Historically…
The evangelical movement in the Anglican
Communion traces its roots back more than 250 years, to the era of the famous
brothers, John and Charles Wesley in the middle to late 1700s. By that time,
for more than a century the church had been falling into increasing corruption,
doctrinal error and spiritual torpor. There were bishops and clergy who rarely
or never set foot in their dioceses or parishes, choosing to indulge in a life
of idle luxury. Socinianism (or what we now call Unitarianism—the denial of
Christ’s divinity and the power of the Holy Spirit) was becoming increasingly
commonplace in the pulpits. The poor and working classes were at best ignored
if not despised. And (little surprise!) church attendance had sunk to abysmal
levels.
Into this dark and seemingly hopeless scene
stepped men such as the Wesleys, with their fiery preaching of a message of
salvation through repentance and personal faith in Christ. But they were not
alone. Though not nearly as famous, there were others such as George
Whitefield, who is estimated to have brought the message of the Great Awakening
to more than ten million hearers in the British Isles and the American
colonies. There was John Newton, the former slave ship captain turned hymn writer;
Charles Simeon, who influenced hundreds of future church leaders through his
fifty-three-year ministry at Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge; the father and son
Henry and John Venn, who together with William Wilberforce, Hannah More,
Granville Sharp and others worked to abolish the slave trade, reform the penal
system and establish child labour legislation, to mention only a few of their
endeavours.
In the course of their lifetime they also
witnessed the transformation of the Church of England. Through practical biblical
preaching, the introduction of lively hymns and consistent pastoral care, the
people came back. And Christian faith and values permeated society in a way
they had not for generations. From its beginnings the movement was not limited
to the British Isles. Through organizations such as the British and Foreign
Bible Society and the Church Missionary Society the message was taken
abroad—not least to Canada, where many of our western and northern dioceses
find their roots in the evangelical movement.
Sadly, within the space of a couple of generations
the movement began to harden. In the 1850s a new spirit had begun to arise
within the church that came to be known as Anglo-Catholicism. With it came the
introduction of customs and practices that had not been seen in the Church of
England since the Reformation: candles, coloured stoles and vestments, incense
and processionals, to name a few. Evangelicals saw these novelties as a
dangerous distraction from the gospel.
Coincidentally another challenge was coming
from a different direction. We could summarize it as Darwinism, although it was
much broader than that. Suffice it to say that there were those who thought
they could use the findings of contemporary scientific research to undermine
the credibility of the Bible.
As though that were not enough, there was a
third challenge in what came to be known as the “social gospel”, which saw the
emphasis move away from personal transformation to concentrate on societal
change (both of which had been emphases of the original evangelicals of en
earlier generation). The result was that by the beginning of the twentieth
century it seemed as though evangelicalism had taken a purely defensive posture.
Evangelicals became defined more by what they didn’t do than by the vigorous
proclamation of a life-saving, world-changing gospel.
Today the situation has become even worse,
where in the United States and increasingly in some other parts of the world,
the once honourable name “evangelical” has come to be associated with a
particular narrow, mean-spirited and negative political ideology—to the point
where some are asking, Have we reached the point where we need to toss it out
altogether and find another name for ourselves?
To strike a more positive note, on the other
hand, the negativity and insularity of some evangelicals is balanced by a
refreshing openness and desire to work together for the gospel on the part of
others. Ministries such as Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship and Scripture
Union and missions like the Overseas Missionary Fellowship and World Vision
have always involved evangelicals from a wide variety of backgrounds, with
evangelical Anglicans not least among them. And it is now twenty-five years
since a group of leading evangelical and Roman Catholic scholars in the United
States came together to produce a document entitled “Evangelicals and Catholics
Together”. I see these as hopeful signs.
Theologically…
So what do we mean by “evangelical”? It’s
important to realize that the name traces its lineage back to the New
Testament, to two Greek words: eu,
which brings with it the meaning of “good” or “excellent”, and angelia, which means a message or an
announcement. Put them together and you get the word euangelion or evangel, meaning
“good news” or “gospel”. So who are evangelicals? At heart we are gospel
people, women and men and children with good news to share. We think of the
words of the apostle Paul in Romans 1:16,
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because
it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.”
Where does this take us in practical terms?
Here is where the four hallmarks or pillars of evangelicalism come in, and they
are these:
First among them is the need for a personal
relationship with Christ through repentance and faith. This relationship can come
by many different means and take many different forms, depending on our
background, culture, upbringing, education and a host of other factors. Yet at
the core there is that personal walk with Jesus. With Paul once again we
affirm, “I want to know Christ—yes,
to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming
like him…” (Philippians 3:10). And so
evangelicalism is not following a tradition (although traditions are
important). It is not being a member of an organization (although participation
in the Christian community is vital). More than anything else it is my personal
decision to trust in Jesus as my Saviour and to live my life in obedient
response to him as my Lord.
