Hi there,
so this may be a rather long winded one but I'm returning to religion/new to religion. I was raised with a diluted form of anglicanism essentially. So I've been wanting to get back into the church however the more I read, the more I feel the C of E itself has been diluted and is coming away from the scriptures.
I've been reading about high-church anglicanism and anglo-catholicism, and catholicism itself. I understand the whole via media approach kept alot of the old traditions and movements such as the oxford movement has had influences; but for there to still be distinct differences between two churches and multiple groups within the anglican church.
If people would kindly offer some insight and explain some of the key differences that would be fantastic.
You could write a multi-volume book series and still not explain all of the nuances which would be required to answer your question. LOL!
I think the simplest way to explain this issue would be to explain why some Anglicans embrace different strands of Anglicanism (this will still fall short of the mark though). The English Reformation was different that the continental reformation (think Luther and Calvin). Henry VIII essentially established cesaro-papalism with himself as the head of the church in England, rather than the pope. Other than this large exception, the church in England was still pretty much Roman Catholic in worship and theology. After the death of Henry VIII, the protestant Edward VI ascended the throne and he was raised protestant, so the church took a more protestant direction (Reformed). With Edward's death (he died young), Mary I (Henry's daughter with Queen Catherine) became queen and she restored Catholicism. After Mary's death, Elizabeth I ascended to the throne of England (Henry's daughter with Anne Boleyn). As you can probably imagine, the church was firmly split between factions of Catholics, Calvinists, and Lutherans.
The Elizabethan Settlement and the 39 Articles of Religion attempted to quell the religious descension which had been running rampant in England since Henry VIII threw off the papal chains. In my opinion, the settlement was also an attempt to harmonize Lutheran, Calvinist, and Catholic theology in a way in which no church "camp" really got everything they wanted. From what I understand of the settlement, though not perfect, was largely successful. Therefore, this is why the Articles tend to be a bit vague when compared to other confessional statements of faith.
In the 17th century, the Caroline Divines attempted to assert the Church of England was not a new church at all, but simply a reformed Catholicism (do not read "reformed" here in a strictly Calvinist sense) that had existed in England prior to papal dominion and the subsequent theological errors of Rome. This is where the term
via media comes from, a church that avoided the extremes and errors of both Roman Catholicism and continental Protestantism. (think "middle way") However, in the 17th century the Puritan faction attempted to get rid of the prayer book, bishops, and other aspects of Anglicanism which were associated as being "Romish" after the beheading of King Charles I. Skip forward to the 19th century and you have the Oxford Movement (Tractarian) which sought, within the Church of England (and elsewhere), to achieve Catholic renewal in terms of worship and theology. It is important to note that most of these camps believe themselves to be truly Anglican and that their expression of Anglicanism keeps with the catholic tradition which existed in England prior to papal and Latin Catholic domination.
Therefore, you have many Anglicans who tend to lean toward one tradition or the other as being expressive of true English (Celtic) Christianity. This is a totally incomplete description of English Christian history, but hopefully this helps with some of the basic questions you asked.
I should also note, there are also evangelical, traditionalist, charismatic, and progressive camps within Anglicanism as well. I believe the lack of a super-firm (and authoritative, depending on your jurisdiction) confessional statement of Anglicanism is probably why there are so many different strains and "camps" within Anglicanism.
