and guilt of Adam and Eve’s sin.

While the New Testament contains a number of references to healing, they are all with four exception references to physical healing or deliverance from demons. The exception are a reference in Matthew 13:15, John 12:40, and Acts 28:27 to Isaiah 6:10 and in 1 Peter 2:24 to Isaiah 53: 5. The Greek word used in these passages is ἰάομαι, pronounced iaomai. Its usages in the Bible include to cure, heal; to make whole, particularly to to free from errors and sins, to bring about (one's) salvation. It can be interpreted as “saved,” as well as “healed.” It does not appear in any of the New Testament passages about sanctification. It has been interpreted as supporting the Roman Catholic teaching on grace and justification .

The use of the terms like “heals” and “healing” has a particular appeal to North Americans who have been influenced by humanistic psychology and are inclined to think in psychological terms. It also has an appeal to charismatics who have been influenced by the charismatic movement’s teaching on inner or spiritual healing. They are not apt not to question the use of these terms in the new ACNA catechism. But as we have seen, the same terms can be used to teach the Roman Catholic view of grace and justification.

Note also the prominent role that the answer to question 343 gives to “the Church” in the process of sanctification. However, the view of “the Church” articulated in the answer is the view that is historically associated with Anglo-Catholicism and Roman Catholicism. It is a view of “the Church,” which is derived from tradition, not Scripture.

The New Testament recognizes only the invisible church—the body of all believers, past, present, and future, and the visible church—a congregation of the believing Christians in a particular time and place. The Thirty-Nine Articles in its doctrine of the church mirrors the New Testament.

The New Testament emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification, God at work in us to will and do his good pleasure. Sound biblical doctrine and the local gathering of believers and its leaders play a part in our sanctification. They are means through which God works.

The New Testament, however, makes no mention of “the Church” through its “teaching, sacraments, liturgies, seasons, ministry, oversight, and fellowship” helping us to grow in Christ and channeling God’s care for our souls. The New Testament does not place such a human creation as a mediator between God and ourselves, much less entrust to it the dispensing of God’s grace.

In this article we have completed our examination of Parts I-IV of Being A Christian: An Anglican Catechism. As we have seen, the writing team that put together the new ACNA catechism did not follow the three guidelines that J. I. Packer lists in the introduction to the catechism. The catechism also suffers from a number of other defects and weaknesses.

Among these defects and weaknesses the new ACNA catechism in its choice of language appears designed more to impress those studying it rather than to inform them. The catechism not only uses too many words in answering questions but also uses words that are more difficult than is necessary to answer them.

A number of the questions appear to have been chosen principally for the purpose of enabling the authors to indoctrinate those studying the catechism in the doctrinal views of the particular school of Anglican thought favored in the catechism. These views are derived not only from that school of Anglican thought’s interpretation of the Scriptures but also from extra-biblical sources, which rather than reflect what Scripture teaches, add to or change its teaching. They are not views with which all Anglicans would agree, particularly Anglicans who fully accept the authority of the Bible and the Anglican formularies and in their doctrinal views stand in continuity with the English Reformers.

Those who authored the catechism also give the appearance of seeking to so overwhelm those studying the catechism with questions and answers that they will not question the truth of its contents. The catechism has 345 questions and answers. The catechism used by the the Church of the Province of Southern Africa has only 144 questions and answers; the revised catechism of the Anglican Church of Kenya, only 61.

In the next article we will look at the appendices of Being A Christian: An Anglican Catechism.

What does the new ACNA catechism teach about prayer, worship, and the spiritual life?

By Robin G. Jordan

In this article we are going to take a look at some additional problem areas in Being a Christian: An Anglican Catechism. We will be examining Part III of the new ACNA catechism which contains its teaching on prayer, worship, and the spiritual life.

Part III of the new ACNA catechism contains the catechism’ exposition of the Lord’s Prayer. This exposition is preceded by a section titled “Concerning Prayer.” This section appears to have been taken from an unidentified prayer manual. The definition of prayer in this section uses terms that do not correspond to today’s use of language. It also excludes as prayer a greater part of the whole range of prayer found in the Bible with the qualifier “turn our hearts to God…in worship.”

The section reduces the reasons for seeking God in prayer to one, “the joy of fellowship with God.”  While first appearing to define “fellowship with God” in terms of prayer, “relating to him as his children,” it then speaks of having fellowship with God “in Word, Sacrament, and prayer.”

The Bible, however, teaches that we have fellowship with God in a broader sense in six different ways: (1) consciousness of our indwelling sin and constant confession of that sin; (2) submission to God’s commands; (3) “sacrificial love for the brethren;” (4) love of God and longing for him and his presence more than worldly things; (5) perseverance in faith; and (6) adherence to the truth in sound doctrine.

The section goes on to offer four reasons we should pray:

I should pray, first, because God calls me so to do; second, because I desire to know God and be known by him; third, because I need the grace and consolation of the Holy Spirit; and fourth, because God responds to the prayers of his people.

Here again the new ACNA catechism uses “Churchinese” rather than language that is familiar to those studying the catechism and which they can easily understand. It speaks of “the grace and consolation of the Holy Spirit.” Grace is one of those terms that have a variety of meanings. Anglicans use the term in substantially different ways. The differences in the ways that Anglicans use the term are one of the reasons that there are different schools of Anglican thought. Consolation is a term that is no longer in wide use except in the phrase “consolation prize.”

