Fr Patrick Lim

The Revisionist Impact One of the more important trends of late in anti-Anglican apologetics by Roman Catholics has been to utilise recent 「revisionist」 historical scholarship on the English Reformation. The immediate aim has been to show that the Church of England that emerged from the Elizabethan Settlement was utterly Protestant and not in theological continuity with either any pre-Reformation Catholicism or the Caroline Divines and the succeeding 「High Church」 tradition. ...

The Influence of Modernism In the course of the Eighteenth Century the Protestant and Catholic tendencies within the Church of England were joined by a third force that flowed from the skepticism of the Enlightenment. At first the Enlightenment produced English Latitudinarianism, a movement that accepted some clear Biblical fundamentals in doctrine but that argued for latitude and liberty in most matters. