Hi! Can you help me understand the Anglican Church?

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Well, there is the three legged stool thing - the balance between scripture, tradition and reason. Most thinking Anglicans I know who choose to stay Anglican for more than cultural reasons like that analogy to describe the ‘theological character’ of Anglican thought.
 
@JoyToTheWhirled

Would it be fair to describe Anglicanism (at least originally, since it has moved to other countries) as diverse Christianities (e.g., in England) that just so happen to be united in a jurisdiction of bishops in communion with each other? In other words, is it just the common communion that unites them all?

It would be like having Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, and so on all united in the USA by pastors who agree to have communion and make decisions together.

Is this a bad analogy?
 
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I think that’s already been answered for you: it’s because they don’t examine their faith vs Catholicism with a magnifying glass the way many of us do here on CAF. They are born Anglican; they stay Anglican.
 
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Vicar is a particular description of an Anglican priest, though perhaps is loosely used outside its historical origin. See wiki, VIcar, look under “Anglicanism”.
 
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Uhhhhh that’s only one way of seeing it.

I hardly think N.T. Wright is ignorant about Catholicism, for example.
 
If you mean ‘Hello, I’m an Anglican who does think in those terms’ then yes,I’m sure you do - I meant I don’t know any personally, not that they don’t exist!
 
Is N.T. Wright the average Anglican? That’s called cherry-picking. Talking about your average Joe Anglican who maybe goes to church 1-2 times per month. They aren’t sitting there investigating why they should be Catholic.
 
Yes, in practice, that is probably quite a good sketch.
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And I guess they don’t generally see the need to become Catholic, especially when people like the Bishop at the royal wedding can call Pope Francis “the Holy Father,” because they typically think they are already part of the Catholic Church?
 
But neither are Catholics. It’s the way with most religious people. You’re born into it.

So again, my question is based on Anglicanism as a fact of its existence: I don’t very well understand the rationale for it as much as I do Lutheranism, anti-Catholic fundamentalists, and so on…

And so I ask my questions to better understand it.
 
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Not necessarily. Some Anglicans think of themselves as Catholic, yes. Others go out of their way to do things to underline that they are emphatically not.
 
Just thought I’d say “Hi”.

I’ve been trying to reduce confusion, re: Anglicanism, on boards like this (and definitely including this board) for 20 years. It’s an endless task. I can see a dozen points to comment on in the thread so far. May, or may not.

Most general point to make:it’s not possible to generalize about Anglicanism. Any such attempt is, generally, going to be in error. The whole thing is, how you say, motley.
 
Ok so more and more it seems to me, because of its diversity, “Anglicanism” doesn’t really seem to represent much except that it is a loosely united group of Christians, originally in England.
 
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Quite! I often see sentences beginning with Anglicans think/do/believe… and silently add a million corollaries!
 
Catholicism was in England as early as the 3rd or 4th century, so England was very Catholic for 1200-1300 years.
King Henry VIII wanted an annulment of his first marriage. He needed a male heir.
He petitioned the Catholic Church for an annulment. I believe it actually took years before he finally received the answer that his first marriage would not be annulled. At one point, the Pope gave King Henry VIII the title of Defender of the Faith. The king helped defend the Catholic faith against Martin Luther and the beginnings of protestantism. King Henry VIII liked being Catholic and, therefore, in the beginning, the Church of
England, was still very Catholic other than the king proclaimed himself the head of the Church of England and he did not answer to the Pope. to this day, the liturgy of the Episcopal church at least, is very much like the Catholic Mass.
Under Elizabeth I and moreso under Edward VI, the Church of England became more protestant.
The wars between Catholics and Protestants was very bloody. It lasted for about 250 years. Catholics were persecuted once the protestant Anglican faith was firmly in place. You were fined if you did not attend the Anglican service on Sunday. Priests had to sneak into the country and Mass could not be in the open. Priests would be tortured and killed if caught. People who hid priests in their homes would be arrested.
King Henry VIII confiscated all of the properties and buildings, monasteries belonging to the Catholic church and gained great wealth.
In the 1800’s, Catholics were finally able to begin practicing their faith again.
 
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So I guess it would be good to ask someone like you:

Why are you Anglican, rather than Catholic?

Say, for example, if Henry VIII never did sever ties with the Holy See. Is there another Christian group you’d prefer over Catholicism?
 
Kind of. From my perspective as an Englishwoman, I know if I say I am a Christian, or that I attend church, the assumption will always be that it’s the local Anglican. It’s the default. It generally is shorthand for being a nice, decent sort of person.
 
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