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GKC
Guest
I’d fine-tune bits of this, but no real need. Except…Henry VIII.‘Protestant’ church’s in my part of the world are sometimes referred to as ‘Reformed’ rather than ‘Protestant.’ However, today people do not call themselves ‘reformers.’ In my part of the world the term ‘Protestant’ became an umbrella term for any church that did not recognize the authority of Rome for historical reasons, and came to mean ‘not a Roman Catholic’ rather than to denote a particular religious tenet. There are people in my part of the world who would call themselves ‘Protestant,’ yet have not been baptized, do not attend church and some don’t even believe in God. The main reason for this is due to the fact we live in a divided society, and people are keen to identify themselves as ‘not Roman Catholic’ and in addition, ‘not Irish but British’ as religion here is intrinsically linked with National identity.
The main difference between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church is the Pope is not head of the Church - due to the fact Henry VII made himself head of the Church. However, Henry didn’t change much else and the faith essentially remained Catholic in nature, which displeased the more radical reformers. The Creed of the Church of Ireland, which is Anglican, is called the Apostles Creed and uses the term ‘Holy Catholic Church.’ The Church of Ireland is an offshoot of the Church of England which is Anglican. Hence, there is a difference between ‘Catholic’ and ‘Roman Catholic.’ There are of course other differences but that’s the gist of it.
There is also a difference between what is termed ‘High’ church and ‘Low’ church. The ‘High’ Anglican church focuses more on sacramentality, and is therefore closer theologically to Catholicism. The ‘Low’ church focuses more on the Word, and is closer theologically to Calvinism. The ‘Low’ church emerged after the death of Henry VII when his son Edward, whose theology was closer to Calvin’s than his father, implemented more ‘reforms.’ Consequently, there is a split in the Church of England, and it can be either ‘High’ or ‘Low’ depending on which tradition they follow. The Church of Ireland is not split between ‘High’ and ‘Low,’ but is a bit of mixture in that to an extent as it is influenced by Presbyterianism - the largest Protestant denomination in Ireland - and the more traditional Anglican Church in terms of sacramentality. They would call themselves ‘Protestant’ for the reasons I have mentioned above.
GKC