The section further asks what we should we pray and when we should pray. In answer to the question what we should pray, it includes “the Lord’s Prayer, the Psalms, and the collected prayers of the Church.” It offers no explanation as to why we should use these prayers in addition to our own. In answer to the question when should we pray, it speaks of praying not only morning, noon, and night but also whenever we are aware of our need for God’s “special grace.” Here again the catechism uses "churchy lingo" It is not clear what is meant by “special grace.” As previously noted, grace is a term that has different meanings for the different schools of Anglican thought.

The catechism also places a qualification upon “praying without ceasing,” which the Scriptures do not place.

The new ACNA catechism’s exposition of the Lord’s Prayer overemphasizes some things while neglecting others. It is rather lengthy and a number of the questions and answers are extraneous. A number of answers to questions are flawed. The exposition also contains a defective view of worship. It appears to place honoring God with our lips before honoring Him with our lives.

The catechism’s exposition of the Lord’s Prayer is followed by a lengthy section on prayer, liturgy, and a rule of life. This section includes teaching on the use of the Scriptures. This section goes well beyond what is typically found in the more recent Anglican catechisms. A number of the questions and answers are extraneous. 

A number of the answers to the questions in this section take positions that cannot with certainty be found in the Scriptures nor can with certainty be proved by the Scriptures (Article 6). For example, the answer to question 243 asserts that “a structured liturgy” is “a biblical pattern displayed in both Testaments.” It is debatable whether the Christians of the New Testament had “a structured liturgy.” Paul’s writings suggest that they had a more open form of worship. While Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians emphasizes that Christian gatherings should be edifying, orderly, and participatory, arguing that this letter provides a Scriptural warrant for the use of structured liturgies may be really stretching the meaning of what he wrote.

While the use of structured liturgies may not be prescribed by the New Testament, however, their use is not prohibited. It is in the application of the normative principle, not the regulative principle, that the use of structured liturgies may be regarded as “Scriptural.” They are not contrary or repugnant to the Scriptures. See Articles 20 and 34.

Several answers make generalizations that do not hold true for all Anglicans nor are they true under all circumstances. The answer to question 243 also asserts that structured liturgies “foster…a reverent fear of God.” Structured liturgies may have this effect for some Anglicans under some circumstances. But it is a real stretch to claim that it is true for all Anglicans or under all circumstances.

The following question and answer should have been omitted:

244. Do form and structure inhibit freedom in worship?

No. Form and structure provide a setting for freedom of heart in worship.

Form and structure do not invariably “provide a setting for freedom of heart” whatever is meant by that phrase. Anglicans are divided over how much form and structure is needed in worship and whether too much form and structure can inhibit freedom in worship. What we see here is the view of only one school of Anglican thought. It is not shared by all schools of Anglican thought especially those schools of Anglican thought—charismatic and evangelical—that have adopted free-flowing forms of worship. They will point out that too much form and structure results in worship that is perfunctory and ritualistic.

The answer to question 248 asserts that Anglicans pray the Daily Offices because they believe that they are a sacrifice pleasing to God. Doing so also keeps them aware that their time is sanctified to God. This may be true for some Anglicans but it is not true for all Anglicans. This answer reflects the view of a particular school of Anglican thought.  Archbishop Cranmer revised the Daily Offices and required the daily reading of Morning and Evening Prayer in every parish church, cathedral, and collegiate chapel because he believed that through the regular hearing of God’s Word the moral and spiritual lives of the clergy and the people would be transformed.

The problem with the answer to question 250 is that the use of Scriptural terminology and texts in a Prayer Book does not guarantee that its teachings are Scriptural. Scriptural terminology and texts may be misused to teach doctrines that have no real basis in the Scriptures. Scriptural texts may be edited and lectionaries compiled that omit important Scriptural teachings.

The answer to question 250 asserts that a Prayer Book “leads the Church to pray in one voice with order, beauty, deep devotion, and great dignity.” This assertion is not true in all cases. Whether the particular forms used in worship are beautiful is highly subjective judgment. What may give pleasure to the senses of one person or may pleasurably exalt the mind or spirit of that person may not have the same effects on another person. Neither are "deep devotion and great dignity" givens when a prescribed liturgy is used. I have attended Anglican churches where the clergy and the people were quite obviously going through the motions of worshiping God. I also attended Anglican churches where "indifferent" and "sloppy" would describe Sunday worship. The use of a prescribed liturgy did not redeem the poor quality of the worship. Indeed the poor execution of the liturgy added to it

What is notable about the answer to question 250 is its omission of the better reasons for use of a Prayer Book. They include teaching and reinforcing sound doctrine, facilitating congregational participation, and making tangible the priesthood of all believers. What we do find is one school of Anglican thought’s views on liturgical worship.

The answers to questions 251-255 also reflects the views of one school of Anglican thought. The authors of the new ACNA catechism not only here but elsewhere in the catechism are not satisfied to form inquirers and new Christians as disciples. They seek to make them into adherents of this school of Anglican thought.

Scripture passages cited in support of answers in Part III frequently do not have a real connection to the answer. They may simply contain a word used in the answer. This is a pattern that runs throughout the entire catechism.

Like Parts I and II of Being a Christian: An Anglican Catechism, Part III offers ample proof that the new ACNA catechism is not a catechism that all Anglicans can use with confidence. It is clearly intended for the instruction of inquirers and new Christians in the views of one school of Anglican thought, and not for their instruction in what the Bible and the Anglican formularies teach. Unfortunately its teachings have begun appearing on a number of websites where they are misrepresented as what Anglicanism teaches, rather than presented as the views of one school of Anglican thought.

