1. Biblical
Authentic Anglicanism, first of all, seeks always to present itself as biblical Christianity.
Of course, to say that is not self-explanatory. You have to begin with a belief that everything taught in Scripture is to be trusted as truth from God, and you have to add further the thought that for the interpreting of Scripture you have to be careful and ensure that your principles of interpretation come from within Scripture and are validated by Scripture, not imposed on Scripture by external, arbitrary means.
Otherwise either you can go adrift in the liberal way—not taking seriously everything that is taught in Scripture but making your own private selection. Or else you could end up with Roman Catholicism, which says that of course all Bible teaching is truth, but you need the church to interpret it. And you need to know some specific things the church has defined which, granted, Protestants do not find in their Bible but which you need in your mind in order to interpret Scripture properly.
The evangelical stands apart here from both liberals and Roman Catholics. And a person has to make that clear straightaway in order that others may know what that person means when he or she talks about being biblical. The Bible—interpreted from within, by itself, and interpreted as a whole—must always have the last word. That has been an ingredient of the Anglican mainstream ever since the Reformation. Read More
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