What is the relationship b/w Episcopal and Anglican?

[Andoverpolo]

I talked to an episcopal priest for an extended amount of time and I am interested. My family is very distantly episcopal but I do not know very much about it. Could anyone point me in the direction of some resources? I'm specifically interested in the Protestant philosophical background, who are the major influences?

Regards

 

[Timothy]

Some Episcopalians are Anglicans. Episcopal simply means: "Having Bishops." Anglican means: "From the 'Angles' or 'British Islands'." So some churches with Bishops [Anglicans, Lutherans, Orthodox, Catholics are the biggies] are Anglican [Churches with a historically English tone to them, growing out of the English rather than the european reformation, and broadly speaking 'based' in the UK.]

In Scotland, the Anglican church adopted the name 'Episcopalian' to distinguish itself from the other churches in Scotland, mostly Presbyterian in root, and that name came across the water along with some bishops to the USA, some time not long after some people committed some atrocities with tea like dumping it in Boston Harbour.

 

[longhair75]

We were members of the Church of England. The English put a tax on tea, so we dumped the tea into Boston Harbor, renamed our church Episcopal and started drinking coffee.....

;o)

 

[Albion]

I talked to an episcopal priest for an extended amount of time and I am interested. My family is very distantly episcopal but I do not know very much about it. Could anyone point me in the direction of some resources? I'm specifically interested in the Protestant philosophical background, who are the major influences?

Regards

The Church of England from which all our churches descend is also called the Anglican Church. But when our country was founded, things English were not that popular (following a war for independence). The same is true of some other countries in the world which have our churches but where relations with the government of England were not that good. As a result, we chose a kind of synonym for the name of the church here--Protestant Episcopal (meaning the church with bishops but not the Roman Catholic one).

Nevertheless, the church has a number of associations and memberships in which the term "Anglican" is used, if not as part of the official church name, and the Episcopal Church, as it's usually called now, is part of the worldwide "Anglican Communion" with the Church of England.

One exception to this, in case it has come up, is that 500 or so American parishes left the Episcopal Church in recent years, thinking that it had become too liberal on a number of matters. Needing to differentiate themselves from the Episcopal Church, they generally have chosen to call themselves "Anglican," referring to the older or original term of this branch of Christianity.

In both cases, some of us lean somewhat more towards things Protestant, while some lean towards things more Catholic. Many people think we are both, in a way.

BTW, I see that you have the Presbyterian Church logo, so you might consider this problem of Episcopal vs. Anglican to be something like the words Presbyterian and Reformed. Yes, there is a difference but not total...and outsiders usually get confused over them.

 

[Cjwinnit]

Could anyone point me in the direction of some resources? I'm specifically interested in the Protestant philosophical background, who are the major influences?

Regards

No problem.

From Anglicans Online
What Do Anglicans Believe?is essentially a bunch of links but good ones. The Episcopal Church (the US branch) did a great catechism a few years back, worth a good read.

You can find a lot about the history of the church onlne, wikipedia seems relatively unbiased if you want a basic outline. The best way to see our church in action is to come and look at a service but you already knew that

Protestant philosophy? Think of us as a protestant church with priests, bishops and altars (though some priests prefer being called vicars or ministers). There's a lot of variety in the church so it depends somewhat on who you see.

who are the major influences?

Jesus is the main one (I hope!!!!).

Richard Hooker gets a mention. Calvin a little bit. John Wesley influenced some. There are others. Recent influential theologians include N.T.Wright (a bishop in England)...

 

[Andoverpolo]

The Church of England from which all our churches descend is also called the Anglican Church. But when our country was founded, things English were not that popular (following a war for independence). The same is true of some other countries in the world which have our churches but where relations with the government of England were not that good. As a result, we chose a kind of synonym for the name of the church here--Protestant Episcopal (meaning the church with bishops but not the Roman Catholic one).