Conservative Anglicans who do not share the views of the school of Anglican thought expressed or inferred in the new ACNA catechism need to publicly criticize its defects and weaknesses and draw them to the attention of like-minded Anglicans. They need to raise the global Anglican community’s awareness of the harm this catechism can do. They need to oppose not only its mandatory use in the Anglican Church in North America but also its dissemination to other Anglican ecclesial bodies. There is too much at stake not to do anything.

What does the new ACNA catechism teach about Christian ministry?

By Robin G. Jordan

In this article, the eleventh in the series, “The New ACNA Catechism – A Closer Look,” we will be examining what Being A Christian: An Anglican Catechism teaches about Christian ministry. We will also be comparing its teaching with what the ACNA Ordinal teaches.

The ACNA Ordinal makes a number of major changes in the Anglican Ordinal (1661). These changes as I have written elsewhere represent significant departures from the doctrine of the Anglican Ordinal (1661). For example, the ACNA Ordinal substitutes “three” for “these” in the phrase “these orders of ministers in Christ’s Church” in the Preface to the Ordinal. With this change it makes one school of Anglican thought’s interpretation of the Preface the only permissible interpretation.

The English Reformers regarded bishops and presbyters as belonging to the same order but exercising different offices. In the New Testament overseer (or bishop) and presbyter are used interchangeably. The Preface in the Anglican Ordinal (1661) does not preclude this view of bishops and presbyters, a view held by conservative Evangelicals in the Church of England and other Anglican provinces.

124. What are the three ordained ministries in the Anglican Church?

The three orders are bishops, priests, and deacons.

Both the question and answer reflect the position that the ACNA Ordinal takes. Compare this question and answer with the corresponding question and answer in the the revised catechisms of the Church of England and the Anglican Church of Kenya.

What orders of ministers are there in the Church?

There are these orders of ministers in the Church: Bishops, Priests, and Deacon.

Both the question and answer are consistent with what the Preface to the Anglican Ordinal (1661) itself states. They do not preclude the English Reformers’ view of bishops and presbyters.

What is notable about the new ACNA catechism is that it contains no teaching about the common ministry of all Christians. This is one of its major defects. Even An Outline of the Faith, or Catechism, in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer does not neglect this important New Testament doctrine:

Who are the ministers of the Church?

The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons.

What is the ministry of the laity?

The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and according to the gifts given to them, to carry on Christ's work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church.

The ministry of lay persons is recognized along with the ministries of bishops, priests, and deacons.

125. What is the work of bishops?

Thework of bishops is to represent and serve Christ and the Church as chief pastors, to lead in preaching and teaching the faith and in shepherding the faithful, to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church, and to bless, confirm and ordain, thus following in the tradition of the Apostles. (Titus 1:7-9; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Acts 20:28)

What is particularly notable about the answer to question 125 is the claim that bishops alone represent and serve Christ and the Church in their particular ministry. The New Testament , however, teaches that all Christians represent and serve Christ and the Church in their various ministries, not just bishops.

The answer to question 125, in its description of the work of bishops, in its choice of language, takes an elevated view of the episcopal office. The new ACNA Ordinal in its Form for Ordaining and Consecrating a Bishop also takes a similarly high view of that office. This can be seen in the Medieval ceremonial prescribed or permitted by the rubrics in the ACNA Ordinal.

The answer to question 125 also suggests a connection between the ministry of bishops and the ministry of the Apostles, a doctrine over which Anglicans have been historically divided. When considered in light of what the new ACNA catechism teaches about ordination, the answer to question 125 appears to be alluding to the Anglo-Catholic and Roman Catholic doctrine of apostolic succession.

The new ACNA catechism cites Titus 1:7-9, 1 Timothy 3:1-7, and Acts 20:28 in support of the answer to question 125. Titus 1:7-9 gives the Sciptural requirements for the office of overseer. 1 Timothy 3:1-7 also gives the Scriptural requirements for the same office.

The term “overseer” as used in Titus 1:7-9 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7 does not refer to a bishop in the modern sense but is a term used interchangeably with elder, or presbyter, in the New Testament. It is from a contraction of presbyter, “prester,” that the term “priest” in the Anglican formularies is derived.

Acts 20:28 must interpreted in the context of Acts 20:17-38. Paul is addressing the elders, or presbyters, of the church at Ephesus. It is these elders that he is calling “overseers.”

When they are properly interpreted and understood, these passages have nothing to do with the answer to question 125. Acts 20:28, however, does support the English Reformers’ view that bishops and presbyters belong to the same order.

126. What is the work of priests?

The work of priests, serving Christ under their bishops, is to nurture congregations through the full ministry of the Word preached and Sacraments rightly administered, and to pronounce absolution and blessing in God’s name. (Titus 1:5; 1 Peter 5:1)

What is particularly notable about the answer to question 126 is the phrase “serving Christ under their bishop.” This phrase is highly suggestive of the Anglo-Catholic and Roman Catholic view of the ministry of the clergy as an extension of the ministry of the bishop. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this concept in its article on the sacrament of ordination.

