Tolerance

I have been wondering, as I look around these forums I am confronted in nearly every forum with the fact that a lot of people here have a massive amount of knowledge about in depth matters and lots of people are connected to uni's etc so I wondered if people in your church were devout Anglicans but had no knowledge of any of it's history or the in depth studies that are seen on here how would you react?

The Anglican church is very interlectual, or so it seems looking in from the outside, so if there were people who were 'common' and less knowledgable or even if there were people who had no interest in any of that stuff, would you still consider them true Anglicans? And, how would you relate to them and draw them deeper into the church?
Is there even a place for people who are this type of Anglican within the church?

Do you think that some people who are interested in becoming Anglican are sometimes put off by the fact that they think everything is beyond there comprehension, that nothing is simple?

 

The gospel is simple, UK Anglican. There's nothing complicated about it. God calls whomever He wills and we're saved by His grace, not by our wits.

What is truly complicated is our sin and that is what explains so many errors, divisions, etc.

 

I think a lot of it is unique to this forum. There are people here who are disappointed with the current state of Anglicanism (or with their church/province's current state), so they look to the past for answers. Then, they blame other Anglicans on the forum for things that some guys did hundreds of years ago. Honestly, I know exactly how you feel. I'm far more interested in the spiritual side of things than in 1600s history. That's just me. I'm not a lifelong Anglican, I'm no historian, and I'm not even of English descent. I have a lot to learn, but those things just aren't my focus right now. This is 2013. I'm interested in prayer life and spiritual growth, and in things that contribute to them.

So, yes...the average parish is filled with friendly, devout, wonderful people. They're usually much more fun to be around, and they strengthen the spirit like "iron sharpening iron." Anglicanism in day-to-day life is very different than internet Anglicanism. We need many more day-to-day Anglicans, not this ivory tower stuff.

 

I agree, some people are more interested in the past than in their faith today, I personally think there is a little to much history and not enough faith building.

 

Ok I agree with that, it is simple but the churches and people 'with higher learner' make it too complicated. That is one of the things which is keeping people from truely embracing church life, they don't understand whats going on.

 

I don't know about that. I see a total lack of historical knowledge in many Churches, many care more about now and seem to not remember that Christianity is thousands of years old. For me not enough are concerned about history, when I started looking at the history of Christianity I knew that I could no longer be a Protestant. There is need a healthy balance of both imho

 

What keeps people away from the truth is their own sin.

Piety and theological precision are not mutually exclusive concepts, as the history of the Church proves.

 

I agree sin is an issue for some people, but with the Anglican church in particular things are rooted to much in the past, this is fine if you like that sort of thing and I agree that there should be a place for it within the church, but for most people who live everyday lifes and aren't interested in all the history etc it stops them for joining the church and they look elsewhere for encouragement in there faith, not everyone interested in christianity has the patience to wade through a mountain of theological debate no matter how interested they may be.

I personally have known people who want to be christians but prefer the churches which are more focused on the community than on the church past. You don't have to sactrifice church doctrine and tradition to develope a more inclusive church, you just need to put it across in a way which is easier to understand for the everyday person.

 

UK Anglican I agree with your original post. One does not need to have a University degree in theology to be a Christian and if anyone tells you otherwise they have not understood the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

I'm not aware of anyone who seriously suggests that a person needs to have a university degree in theology in order to be a Christian. You're attacking a strawman.

 

I don't consider this forum to be necessarily an evangelism tool but rather a place of education and discussion. There are many outreach ministries set up to draw in and disciple curious seekers about the basics of Anglicanism which perhaps do so better than this site. Having said this, I love this site as a tool for those who are already Anglican or acquainted with Anglican principles to deepen their knowledge and perspective from an orthodox Anglican point of view. This is not milk but more of a meat and potatoes kind of a community. Evangelism is very important to be sure. But there's also something to be said about feeding those who are already part of the faith and this site does that second to none!

 

I agree, it was definitely the quality of the discussions here that made me decide to stay. AF was one of the few forums with a wide spectrum of views and yet for the most part thread topics were discussed in a calm and reasonable way. I've learned a lot here.

 

Neither am I that was not the point.

 

The point I was tryimg to make using this thread is that surely people without much education are put off the Anglican church because of it's higher level of theological education, and that surely as a church we should be making things easier for people to stay who are interested in faith but not interested in or can't understand the history and theology.

This has never been about how much education a christian ought to have, but rather how much of that education is turning people away from the Anglican church itself for something they do understand instead.

You can understand the basis of faith without understanding the theology behind it, not everyone researches everything they believe some people just know what is right.

 

I personally aren't that interested in the history of the Church, but I have started to learn about it anyway. Not because I feel obligated to, but because it's something that I feel is important. I was not scared off at all, considering the fact that I am drawn to the Anglican religion so strongly (and I mean very strongly).

I agree that you can understand the faith without the theology, but that is just as important. Balance is important.

 

Way to go Carmen....