Nevertheless, the church has a number of associations and memberships in which the term "Anglican" is used, if not as part of the official church name, and the Episcopal Church, as it's usually called now, is part of the worldwide "Anglican Communion" with the Church of England.

One exception to this, in case it has come up, is that 500 or so American parishes left the Episcopal Church in recent years, thinking that it had become too liberal on a number of matters. Needing to differentiate themselves from the Episcopal Church, they generally have chosen to call themselves "Anglican," referring to the older or original term of this branch of Christianity.

In both cases, some of us lean somewhat more towards things Protestant, while some lean towards things more Catholic. Many people think we are both, in a way.

BTW, I see that you have the Presbyterian Church logo, so you might consider this problem of Episcopal vs. Anglican to be something like the words Presbyterian and Reformed. Yes, there is a difference but not total...and outsiders usually get confused over them.

What I am getting from this is that Episcopal is about leadership by bishops (like Presbyterian is lead by elders) and the Anglican part is like Calvinism?

What are the influences on Anglicanism. Is it reformed?

 

[Albion]

What I am getting from this is that Episcopal is about leadership by bishops (like Presbyterian is lead by elders)

That's correct.

and the Anglican part is like Calvinism?

No. The words are essentially synonyms as they are used. That's what I was explaining. There is no Anglican part vs. Episcopal part, unless you are dealing with the smaller churches that split from The Episcopal Church in the USA and employ the word "Anglican" as part of their church names in order to tell people the difference.

But as you said above and someone else here explained, the word itself means governed by bishops (in Apostolic Succession).

What are the influences on Anglicanism. Is it reformed?

Anglicanism has both its semi-Calvinist faction (the older faction) and its Catholic-leaning faction. The word "Anglican" does not, in itself, tell you which. Often, Anglicans employ additional modifiers to make the difference known, with the former faction calling itself either Evangelical or, less often, Protestant, and the latter faction tending to call itself Anglo-Catholic.

If I have not made what you are asking clear, please try me again.

 

[Andoverpolo]

That's useful. Thanks.

 

[PaladinValer]

Anglicanism isn't Calvinistic. Indeed, Calvinism drove Anglicanism underground for a short period in English history during the Commonwealth.

Soteriologically, it is safest to put Anglicanism in the theosis/sanctification theology camp.

As for it being Protestant, you might want to read Henry VIII's rebuttal of Martin Luther's position on there only being 2 or 3 sacraments...

We are "protestants" in the sense that we told the Pope to quit meddling in the business of the English Church and to quit his abuses in English lands. However, no Protestant actually keeps things like Apostolic Succession, the classic ordained ministry of deacons, priests, and bishops, kept the Deuterocanon, kept the seven sacraments, and kept the episcopal system of church governance.

 

[Albion]

Anglicanism isn't Calvinistic. Indeed, Calvinism drove Anglicanism underground for a short period in English history during the Commonwealth.

Soteriologically, it is safest to put Anglicanism in the theosis/sanctification theology camp.

As for it being Protestant, you might want to read Henry VIII's rebuttal of Martin Luther's position on there only being 2 or 3 sacraments...

We are "protestants" in the sense that we told the Pope to quit meddling in the business of the English Church and to quit his abuses in English lands. However, no Protestant actually keeps things like Apostolic Succession, the classic ordained ministry of deacons, priests, and bishops, kept the Deuterocanon, kept the seven sacraments, and kept the episcopal system of church governance.

Andoverpolo,

This is an example of what a member of the church's Anglo-Catholic faction answer might say when asked his particular view on the nature of the church.

You see 1) the vigorous rejection of the idea of Calvinism's having had any impact upon the church, 2) the assertion that Catholic teachings which were rejected by the church's Articles of Religion (seven sacraments, for example) are actually received rather than rejected, and 3) the automatic denial of there being any Protestant element or influence in Anglicanism at all.

Now if we had a parallel contribution from a Protestant Anglican/Evangelical Anglican, you'd have quite a complete lesson in the differences between the historic Anglican "parties," i.e. factions.

Anyone?