1562 "Christ, whom the Father hallowed and sent into the world, has, through his apostles, made their successors, the bishops namely, sharers in his consecration and mission; and these, in their turn, duly entrusted in varying degrees various members of the Church with the office of their ministry.""The function of the bishops' ministry was handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co-workers of the episcopal order for the proper fulfillment of the apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it by Christ."

This view would explain why the answer to question 125 claims that bishops alone represent and serve Christ and the Church in their particular ministry.

What is noteworthy is that none of the other Anglican catechisms that I examined as a part of my research for this article contain anything that approximates the phrase, “…serving Christ under their bishop.” This phrase and the foregoing claim appear to be peculiarities of the new ACNA catechism. What is also noteworthy is that their explanations of the work of a priest are simpler and more easy to understand.

The Church of the Province of Southern Africa and the Diocese of West Lagos (The Church of Nigeria):

What is the ministry of a priest or presbyter?

The ministry of a priest if to represent Christ and his Church, particularly as pastor to the people; to share with the bishop in overseeing of the Church; to proclaim the gospel; to administer the sacrament; and to bless and declare pardon in the name of God.

The Anglican Church of Kenya and the Church of England:

What is the work of a Priest?

The work of a Priest is to preach the word of God, to teach, and to baptize; to celebrate the Holy Communion;to pronounce absolution and blessing in God’s name; and to care for the people entrusted by the Bishop to his charge.

The new ACNA cites Titus 1:5 and 1 Peter 5:1 in support of the answer to question 126. Anglicans are divided over how Titus 1:5 should be interpreted and understood as are other Christians. 1 Peter 5:1,2, as Michael Green points to our attention in Freed to Serve: Training & Equipping for Ministry, the elders (or presbyters) are “told…‘to act as bishops’ of the flock.” As in the case of the Scripture references in parentheses at the end of the answer to question 125, these Scripture references appear to have been added to make the answer to the question appear to have a Scriptural basis.

127. What is the work of deacons?

The work of deacons, serving Christ under their bishops, is to assist priests in public worship, instruct both young and old in the catechism, and care for those in need. (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 3:8-13)

The phrase, “serving Christ under their bishops,” is also used in the new ACNA catechism’s description of the work of deacons. Here again it points to the Anglo-Catholic and Roman Catholic view of the ministry of the other clergy as an extension of the ministry of the bishop. As in the case of priests, none of the other Anglican catechisms contain anything approximating this phrase.

Acts 6:1-6 and 1 Timothy 3:8-13 are cited in support of the answer to question 127. As Michael Green also points to our attention in Freed to Serve: Training & Equipping for Ministry, it is debatable whether the seven in Acts 6 were deacons in the technical sense. They were not called “deacons.” Their functions of preaching and evangelizing did not correspond with the duties that are associated with the later diaconate. Philip who was one of the seven is called “the evangelist” in Acts 21:8, not “the deacon.” While Paul refers to “bishops” and “deacons”in 1 Timothy 3, he does not refer to “deacons” in a similar letter to Titus.

In viewing the seven in Acts 6 as the first deacons, the ACNA catechism is taking the traditional Catholic view of the seven, a view first attributed to Iraneus. While Acts 6 may describe the origin of the diaconate, it does not support what is stated in the answer to question 127. As far that goes, neither does 1 Timothy 3. It gives the Scriptural requirements for the office of deacon. It does not give its duties.

Another peculiarity of the new ACNA catechism is that it inserts the questions and answers on Christian ministry in the section on sacraments. The other Anglican catechisms that I examined place these questions and answers in a section of their own and place this section after the questions and answers on the church and its mission.

In the questions and answers on Christian ministry in Being A Christian: An Anglican Catechism we find further evidence that the new ACNA catechism is partisan in its views. A major defect or weakness of the new ACNA catechism, as we have seen, is that it takes the position that the church’s ministers are the bishop and the other clergy. It teaches nothing about the ministry of all Christians, an important New Testament doctrine.

Another major defect or weakness of the new ACNA catechism, which warrants mentioning at this point, is its length. A number of the questions and answers could have been omitted. The catechism would not have suffered from their omission. On the other hand, a number of questions and answers that should have been included in the catechism were not included. As a result the catechism is overblown in some places and skimpy in others.

What does the new ACNA catechism teach about the sacraments? (Part 6)

By Robin G. Jordan

In our examination of the remaining questions and answers on sacraments in Part II in Being A Christian: An Anglican Catechism, we will be looking at what the new ACNA catechism teaches about marriage and anointing of the sick. As we have seen so far, the new ACNA catechism teaches that confirmation, absolution, ordination, marriage and anointing of the sick are sacraments and confer sacramental grace. In its teaching on sacraments the new ACNA catechism favors the sacramental teaching of a particular school of Anglican thought, a school of thought that has its origins in the nineteenth century Tractarian and Ritualist movements, and is strongly influenced by the sacramental views of the Roman Catholic Church. This section of the new ACNA catechism contains five questions, three on marriage and two on anointing of the sick, and the answers to these questions.

