Anglicanism at its origination, and for sometime thereafter, was a deeply mature and reverent method of approach to God Almighty that emphasized the radical conversion of the heart to God through sincere repentance and true faith, and the gradual submission by grace of the entire self to his will in all things. Its preoccupation was with the interiority of matters of religion and the cultivation of a profound personal knowledge of God as he has revealed himself in Holy Scripture, his pure Word of saving truth, our means of rescue through the achievement of Jesus Christ. Anglicanism propounded a message of great joy to anxious sinners and encouraged a demeanor of gravitas before God in acknowledgment of his greatness. Delight in the heart and the careful discipline of mind and soul constitute a happy spiritual amalgam in Anglicanism. It possesses a measure of melancholy that recognizes the solemnity of the human breach with God and the need to walk circumspectly before him without extrovert display.

The manual and model of a serious and well-edified Christian character and godly life survives in the Book of Common Prayer 1662, largely crafted by Thomas Cranmer, in which celebration and modesty in the believer's devotion and bearing are beautifully maintained.

The words of the Anglican liturgy, largely derived from Holy Scripture, ring with joy and gladness in their bidding to the worthy worship of God. They encourage an exuberance of soul that does not have to attract the self-gratifying attention of others. There is revelry and reverence before God within -- the mirth of the Spirit derived from truth. The sobriety emanates from the awareness of the great Offense in the Garden of Eden and our race's perpetuation of that rebellion, and all the harm thus wrought. Catherine of Siena describes the tragedy and its effects most aptly and eloquently: "Thou sawest thy creature in thyself and didst become enamoured of him, for thou didst create him through love, and didst destine him to be such that he might taste and enjoy thy Eternal Good. I see therefore that through his sin he lost this dignity in which thou didst originally place him, and by his rebellion against thee, fell into a state of war with thy kindness, that is to say, we all became thy enemies." Anglicanism harbors a keen recognition of the reversal of man's prior condition in the favor of God and knows that heartfelt appreciation of our Redeemer can only spring from a clear understanding of the loss of our dignity and the disgrace, darkness, and misery into which we have descended. The spiritual darkness that envelopes our world and pervades human life is recognized in our Collect for Aid against Perils: Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. In our helplessness we no longer aspire to that dignity in fellowship with God forfeited by the first man and it can only be restored by the Second Man.

Anglicanism does need to present itself to the world in so-called modern ways and appropriately revised liturgy, but it must retain its vital principles in continual recognition and repetition of its foundational text bequeathed to us from the Reformation and its genuine heirs. The Prayer Book should be used and studied with zeal and regularity for there is no comparison to its theological and gospel depth as liturgy, and its dignity, loveliness, reverence, and stateliness as pastoral literature that is immensely uplifting and yet keeps us lowly before our Lord. The BCP forms the true Anglican and shapes his/her soul. Even its ancient language transports the self to an understanding and spiritual pleasure that cannot be gained elsewhere in any other manual of doctrine and devotion (include the Articles and Ordinal bound together with the Liturgy in this priceless volume).

Anglicanism needs a clear and well-defined identity that should never be diluted, distorted, or disdained by forgetfulness of our 16th century Biblical, Reformational, and Protestant roots preserved in our foundational documents. These things are to the people of God what the plays of William Shakespeare are to the theatre and culture generally -- the summit and standard of English speaking worship thus far. The Prayer Book is to be mulled and meditated over for the infinite riches in praise and prayer that it conveys. For example, slow pondering of the collects knits the Scripture passages from the Lectionary beguilingly together. They help us to articulate our own petitions to God, and the precious Litany supplies us with a breadth of supplication that no one mind before God could encompass without this saintly aid, for every ingredient of the BCP is bequeathed to us from the composition or selection of countless believing forbears in the Faith. If Cranmer is the architect of the Prayer Book its character is truly ecumenical, a composite from every significant era of the Church's history and a wide variety of saints and scholars.

Our second great lack is the habitual brooding over Holy Scripture as a Communion, a hovering over and delving into the text without hurry and distraction; without the assumption that we already understand and have mastered the content. The most lovely Collect for the Second Sunday in Advent establishes our fond and deep regard for the Word of God: Blessed Lord, who caused the holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may so hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that through patience and comfort of your holy Word, we may embrace and forever hold fast the joyful hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Sermon preparation is only swift in an emergency and even then the preaching is exercised from the fund of good things already stored up through diligent study and adequate reflection. Our congregations must come to know that whilst ministry is multifaceted, preaching is the priority of the Anglican minister and those who audit the proclamation of the Word need to be primed by that Word.

We are in danger of amnesia. We seem to have lost the capacity to ruminate over "the things of God". The evil one seems to quicken our pace of life because he knows that in our skittishness, avarice, and impatience, we will comply. Our heritage is Scriptural, Pauline, Augustinian, and Reformational and we needn't be shy about our pedigree. Sometimes it seems that Anglicanism has mislaid the hammer and lost its fire (Jeremiah 23:29). We are often excessively apologetic and cautious with truths that leap out of Scripture at us, those truths that elevate God and reduce man to the humble level he should occupy. We are so afraid of giving offence that we even withhold the offence of the truth that its opponents are quick to discover and complain about. We devise strategies that are piecemeal and tame. We concede to protest too soon. We think by muting our convictions we shall be more influential in moving others, whereas they are running rings around us and emboldened by our silence. Nothing is more desirable than our charitable relations with other Christians, but it was predictable that some Anglicans would think it to be wise to partner up with the Orthodox tradition -- the strong opponent of Augustine and the Reformation. There may be the assumption that the relationship would be transformational for Orthodoxy, but the current timidity of Anglicanism in its weaker versions is no guarantee of that prospect. The leaning to love of ceremony and sacramentalism is too prevalent in Anglicanism already.

Anglican integrity is at stake. There is spiritual sturdiness to be derived from our past and deployed in the present for the sake of our future. We are the troops for truth following brave and noble generals and giants from times before us: the amiable and courageous Thomas Cranmer and his band of brothers, James Ussher, Primate of All Ireland, Reformed theologian admired by his Roman disputants, Joseph Hall, John Davenant, Bishop of Salisbury, who ordained George Herbert to ministry, and Herbert himself who assured the Scottish Puritan Andrew Melville that they were "agreed wholly as to the nature of God", i.e. the Reformational perspective. (Marchette Chute, Two Gentlemen (George Herbert & Robert Herrick). The roll call is long and distinguished; Donne, Fulke Greville, Edmund Spenser, Philip Sidney, poets whose majestic lays supported the Reformed character of the Church of England, because Scripture, the Gospel, and the Book of Common Prayer encourage poetic response to the wonders of divine revelation communicated to a large extent in poesy. The Age of the Awakening was largely piloted by Reformational Anglicans and their legacy continued through Ryle, McNeile, McIlvaine, and into present times through a cloud of worthy and well-known witnesses.

The fires of Anglicanism currently burn low, but the coals set in place long ago are still hot, and our plea to God is that he will once again fan them into brilliant flames. We have such encouragement in our heritage which endows us richly as its heirs and we ought to pray, worship, and work with high expectation.

The Rev. Roger Salter is a frequent contributor to Virtueonline