I guess my problem with Anglicanism that bugged the heck out of me was the whole trying to prove themselves valid before the eyes of Catholicism? It seems like the Tractarians were more eager to demonstrate a kinship, a bond, a legitimate brotherhood with Catholicism than the rest of the Anglican world. There is plenty of anti-Catholic stuff to read from the Anglicans in the late 1800’s when A.C. was published. Why did Anglicans feel the need to prove themselves? And why did they feel the need to have the “Dutch Touch” in the first place?
I said this before; I think it’s pointless to explore pedigrees and lines and validity if one doesn’t agree with the theology of the Catholic or heck Orthodox Churches for that matter.
It’s viewed as I lit my torch from this guy who lit his torch from this guy and since my torch is lit like yours we’re all Catholic? There is a gulf between Anglican and Catholic spirituality I think, and depending on which faction of Anglicanism we’re talking about, the gulf can be rather thin or like a crater.
For one thing, the Old Catholics are a liberal, schismatic, screwed up bunch theologically and with their disciplines. they may have rosaries and Catholic outward trappings but they “ordain” women and are pro-gay and the rest. They’re like a slightly more conservative TEC for Utrecht. To have gained the lit torch from a heterodox clan like the Old Catholics doesn’t mean a lot to me in the grand scheme as I’ve thought it over.
For so long I’ve argued pedigree and the torch-lighting approach but it’s really the moral teachings, the theology, the polity, and unity that is the question. Is apostolic succession and laying on of hands all it takes to make a Church? I think the illicit angle is important. I guess, like I said, I’m a Cyprian sympathizer of sorts. I have a “what’s the point?” mentality with this all. The Church should be an organic whole, of one mind, one common goal, one morally focused institution, not a plethora of folks who got transmitted orders through different channels claiming sacraments are the only test of what a church is…I don’t know. That’s just my take anyway…for what it’s worth