128. What is marriage?

Marriage is a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman, binding both to self-giving love and exclusive fidelity. In the rite of Christian marriage, the couple exchange vows to uphold this covenant. They do this before God and in the presence of witnesses, who pray that God will bless their life together. (Genesis 2:23-24; Matthew 19; Mark 10:2-9; Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7:39)

The Thirty-Nine Articles state that marriage should not be viewed as a sacrament. Rather it is a state of life “allowed in the Scriptures.” The Homily on Common Prayer and the Sacraments classifies marriage as a godly state of life, “necessary in Christ’s Church, and therefore worthy to be set forth by public action and solemnity by the ministry of the Church.” The marrage service in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer describes “holy Matrimony” in these terms:

[holy Matrimony] is an honourable estate, instituted of God in the time of man's innocency, signifying unto us the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his Church; which holy estate Christ adorned and beautified with his presence, and first miracle that he wrought, in Cana of Galilee; and is commended of Saint Paul to be honourable among all men: and therefore is not by any to be enterprised, nor taken in hand, unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly, to satisfy men's carnal lusts and appetites, like brute beasts that have no understanding; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the fear of God; duly considering the causes for which Matrimony was ordained.

The 1662 Marriage Service goes on to give three reasons for which God ordained matrimony:

First, It was ordained for the procreation of children, to be brought up in the fear and nurture of the Lord, and to the praise of his holy Name.Secondly, It was ordained for a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication; that such persons as have not the gift of continency might marry, and keep themselves undefiled members of Christ's body.Thirdly, It was ordained for the mutual society, help, and comfort, that the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity. Into which holy estate these two persons present come now to be joined.

In the 1662 Marriage Service the term “covenant” is paired with the term “vow” and the two terms refer to the solemn promise that the couple is making to be faithful to each other.

O eternal God, Creator and Preserver of all mankind, Giver of all spiritual grace, the Author of everlasting life: Send thy blessing upon these thy servants, this man and this woman, whom we bless in thy Name; that, as Isaac and Rebecca lived faithfully together, so these persons may surely perform and keep the vow and covenant betwixt them made, (whereof this ring given and received is a token and pledge,) and may ever remain in perfect love and peace together, and live according to thy laws; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The 1662 Marriage Service uses the term “troth” to describe the faithfulness to each other, which the couple is committing themselves. It can refer not only this faithfulness but also to the commitment itself.

Forasmuch as N. and N. have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and thereto have given and pledged their troth either to other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving of a ring, and by joining of hands; I pronounce that they be man and wife together, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

While the definition of marriage in the new ACNA catechism uses the term “covenant”and the 1662 Marriage Service uses the same term, they do not appear to be using it in the same way. As we shall see, the new ACNA catechism does not take its teaching on marriage from the Anglican formularies—the Thirty Nine Articles, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and the two Books of Homilies—but from Roman Catholic documents.

Genesis 2:23-24; Matthew 19; Mark 10:2-9; Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7:39 are cited in support of the catechism’s definition of marriage. It is questionable that this definition of marriage can be read out of these passages, which relate to God’s institution of the state of marriage, marital fidelity, and divorce. Matthew 19 pertains to marriage only in part. It includes a passage about becoming a eunach for the kingdom, a passage that the Roman Catholic Church claims provides the Scriptural basis for its teaching on a celibate priesthood. Protestants and Roman Catholics are divided over the meaning of this passage as are Anglicans among themselves.

A google search of terms used in the answer to question 128 yield some interesting results. The phrase “lifelong covenant” appears in the guidelines and liturgies for the sacramental blessing of same sex relationships authorized by a number of dioceses of the Episcopal Church. It crops up in articles on the Covenant Marriage Movement. It appears in a discussion of the similarities between the covenant theology of sexuality and Pope John Paul II’s “theology of the body” in John F. Kipley’s Sex and the Marriage Covenant: A Basis for Morality. It also crops up in a Catholic definition of marriage on the Marriage Missionaries website: “Marriage is a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman to give honor to God through the procreation and education of their children.”

The phrase “self-giving love” repeatedly appears in an explanation of the matrimony as a sacrament in Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan, a 2009 pastoral letter by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This pastoral letter and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as we shall see, are the primary sources of the doctrine states or inferred in the answers to question 128-130.

129. What is signified in marriage?

The covenantal union of man and woman in marriage signifies the communion between Christ, the heavenly bridegroom, and the Church, his holy bride. Not all are called to marriage, but all Christians are wedded to Christ and blessed by the grace God gives in marriage. (Ephesians 5:31-32)

In its discussion of the challenges to the nature and purposes of marriage, specifically divorce, Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan refers to marriage as “a lifelong covenantal union.” While 1662 Marriage Service speaks of the “mystical union”between Christ and his Church, the Catechism of the Catholic Church uses the term “communion” to describe this relationship. An examination of Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan and the corresponding sections of the Catechism of Catholic Church on the sacrament of matrimony reveals that the new ACNA catechism not only borrowed terminology from these documents but is also strongly influenced by their thinking. The answers to questions 128 -130 show the influence of Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan and the Catechism of Catholic Church to such extent that they may be described as a condensed version of the teaching in these documents.

The answer to question 129 claims that all Christians are “blessed by the grace God gives in marriage.” This view is found in Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Planand the Catechism of Catholic Church and has its origins in the medieval view that marriage is “an instrument of sanctification, a channel of grace that caused God's gracious gifts and blessings to be poured upon humanity.” See John Witte’s From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition (p. 92).

It is noteworthy that a number of liturgies for the blessing of same sex relationships in the Episcopal Church also use the term “lifelong covenantal union.”

130. What grace does God give in marriage?

In Christian marriage, God establishes and blesses the covenant between husband and wife, and joins them to live together in a communion of love, faithfulness and peace within the fellowship of Christ and his Church. God enables all married people to grow in love, wisdom and godliness through a common life patterned on the sacrificial love of Christ.

