Anglican spirituality Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Anglican spirituality - Assignment Example During the reign of Henry VIII, in England was made Reformation, pretext for which was refusal of the Pope to the king to resolve the divorce with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. In response to the refusal of Pope, Henry VIII in 1534 issued the Act of Supremacy, by virtue of which the king was declared the head of the Church of England, and on the basis of which he independently issued his divorce through the British Parliament, bypassing sanctions of the Pope. Act of Supremacy confirmed the inviolability of all the Old Catholic doctrines and rituals; only head of the Church should have been changed - the place of the Pope in England took the king; episcopate was survived and became a pillar of absolutism. Thus, a new Church of England took a middle position between Catholicism and Protestantism. Anglicanism combines Catholic dogma of the saving power of the church with the Protestant doctrine of salvation by personal faith. A characteristic feature of the Church of England is i ts episcopal establishment, resembling Catholic one and claims to apostolic succession. In the area of dogmatics and ritual, the separation into two streams - the "high", gravitating towards Catholicism and the "low", Protestant dogmatics is noticeable. This feature allows the Anglican Church to enter into the ecumenical contacts with the Catholic Church, and with Protestant denominations. At the end of XIX - early XX century in England, there was quite a unique situation in the spiritual sense.