That brings us to the
second hallmark, which is the centrality of the cross. We believe that by his
death and resurrection Jesus has once and for all, unequivocally and irrevocably
defeated the powers of evil and death. Nothing that you or I can do can add to
that or take the place of it. Jesus has done it all. The old Prayer Book put it
well when it referred to Jesus’ “full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice,
oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world”. It is because of
Jesus’ sacrifice and Jesus’ sacrifice alone that we can come to the Father and
receive the life that he has to offer.
Thirdly, there is the unique, divine authority
of Scripture. That is, that through the prophets and apostles of the Old and
New Testaments God has uniquely spoken—and continues to address us today. Some
people like to refer to the three-legged stool of Scripture, reason and
tradition as the basis for our authority. For evangelicals it is more like a
tricycle, with Scripture as the front wheel with the pedals. It is Scripture
that is always the final arbiter and that provides both the power and the
direction to the other two. But there is more to it than that. Evangelicalism
involves not just an acknowledgement of the authority of Scripture. It also
involves a love of Scripture. Evangelicals aren’t people who merely own Bibles.
They are people who, in the words of the Prayer Book, “hear, read, mark, learn
and inwardly digest them”. They study them, ponder and discuss them because
there they find the words of life.
Finally, but far from least, there is engagement
in mission. This is an act of obedience to Jesus’ great commission to be his
witnesses and to make disciples (Acts 1:8;
Matthew 28:20). Just as much, however, it arises from an unquenchable
desire to share the good news of what God has done for us in Christ and is
doing in our lives. In the words of the great Sri Lankan preacher, D.T. Niles,
it is “one beggar telling another where to find bread”. Of course mission is far
more than words. It is seeking to be as Jesus in the world, in whatever context
to live out his command, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you” (John 20:21).
Currently…
This brings us to evangelicalism in the
world today—and I’d like to give specific attention to our Anglican setting.
First of all, although we may not see much evidence of it in our little corner
of the world, we need to recognize that we are the exception. The Anglican
Church of Canada, along with most other Anglican bodies in the western world,
is declining at an alarming rate. A recent report commissioned by our House of
Bishops suggests that if the current trajectory continues, there will be no
Anglicans left in Canada by the year 2040.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the world,
where Anglicanism is fired by an evangelical spirit, there is exponential
growth. Where is the largest Anglican population by attendance in the world?
Nigeria, with more than twenty million members. Nigeria is followed by Uganda,
with eight million, and then Kenya, Sudan and India, each numbering five million.
More than half the world’s Anglicans live in Africa—and with few exceptions
they are evangelical. In many cases, particularly where they border with Islam
and in countries where corruption and violence are endemic, theirs can be a
costly faith. Yet the church grows—and they look with sadness and horror at
what they see as the spiritual deadness of the church in the west.
However, there are signs of hope, even
here. Allow me to name a couple. One of them is the Alpha Course. That ten-week
programme, which continues to bring faith and renewal to a widespread
constituency, began in an Anglican congregation, Holy Trinity Brompton, just
over forty years ago. By the latest count it has engaged more than twenty-four
million people around the world. Curiously, it has been taken up with
enthusiasm by the Roman Catholic Church in Nova Scotia, where it has been the
source of powerful renewal. Yet it is largely unknown or ignored by Anglicans.
Secondly we need to recognize evangelical
Anglican scholars and writers. A generation ago men like John Stott, J.I.
Packer and Michael Green were among the best-selling Christian authors in the
world. Through their books and their teaching they called their readers to a
serious engagement with an intellectually honest, spiritually challenging
evangelical faith. Today their place has been taken by people such as N.T.
Wright, Alister McGrath and
Fleming Rutledge. We should be grateful for Wycliffe College in Toronto, too.
It has an international reputation for academic excellence and is the largest
Anglican seminary in North America.
Thirdly, while there are numerous thriving
evangelical Anglican congregations across the country, you need to look to the
north if you want to see a whole evangelical culture—to dioceses like Saskatchewan,
the Yukon, Caledonia and the Arctic. I have been privileged to visit a couple
of them and I have been humbled by the depth and sincerity of evangelical faith
that I have found there.
Yet let me say that I think that the
battles that once raged over stoles and candles have only served to divert us
from what it means at heart to be evangelical—and I am grateful that by and
large those issues are in the past. If we are to be true to our evangelical
heritage (and far more importantly, true to Jesus and his mission) then we need
to go back to those four pillars: to engage in a daily walk with Jesus, to
recognize that our only hope is through what he has accomplished for us through
his cross, to absorb his word into our practical everyday lives, and to engage
in his mission, seeking to live as Jesus in the world.