In the answer to question 130 we find in a condensed form what Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan and the Catechism of the Catholic Churchteach is the grace of the sacrament of matrimony.

Before we examine the questions and answers on anointing of the sick, we should first take a look at the origin of this practice and its development into a sacrament. Anointing the sick with oil was a common practice in the ancient Mediterranean world. It was known to the Greeks, Romans, and other Mediterranean peoples, as well as the Jews. The New Testament not only describes Jesus’disciples anointing the sick with oil but also the Good Samaritan treating with oil the injuries of the traveler whom robbers had beaten and left for dead. Up until the ninth century the anointing was done by a priest, a layperson, or by the sick or injured person himself. It was not confined to the dying and was used in any serious illness or injury. It was sometimes repeated several times. A Protestant Dictionary gives this account of the further development of anointing of the sick:

In the ninth century (the beginning of the Middle Ages) the administration of the oil was confined to a priest, and gradually it became not a rite, from which restoration to health was hoped, but a preparation for death. For this reason it came to be called, in the twelfth century, the Last, or the Extreme Unction, because it followed after previous unctions at baptism and confirmation ; and very soon the expression Extreme Unction was identified with unction of one in extremity. Then followed its inclusion in the list of the Seven Sacraments, first drawn up in the thirteenth century.

Combined with the Viaticum it thus became one of the institutions of the new religion into which traditional Christianity was resolved by Innocent III., the most salient features of which were Transubstantiation and the Confessional, supplemented by Extreme Unction and the Viaticum.

By the thirteenth century anointing of the sick was believed “to strengthen the soul in the death agony against the temptations of the devil, to wipe out all the remains of sin, to remove all punishments still due,” and “sometimes to restore to health.”

The 1549 Book of Common Prayer permitted the anointing of the sick if they desired it. The 1549 Prayer Book confined the anointing to “the forehead and breast only” and appointed the use of a prayer that “did not attribute any spiritual efficacy to the material and visible oil.”

If the sick person desire to be anointed, then shall the priest anoint him upon the forehead or breast only, making the sign of the cross, saying thus,

As with this visible oil thy body outwardly is anointed: so our heavenly father almighty God, grant of his infinite goodness, that thy soul inwardly may be anointed with the holy ghost, who is the spirit of all strength, comfort, relief, and gladness. And vouchesafe for his great mercy (if it be his blessed will) to restore unto thee thy bodily health, and strength, to serve him, and send thee release of all thy pains, troubles, and diseases, both in body and mind. And howsoever his goodness (by his divine and unsearchable providence) shall dispose of thee: we, his unworthy ministers and servants, humbly beseech the eternal majesty, to do with thee according to the multitude of his innumerable mercies, and to pardon thee all thy sins and offences, committed by all thy bodily senses, passions, and carnal affections: who also vouchsafe mercifully to grant unto thee ghostly strength, by his holy spirit, to withstand and overcome al temptations and assaults of thine adversary, that in no wise he prevail against thee, but that thou mayest have perfect victory and triumph against the devil, sin, and death, through Christ….

The 1549 Prayer Book was a transitional service book. The anointing of the sick was dropped from the 1552 Prayer Book. The Articles of Religion reject Extreme Unction as a “corrupt following of the Apostles.”

The Ritualist movement would revive the practice of Extreme Unction in the Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal Church in the nineteenth century, teaching in conjunction with this practice what the Roman Catholic Church taught about Extreme Unction.

The practice of anointing the sick, not just the dying, would reappear with the charismatic renewal movement in the twentieth century. Charismatics would be divided in their understanding of the practice. Some viewed it as an apostolic practice while others viewed it as a sacrament.

In the same period the Roman Catholic Church would expand its use of anointing of the sick. The Roman Catholic Church did not abandon its teaching about Extreme Unction but included that teaching in its teaching about what it now calls “the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.” It also retained the term, “Extreme Unction.”

131. What is the anointing of the sick?

Through prayer and anointing with oil, the minister invokes God’s blessing upon those suffering in body, mind, or spirit. (Matthew 10:8; James 5:14-16).

Matthew10:8 and James 5:14-16 are cited to support the answer to question 131. Matthew 10:8 is a descriptive passage incidental to the narrative in this particular chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. The chapter itself contains nothing to suggest that Matthew’s intention was to establish a precedent with its inclusion. One certainly cannot read out of this passage that annointing of the sick is a sacrament. What the passage does tell us is that the disciples annointed the sick with oil.

James 5:14-16, on the other hand, is prescriptive. The Greek word is προσκαλέω (pronounced proskaleō), “let him call,” is in the aorist imperative, and is a command. James 5:14-16, however, must be read within the context of James 13-18.

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.Therefore,confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. [Or The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power] Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

The main focus of James 13-18 is upon the prayer of faith. James 5:14-16 does not provide a Scriptural basis for sacramental anointing of the sick, much less Extreme Unction. Note also that those who are sick are directed to call for “the elders of the church,” not a priest. James 5:14-16 assumes a church has more than one elder.

132. What grace does God give in the anointing of the sick?

As God wills, the healing given through anointing may bring bodily recovery from illness, peace of mind or spirit, and strength to persevere in adversity, especially in preparation for death.

