English Church History

889 Words2 Pages

Oppressed and stifled by the strict church rulings, ones that had no relation to actual religious obligations, the people of England began to abandon their original faiths in favor of new ones. Each faith appealed to some part of society, but ultimately could not please all of the classes, which led to the religious disarray.

The Anglican Church, or the Church if England, was the official church of England after the separation from the Roman Catholic Church in 1530. ( Black, XLVIII) The Anglican Church “from the time of the Elizabethan settlement on” (The Victorian Web), attempted to serve as a distinctive middle way between Catholicism and Puritanism, with varying degrees of success. (The Victorian Web) However, under Charles II, Puritans were purged from the church and non-Anglicans were, in the years to come, barred from holding position in Parliament as well as receiving degrees from Oxford and Cambridge.

With such dramatic changes, the Anglican Church grew vulnerable to the spiritual challenges made by other churches and soon fell into the hands of the aristocracy. (The Victorian Web) Dependent of the young aristocrats for funds, the Church grew unpopular with society which led to the disinterest in religion and the ‘growing number of urban poor.‘ (The Victorian Web)

The introduction of Evangelicalism brought about a solution to the Church’s problem. The Evangelicals “worked to restore the church and the country to a semblance of a morality” (The Victorian Web) and specifically targeted bringing the “belief and, morality of the upper class into conformity with their profession of faith.” (The Victorian Web) This ideas were exhibited in various texts which similarly argued that without true reformation of the wealth...

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Cody, David “Evangelicalism.” The Victorian Web. http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/evangel1.html 25 February 2010

Schlossberg, Herbert. “The Evangelical Movement in the Church of England.” The Victorian Web. http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/herb5.html. 25 February 2010

Everett, Glenn. “ High Church: Tractarianism.” The Victorian Web. http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/tractarian1.html. 25 February 2010

Schlossberg, Herbert. “The Tractarian Movement.” The Victorian Web. http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/herb7.html. 25 February 2010

Landow, George P. “The Broad Church Party in the Church of England.” The Victorian Web.http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/brdchrch.html.25 February2010

Landow, George P. “Tom Brown at Oxford on Muscular Christianity.” The Victorian Web. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hughes/muscular.html. 25 February 2010

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