Theophilus Anglicanus
Theophilus Anglicanus; or, Manual of Instruction on the Church, and the Anglican Branch of It is a catechetical exposition of the Church and the Church of England by Christopher Wordsworth, identified on the title page as sometime Bishop of Lincoln. The fifteenth edition bears the imprint of Longmans, Green, and Co., London and New York, 1890.[1]
Purpose and method
The work teaches through questions and answers accompanied by biblical references and substantial notes drawn from earlier Christian writers. Its treatment of Scripture, for example, moves from the Church's preservation and reception of the biblical books to the believer's recognition of their divine authority. Its discussion of the Reformation similarly presents objections and replies, supporting its argument with earlier Anglican and other authorities.[2]
Structure
The book contains four parts and thirty-four chapters. Part I, On the Church, begins on p. 1 and covers ecclesial attributes, Scripture, sacraments, ministry, discipline, absolution, intercession, and public prayer. Part II, On the Anglican Branch of the Catholic Church, begins on p. 134 and examines English ecclesiastical origins, relations with Rome, the Reformation, succession, and catholicity. Part III, The Church of England in its Civil Relations, begins on p. 234. Part IV, Rites and Ceremonies in the Church of England, begins on p. 312. The index of matters begins on p. 325 and the index of authors and places cited on p. 332.[3]
Theological character
Wordsworth combines a strong account of ecclesiastical ministry with the subordination of the Church's teaching to God's written word. The Church receives and transmits Scripture, instructs Christians, and interprets the text; its office does not authorize it to impose additional necessities of salvation. In his terminology, its interpretation is judicial rather than legislative.[4]
His interpretation of the English Reformation is explicitly restorative. He argues that the English Church retained its essential identity while removing errors, and that its Protestant opposition to Roman teaching served its catholic vocation. The work presents an Anglican apologetic account of these controversies, rather than a history written from a perspective independent of them.[5]
Publication history
The fifteenth edition retains a preface headed “Preface to the Ninth Edition,” dated July 1865. In it Wordsworth recalls assistance from Joshua Watson and his father, the late Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. The preface also reports an American adaptation, Theophilus Americanus, by H. Davey Evans, a Modern Greek translation in 1847, a French publication in 1861, and an Italian publication in 1863. The preface thus records Wordsworth's own account of the work's adaptation and translation.[6]
Research value
The work can support connected study of Anglican ecclesiology and the historical arguments by which English churchmen defended continuity through reform. Its notes also provide leads into patristic and Anglican sources. Its value as a guide to earlier authorities is distinct from its value as evidence for Wordsworth's own theological position.[7]
See also
Sources and further reading
- Wordsworth, Christopher. Theophilus Anglicanus. Fifteenth edition. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1890. Digitized fifteenth edition (PDF).
- Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, especially VI, XIX, XX, and XXXIV.
References
- ↑ Christopher Wordsworth, Theophilus Anglicanus; or, Manual of Instruction on the Church, and the Anglican Branch of It, 15th ed. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1890), unnumbered title page.
- ↑ Wordsworth, Theophilus Anglicanus (1890), I.vi, pp. 43-52; II.v, pp. 170-186.
- ↑ Wordsworth, Theophilus Anglicanus (1890), contents, pp. ix-xi; indexes, pp. 325-344.
- ↑ Wordsworth, Theophilus Anglicanus (1890), I.vi-vii, pp. 43, 47-49, 52-54.
- ↑ Wordsworth, Theophilus Anglicanus (1890), II.v, pp. 170-178, 185-186.
- ↑ Wordsworth, Theophilus Anglicanus (1890), preface, pp. vii-viii.
- ↑ For examples, see Wordsworth, Theophilus Anglicanus (1890), I.vi, pp. 45-51, and II.v, pp. 172-180.