What does the new ACNA catechism teach about the Holy Spirit?

By Robin G. Jordan

In this fourth article in the series “The New ACNA Catechism– A Closer Look,” we continue our examination of the catechism proper. We will be looking at those sections of Part II of the catechism that reveal its position on two key issues—the procession of the Holy Spirit and the relationship between water baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Christians are divided on these issues both in the Anglican Church and in the larger Church.

The answer to question 84, “How does the Holy Spirit relate to you?” suggests the Eastern Orthodox view of the procession of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ sends the Holy Spirit to make Jesus known to me, to indwell and empower me in Christ, to bear witness that I am a child of God, to guide me into all truth, and to stir my heart continually to worship and to pray. (John 16:12-15; Romans 8:15, 26; Ephesians 1:17-19)

In the Eastern Orthodox view the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone. “The Father sends the Spirit at the intercession of the Son. The Son is therefore an agent only in the procession of the Spirit.” (Comparison between Orthodoxy, Protestantism & Roman Catholicism) Eastern Orthodox theologians describe the Spirit as proceeding from the Father through the Son. While the answer to question 84 does not specifically mention in the Scripture references John 15:26, a text upon which the Eastern Orthodox view is based and which would be a clear giveaway that the answer to question 84 teaches the Eastern Orthodox view, the use of the phrase “Jesus Christ sends the Holy Spirit” points to that text. The wording of the answer permits the teaching of the Eastern Orthodox view by ACNA clergy who subscribe to that view.

The answer to question 84 does not teach that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, which is the view of the Western Church, a view to which both Protestants and Roman Catholics subscribe, and which is the view that Article 5 of the Thirty-Nine Articles affirms. If the answer to question 84 clearly articulated the Western Church’s view of the procession of the Holy Spirit, ACNA clergy would be limited to teaching that view.

What is notable about the Scripture references given with the answer to 84 and elsewhere in the catechism is that they are not much passages of Scripture in which the doctrine articulated in a particular answer can be found or by which it can proved as they are proof texts. While they may in some way be related to the topic of the question, they are not pertinent to the doctrine articulated in the answer. They appear to have been included in order to suggest that the Scriptures support the doctrinal position articulated in the answer. This is a gross misuse of Scripture.

The answer to question 85 teaches the Anglo-Catholic and Roman Catholic doctrine that in baptism we receive the Holy Spirit. It can also be interpreted as teaching the Eastern Orthodox doctrine that the Holy Spirit in given in chrismation, or anointing, at baptism.

The Scriptures teach that, through repenting and being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, I am forgiven my sins, indwelled from then on by the Holy Spirit[emphasis added], given new life in Christ by the Spirit, and freed from the power of sin so that I can be filled with the Holy Spirit. (John 3:1-7; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:14; Ephesians 5:18)

This doctrine is, like the doctrine inferred in the answer to question 84, is not compatible with nor acceptable to all recognized school of Anglican thought. Evangelicals reject this doctrine as having no real basis in Scripture. They find no support for it in the New Testament. None of the narratives in Acts portray the conferring of the Holy Spirit by baptism with water. Cornelius’ household receive the Holy Spirit before they were baptized (Acts 11:16). On the other hand, Simon Magus was baptized but showed no evidence of having received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:13, 21ff). Elsewhere in the New Testament we find examples of individuals who received the Holy Spirit apart from baptism (Luke 23:40-43) or who were baptized but did not evidence reception of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 10:1-6). Paul in his writings does not connect the gift of the Spirit with water baptism, either occurring sequentially or at the same time. John in his gospel also does not connect the gift of the Spirit with water baptism.

In the nineteenth century in the Church of England the Bishop of Exeter, Henry Philpotts, claimed that this doctrine was the doctrine of the Church of England and refused to institute George Gorman to a living in his diocese because Gorman did not subscribe to the doctrine. Gorman would appeal Philpotts’ decision and eventually the case came before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which was the final arbiter in such matters at that time. It ruled that Gorman’s views on baptism were not inconsistent with the doctrine of the Church of England. They were a part of a recognized theological strand within the Church of England. It ordered Philpotts to institute Gorman into the living in the Diocese of Exeter.

The answers to questions 84 and 85 are further evidence that the new ACNA catechism is not compatible with and not acceptable to all recognized Anglican schools of thought. Nor may all the material in the catechism be used by all with confidence. They also show that the catechism, like all the theological statements that the Anglican Church in North America has produced to date—its constitution, canons, “theological lens,” ordinal, and trial services of Morning and Evening Prayer and Holy Communion—evidence a definite leaning toward unreformed Catholicism.