A comparison of the answer to question 132 with the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the effects of the sacrament of the anointing of the sick clearly shows a connection between the teaching of the ACNA catechism and that of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

IV. The Effects of the Celebration of This Sacrament

1520 A particular gift of the Holy Spirit. the first grace of this sacrament is one of strengthening, peace and courage to overcome the difficulties that go with the condition of serious illness or the frailty of old age. This grace is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who renews trust and faith in God and strengthens against the temptations of the evil one, the temptation to discouragement and anguish in the face of death.This assistance from the Lord by the power of his Spirit is meant to lead the sick person to healing of the soul, but also of the body if such is God's will.Furthermore, "if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."

1521 Union with the passion of Christ. By the grace of this sacrament the sick person receives the strength and the gift of uniting himself more closely to Christ's Passion: in a certain way he is consecrated to bear fruit by configuration to the Savior's redemptive Passion. Suffering, a consequence of original sin, acquires a new meaning; it becomes a participation in the saving work of Jesus.

1522 An ecclesial grace. the sick who receive this sacrament, "by freely uniting themselves to the passion and death of Christ," "contribute to the good of the People of God."By celebrating this sacrament the Church, in the communion of saints, intercedes for the benefit of the sick person, and he, for his part, though the grace of this sacrament, contributes to the sanctification of the Church and to the good of all men for whom the Church suffers and offers herself through Christ to God the Father.

1523 A preparation for the final journey. If the sacrament of anointing of the sick is given to all who suffer from serious illness and infirmity, even more rightly is it given to those at the point of departing this life; so it is also called sacramentum exeuntium (the sacrament of those eparting).The Anointing of the Sick completes our conformity to the death and Resurrection of Christ, just as Baptism began it. It completes the holy anointings that mark the whole Christian life: that of Baptism which sealed the new life in us, and that of Confirmation which strengthened us for the combat of this life. This last anointing fortifies the end of our earthly life like a solid rampart for the final struggles before entering the Father's house.

In the answer to question 132 we have another condensation of the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The answer to question 132 is so worded as to not exclude teaching what the Roman Catholic Church teaches about Extreme Unction.

In giving its approval to Being a Christian: A New Anglican Catechism, the ACNA College of Bishops clearly rejected the authority of the Anglican formularies and endorsed the sacramental teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. In our next article we will examine what the new ACNA catechism teaches about Christian ministry.

What does the new ACNA catechism teach about the sacraments? (Part 5)

By Robin G. Jordan

In this examination of questions 120 – 123 and the answers to these four questions in Part II of Being a Christian: An Anglican Catechism, we will be looking at what the new ACNA catechism teaches about absolution, and ordination.

120. What is absolution?

After repenting and confessing my sins to God in the presence of a priest, the priest declares God’s forgiveness to me with authority given by God. (John 20:22-23; James 5:15-16)

In the answer to question 120 we find a description of the Anglo-Catholic and Roman Catholic practices of auricular confession and priestly absolution. See Fredrick Meyrick’s article, “Absolution,” in A Protestant Dictionary.

Also see “Chapter VII: The Absolution in the Visitation of the Sick,” (p. 101), “Chapter VIII: Auricular Confession,” (p. 115) and “Appendix – Bishop Wilberforce and Dr. Pusey on Private Confession” (p. 215) in Dyson Hague’s The Protestantism of the Prayer Book and “The Voice of the Church of England on Auricular Confession” and Joseph Bardley’s “Confession and Forgiveness of Sins” in the Church Association Tracts (Vol. 1).

As we have seen in our examination of the four previous questions and answers in this section of the new ACNA catechism, the catechism takes the Anglo-Catholic and Roman Catholic position that absolution is a sacrament. While the new ACNA catechism avoids the use of the term “penance,” which the Thirty-Nine Articles identify as “a corrupt following of the Apostles,” and endeavors to avoid other language that is associated with the Anglo-Catholic and Roman Catholic teaching on penance, it is quite clear that the new ACNA catechism is referring to what Thirty-Nine Articles and the Catechism of the Catholic Church call “penance.”

In support of the answer to question 120 the new ACNA catechism cites John 20:22-23 and James 5: 15-16. Anglo-Catholics and Roman Catholics interpret John 20:22-23 as supporting their teaching on auricular confession and priestly absolution. Anglicans have historically been divided over the meaning of this passage. See Fredrick Meyrick’s article, “Absolution,” in A Protestant Dictionary.

In order to cite James 5: 15-16 in support of the practices of auricular confession and priestly absolution, one must ignore the plain meaning of the text, which encourages believers to confess their sins to one another and not to a priest.

Bishop Charles P. McIlvaine, a leading nineteenth century Evangelical in then Protestant Episcopal Church and author of Oxford divinity compared with that of the Romish and Anglican churches, pointed to the attention of a group of confirmands that, while the clergy of their church may have taught them to confess their sins to a priest, the same clergy should be confessing their own sins to the confirmands.

121. What grace does God give to you in absolution?

In absolution, God conveys to me his pardon through the cross, thus declaring to me reconciliation and peace with him, and bestowing upon me the assurance of his grace and salvation.

In the answer to question 121, the new ACNA describes the sacramental grace that it purports is conferred by priestly absolution. Compare this answer with what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

I. What is This Sacrament Called?

1423 It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin.

It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.

1424 It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a "confession" - acknowledgment and praise - of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.

It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest's sacramental absolution God grants the penitent "pardon and peace."

It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God." He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call: "Go; first be reconciled to your brother."

