Gospel and Order

1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (20) ◽  
pp. 659-663 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Joint Venture ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Sharp Focus ◽  
The Church

In his obituary to the late Chancellor Garth Moore, Chancellor Quentin Edwards QC recalled one of Garth's constant sayings: ‘It may be possible to be a theologian without being a canonist; but it is impossible to be a canonist without being a theologian’. The recent Lyndwood Lecture marking, as it did, the first joint venture between this Society and the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland, brought into sharp focus some of the differences between Anglican and Roman Catholic canonists. The laws of the latter reveal a more visible and systematic theology whereas those of the Church of England are unashamedly positivist both in form and ostensible origin. This paper seeks to consider the role of the Gospel in the contemporary governance of the Church of England and to isolate—but not resolve— certain of the ‘practical parish problems’ which will fall to be addressed at the forthcoming residential conference.

The Caroline Divines and the Church of Rome: A Contribution to Current Ecumenical Dialogue – A Review Article

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Christopher Hill
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Direct Consequence ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Moral Theology ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Ecumenical Dialogue ◽  
Ecclesiastical Law ◽  
Founder Member ◽  
The Church

Readers of the Journal will recall the Ecclesiastical Law Society's long tradition of serious ecumenical engagement, embodied in the biennial Lyndwood Lecture with the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and recall that a number of members of the Society are regularly engaged with the Colloquium of Anglican and Roman Catholic Canon Lawyers. Moreover, ecumenical agreement and disagreement have canonical consequences, as, for example, in the debate about Anglican orders. In moral theology, particularly Roman Catholic moral theology, the relation between moral teaching, the confessional and canon law is obvious to any practitioner. My own interest in the Ecclesiastical Law Society was a direct consequence of my involvement in Anglican–Roman Catholic dialogue as successively co-secretary, member and consultant of the various embodiments of the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) from 1974 onwards. An ecumenical conversation with Canon Graham Routledge, a founder member, led me to seek membership of the Society in its early days.

‘Anglicanism’ and the Origins of the Church of England

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-334
Author(s):  
Peter McCullough
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
The Church ◽  
Historical Sketch ◽  
Formative Years

This article aims to provide an introductory historical sketch of the origins of the Church of England as a background for canon law in the present-day Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. Written by a specialist for non-specialists, it summarises the widely held view among ecclesiastical historians that if the Church of England could ever be said to have had a ‘normative’ period, it is not to be found in its formative years in the middle decades of the sixteenth century, and that, in particular, the origins of the Church of England and of what we now call ‘Anglicanism’ are not the same thing.

Covenants and Anglicans

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-152
Author(s):  
Frederick Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Jeremy Taylor ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
Church Governance ◽  
The Church

ABSTRACTAlthough there is a strong movement within Anglicanism to produce a Covenant, this article argues against such an approach. Postponing dealing with today's problems by leaving them for a vaguely worded future document, instead of trying to clarify and resolve them now, and live in peace with one another, is evasive action that solves nothing. Also, some covenant proposals represent a veiled attempt to limit the role of women and homosexuals in the church.The article's core argument is that covenants were specifically rejected by Anglicans at a time when they swept the Continent in the sixteenth century. The Church of England had specifically rejected the powerful hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and the legalism of the Puritans in favor of what was later to become the Anglican via media, with its emphasis on an informal, prayerful unity of diverse participants at home and abroad. It further argues the Church contains sufficient doctrinal statements in the Creeds, Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1886, 1888, and the Baptismal Covenant in the American Church's 1979 Book of Common Prayer.Covenant proponents argue their proposed document follows in the tradition of classic Anglicanism, but Quinn demonstrates this is not the case. He presents Richard Hooker and Jeremy Taylor as major voices articulating a distinctly Anglican perspective on church governance, noting Hooker ‘tried to stake out parameters between positions without digging a ditch others could not cross. Hooker placed prudence ahead of doctrinal argument.’ Taylor cited the triadic scripture, tradition and reason so central to Anglicanism and added how religious reasoning differs from mathematical and philosophical reasoning. The author notes that the cherished Reformation gift of religious reasoning is totally unmentioned in the flurry of documents calling for a new Anglican Covenant.

Papal Primacy: An Anglican Perspective

2003 ◽  
Vol 7 (33) ◽  
pp. 112-126
Author(s):  
John Hind
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Code Of Canon Law ◽  
Ecclesiastical Law ◽  
The Church

I am grateful to the Ecclesiastical Law Society and the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland for their invitation to address this theme, although I have to confess, as a non-lawyer, I do feel rather a fraud standing here. I take comfort, however, first from the fact that, albeit welcome, your invitation was unsought, and second from my understanding that the purpose of canon law is to give legal expression to the theology of the church and that the purpose of the theology of the Church (in its positive and articulated aspects) is to explain the purposes and the work of God. In other words, the ultimate point of canon law is and must be pastoral, as is well expressed by the last canon, Canon 1752, of the 1983 Code of Canon Law for the Roman Catholic Church, with its reference to ‘the salvation of souls, which in the Church must always be the supreme law’.

The Development of Canonical Jurisprudence in the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England

Ecclesiology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-325
Author(s):  
Gordon Arthur
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
The Church ◽  
Degree Of Similarity

AbstractThis paper offers a theological examination of the legal theory underlying the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church from the time of Gratian onwards, and of the Church of England since the Reformation, comparing the latter with parallel developments in English Common Law. Despite their very different contexts, structures and emphases, a surprising degree of similarity emerges, which may provide a basis for further discussion and convergence in the future.

The English Canon Law Relating to Suicide Victims

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte L Wright
Keyword(s):  
Canon Law ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Current Position ◽  
Electoral Roll ◽  
Attitudes Towards Suicide ◽  
The Law ◽  
Sound Mind ◽  
The Church

Society has historically viewed suicide with hostility and fear. For centuries this hostility was reflected in the English civil law, which condemned suicide as homicide, and in the Church's position towards suicide victims, which historically considered suicide to be a mortal sin. Under the current canon law, set out in Canon B 38, it is the duty of the minister to bury all parishioners, those who die in the parish, or those entered on the electoral roll of the parish according to the rites of the Church of England, except for (among others) those who ‘being of sound mind have laid violent hands upon themselves’. This canon has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years as society's attitudes towards suicide have become more tolerant. As a result, General Synod recently voted that this canon should be amended. This article explores the development of the law relating to suicide victims in order to understand the Church's current position. It then considers the shortcomings of the current canon law and reviews the position adopted by the Roman Catholic and Methodist churches. Finally, it examines the proposals for changing Canon B 38.

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