Monday, May 09, 2011

The Heritage Anglican Network: The Gorham Case




GORHAM CASE, THE. According to the judgment of the Privy Council in the case of Gorham v. the Bishop of Exeter, the validity of the doctrine of the conditional (or hypothetical) regeneration of infants in baptism was declared consistent with the teaching of the Church of England. The Gorham Case proved to be one of far-reaching importance in the history of the Church of England. It was the first great decision on a doctrinal question since the Reformation, and though its effects were minimised by the leaders and sympathisers of the then incipient Tractarian Movement, the decision of the Court was nevertheless viewed by them as a serious blow to their theory of Sacramental Grace. The circumstances of the case were as follows....

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