So much for my idealism

One result of my inquiry into Anglicanism is the loss of much of my idealism about the Reformation and now Anglicanism as well.

I used to see the Reformation as Protestants – good guys and Catholics – bad guys. Now I see it as Catholics – bad guys, but not all bad, and Protestants – mostly good guys, but not so great either. (No offense to my Catholic friends. I fully recognize Catholicism today is quite different from Catholicism in the 16th century.)

Experiencing Anglican worship with its ancient and medieval roots opened my eyes that even medieval Catholicism wasn’t all bad. I soon saw that the Protestants, in throwing out what was wrong with the church, threw out much that was good. And today, us Protestants still suffer from the consequences, such as impoverished worship, gravely frayed connections to our past, and divisions and fights over matters that shouldn’t divide in the first place.

So, seeing that Anglicanism rejects much of Protestant excess and practices (at least in many parishes) beautiful worship, rooted in the church’s past, I naturally transferred my idealism to Anglicanism.

Well, wouldn’t you know, studying Anglican history has now disabused me of that idealism! An Anglican on the Ship of Fools boards I frequent had in her signature something like the following: “It’s a mess, but it’s our mess!� And Anglicanism has often been a mess from the beginning. The English reformers were often guilty of the excesses of their continental brethren with their obsessive iconoclasm and papaphobia, and, yes, persecution of Catholics. In light of the abuses of the medieval Catholic Church, the excesses are understandable, but still wrong, in my humble view.

Anyway, I’m necessarily oversimplifying things here. And I don’t mean to step on any toes. My point is that I’ve lost much of my idealism about both the Protestant and English reformations.

But I still love orthodox Anglicanism. In my view, it accepts most of what is good with both Protestant and Catholic Christianity and rejects most of what is wrong with both. And it helps me to worship and be connected with the saints across the world and across time.

My current (non-Anglican) pastor likes to say that God can “hit a straight lick with a crooked stick.� And, although I don’t think Anglicanism has any monopoly on healthy orthodox Christianity, I do think God has “hit a straight lick� with the Anglican reformers and with orthodox Anglicans through the years.

But they and their church are still a mess. I just might fit right in!