A lucid and timely reminder of what we need to keep us faithfully afloat from JI Packer:
CHRISTIANITY, the faith of the patristic creeds and Reformation confessions (of which the 39 Articles, historically and theologically, form one), rests on the authoritative truth of biblical teaching. Nothing un- or anti-biblical may be received as a standard of faith and practice.…over at VirtueOnline here.
ANGLICANISM, the English version of reformed Christianity, now internationalized in the worldwide Anglican Communion, is Trinitarian, incarnational and Christocentric; liturgical, pastoral and educational; gospel-focused, holiness-oriented and continuity-conscious. It rests on an explicit estimate of the canonical Scriptures as "God's Word written," which as such is sufficient for salvation (Article 6), a unity of gospel instruction (Article 7), the final authority for belief within the Christian fellowship (Articles 8, 20-22, etc.), and coherent throughout, so that as "it is not lawful for the church to ordain anything that is contrary to God's Word written," as "neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another" (Article 20).
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA (ACC) is constitutionally based on the Solemn Declaration of 1893, which expresses the intention that "this church...shall continue in full communion with the Church of England throughout the world," maintaining the "Doctrine, Sacraments and Discipline of Christ as the Lord hath commanded in his holy Word, and as the Church of England has received and set forth the same" in the Book of Common Prayer, including the Ordinal and the 39 Articles; and the determination to "transmit the same unimpaired to our posterity."
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