Also see “VI. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation” and “IX. The Effects of This Sacrament” in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

122. What is ordination?

Through prayer and the laying on of the bishop’s hands, ordination consecrates, authorizes, and empowers persons called to serve Christ and his Church in the ministry of Word and Sacrament. (1 Timothy 1:5; 5:22; Acts 6:6)

Rather than giving a definition of ordination, in its response to question 122, “what is ordination,” the new ACNA catechism describes what it purports ordination does. Inferred in this description is the position that the catechism takes on ordination. As we have seen in our examination of the four previous questions in this section of the ACNA catechism, this position is the Anglo-Catholic and Roman Catholic position that ordination is a sacrament. This is a view of ordination that is not supported by the Thirty-Nine Articles as we have seen. It is not shared by all recognized schools of Anglican thought.

The longstanding disagreement among Anglicans over the nature of ordination is reflected in the language of the Ordinal in the Form and Manner of Ordaining Priests in the 1789, 1892, and 1928 American Prayer Books.

When this Prayer is done, the Bishop with the Priests present, shall lay their hands severally upon the Head of every one that receiveth, the Order of Priesthood; the Receivers humbly kneeling and the Bishop saying,

RECEIVE the Holy Ghost for the Office and Work of a Priest in the Church of God, now committed unto thee by the Imposition of our hands. Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained. And be thou a faithful Dispenser of the Word of God, and of his holy Sacraments; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Or this

TAKE thou Authority to execute the Office of a Priest in the Church of God, now committed to thee by the Imposition of our hands. And be thou a faithful Dispenser of the Word of God, and of his holy Sacraments; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The alternative language was included in the Ordinal in these three Prayer Books in recognition that Anglicans disagreed not only about the nature of ordination but also about how the phrase, “Receive the Holy Ghost…,” used in the Ordinal, should be interpreted and understood.

In The Tutorial Prayer Book for the Teacher, Student, & General Reader, Charles Neil and J. M. Willoughby briefly state one recognized school of Anglican thought’s interpretation and understanding of this phrase:

Receive ye the Holy Ghost, etc. This formula consists of a prayer, an address, and a charge. The Bishop, by speaking these words, doth not take upon him to give the Holy Spirit, no more than he doth to remit sins, when he pronounceth the remission of sins; but by speaking these words of Christ ... he doth show the principal duty of a minister, and assureth him of the assistance of God s Holy Spirit, if he labour in the same accordingly.

(See also pp. 96, 322, n.) The words Receive ye the Holy Ghost, do not occur in any Ordinal prior to 1200 A.D.

Also see “Chapter XI: The Ordinal” in Dyson Hague’s The Protestantism of the Prayer Book.

The new ACNA catechism cites 1 Timothy 1:5 in support of the answer it gives to question 122: “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Its relevance to the answer is unclear, even when read in the context of 1 Timothy 1:1- 20. It appears to have been included to suggest that the answer has a Scriptural basis.

1 Timothy 5:22 and Acts 6:6 appeared to have been cited because they refer to laying on of hands. In Freed to Serve: Training & Equipping for Ministry Michael Green points to our attention:

In Acts 6 it is not certain whether the apostles or the people lay hands on the seven;in any case it is not clear whether this ordination or an ad hoc measure to relieve a particular situation (p. 35).

We are invited to accept these Scripture passages as providing a Scriptural basis for the particular teaching in the answer to question 122 but is highly questionable as to whether they do.

123. What grace does God give in ordination?

In ordination, God confirms the gifts and calling of the candidates, conveys the gift of the Holy Spirit for the office and work of bishop, priest or deacon, and sets them apart to act on behalf of the Church and in the name of Christ.

In its answer to question 123 new ACNA ordinal further describes what it purports ordination does. Here again we have a view of ordination particular to one school of Anglican thought. It is not shared by all recognized schools of Anglican thought and is not acceptable to or compatible with their views of ordination. One such view of ordination is that it is a public ceremony in which the Church formally recognizes that a person has the calling and gifts for a particular office in the Church and formally bestows upon the person the authority to exercise that office. This view is reflected in the alternate language in the Ordinal in the Form and Manner of Ordaining Priests in the 1789, 1892, and 1928 American Prayer Books. It is also the view reflected in The Tutorial Prayer Book.

In the first article in this series, we took note of the three guidelines set out in the introduction to Being A Christian: An Anglican Catechism:

1. Everything taught should be compatible with, and acceptable to, all recognized schools of Anglican thought, so that all may be able confidently to use all the material.

2. Everything taught should be expressed as briefly as possible, in terms that are clear and correspond to today’s use of language. There should be as little repetition as possible, though some overlap is inevitable.

3.All the answers and questions should be as easy to explain and to remember as possible.

Our examination of the new ACNA catechism to date has shown that the introduction is mere window dressing, added to create a deceptively favorable impression of the catechism. The catechism is decidely Arminian in its view of God and salvation and Anglo-Catholic in its view of the sacraments. The material in the catechism is not material that all recognized schools of Anglican thought can use with confidence. The catechism also appears to presume that those who are studying it are fairly literate and have a good grasp of the English language. A number of the answers do not lend themselves to memorization.

In the next article in this series we will be examining the remaining questions and answers on the sacraments in Part II of Being A Christian: An Anglican Catechism. We will be skipping the questions and answers on ordained ministry. We will come back to those questions and answers later and examine them in a separate article on the new ACNA catechism’s teaching on Christian ministry.