The Thirty-Nine Articles: Buried Alive?: The Anglican Articles of Religion and the Case for Confessional Christianity

by Sam C. Pascoe

This book is a kind if Apologia Pro Vita Sua for me for it was because of the Articles of Religion that I claimed the Anglican Church as my But it is also a Apologia Pro Vitis Sua ( a reasoned defense for our common life as a communion) because if it were not for the Articles, there would not have been an Anglican Church to join. It is an attempt to explain why the Anglican Communion exists from a theological perspective. This is because unless a church or communion can articulate a theological reason for its existence, its existence cannot be justified. Without primary reference to God (theos) as He has revealed Himself as The Word (logos) revealed in the words of Scripture, a church is simply one of many noble but purely temporal and temporary volunteer associations. Without reference to theology, personal preferences as regards style, worship, polity, etc. becoming only self-serving prejudices at best, idols at worst. These clear, concise articulations of the Anglican Faith have guided and guarded the Anglican Church for over 400 years. In addition to the Episcopal Church, USA, The Anglican Churches in England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, West Africa, Uganda, and Japan are committed to their authority. But they find themselves increasingly relegated to the back of the bus. It is the burden of this book to show that if the Anglican Communion (at least in its European and American manifestations) is ever going to recapture the vision, vigor and vitality that is its birthright, it must rediscover and reaffirm these wise and winsome articulations of a living Christianity.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998