Thursday, February 4, 2010

The High Church Protestant: The Blog’s Rationale and Focus

What is a High Church Protestant?

The title (or the new title) of my blog is significant of what type of Christian I am. Some of you may be saying, “High Church Protestant”, yeah we’ve heard of them, they’re called Anglicans. While I certainly lean the Anglican way in many respects, I mean High Church Protestant to serve as a more general category.
I consider myself to be a Protestant insofar as: (a) I recognize certain abuses of the late medieval and renaissance Roman church, (b) I recognize certain theological errors of the Roman church both historical and current (especially concerning ecclesiology) (c) I draw on certain theological insights of Protestant theologians such as Luther, Calvin, the early Anglicans and especially John Wesley. I am however much more charitable, and I believe more just, than many of my Protestant brethren when it comes to assessing the Roman and Orthodox churches. This is where the “high church” title comes into play.
I am “High Church” insofar as: (a) I greatly value the beauty of the liturgy and the centrality of the sacraments to the Christian life, (b) I reject much of what I perceive to be grave theological errors on the part of some of the reformers, especially Luther and Calvin, and especially the incoherent dichotomy between faith and works, (c) I reject the overly critical and uncharitable spirit my Protestant sisters and brothers have often bore towards those Christians in the higher church traditions, (d) I take Church tradition quite seriously and reject any “Bible alone” mentality.

Blog Focus

As I enter my last semester at what could properly be referred to as an evangelical Protestant seminary, I seek to write a blog about theology. More specifically, this blog will focus on the many theological hang-ups and errors that some Protestants, especially some evangelicals, espouse. This focus is a good one because it has much potential to clear away the uncharitable baggage many Protestants bring to all things that are perceived as either high church, secular or liberal. I hope to demonstrate the possibility of expanded dialog between Protestants and many disparate groups (both Christian and not). It is a somewhat unfortunate blog focus because it will often take a critical tone towards my Protestant sisters and brothers, whom I greatly love and admire. However, through the criticism I hope to highlight the best of Protestantism and what it might become. Broadly construed, I believe the best of Protestantism is closer to Rome and Constantinople than many think. The best of Protestantism is also much closer to so called divergent theological movements than many think. This Protestant outlook rejects the errors and abuses of Rome but reclaims the rich tradition that high churches still espouse. This Protestant outlook engages theological movements instead of recoiling from them in disgust or muddying the waters of dialog with hyperbolic diatribe. This Protestant outlook actually begins to slough off the name of Protestant because it defines itself more positively by the rich tradition of the ancient Catholic Christian Church than it does negatively against more provincial sections of it. This Protestant outlook strives to be both Catholic and Orthodox without being more provincially Roman or Eastern. At its best it is the Church Universal, Christ’s body on earth, building his kingdom and practicing his sacraments, until he comes again.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, Adam, I really enjoy reading the comments. Good luck this semester.

Question: Could you wrap your mind around (and explain to a layman) the differing approaches to Sacraments? How does the spectrum from Evangelicals of various backgrounds on to 'High' churchmen and Catholics differ insofar as identifying, ministering, and practicing the sacraments? How does one account for differences with theology and tradition? How do you discern among the 'High Churches'?

Adam said...

Hello,
You ask a truly mind-boggling question. I can give some general comments as to the variety of positions on the Sacraments. Please let me know if you have more specific questions (so I do not simply load you down with uninteresting text). As you probably know most Protestants (evangelicals included) limit the number of sacraments to 2: Baptism and Communion (Eucharist). Rome has 7 and the Eastern Orthodox do not actually limit their list to a specific number. I actually like what I have read of the Eastern Orthodox in that often they do not draw distinct lines between the sacraments and the sacramental. Eastern Orthodox often talk as if life itself takes on a sacred and sacramental character.

As far as I can tell (in very broad strokes) Roman Catholics see the sacraments as real vehicles of God's grace. Some Protestants agree with this general description and some do not. For instance, in reference to the Eucharist, I believe (along with John Wesley and some other Protestants) that it is a true means, or vehicle, of God's grace. Other Protestants would not characterize communion in such terms. Often these Protestants describe the Eucharist as a bare remembrance of Christ and his sacrificial act. This is in contradistinction to Wesley, Calvin and Luther who all thought Christ was somehow actually present in either the elements or the act of communion. If you are interested in more of the details differentiating the Protestant eucharistic positions let me know, (as I could go on at length about them).

Obviously, there is still much room for distinction even within the group who think the sacraments are true vehicles of grace. Do you have in more specific questions regarding the distinctions here? Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and the plethora of Protestant positions each have differing liturgies of the Eucharist, doctrines concerning who is and is not eligible for baptism and Eucharist, the nature of Christ's presence in the sacraments, the role of the Church, etc . . .

Is your question regarding high churches asking how one might distinguish Roman Catholic from Eastern Orthodox or Anglican? And if so is there a specific sacrament you had in mind or just the general approach to sacraments?

As a High Church Protestant I wish to recover much of the riches Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox
liturgy and sacramental practices, but still have enough reservations (at least with Rome who I am more familiar with) to remain Protestant.

Peace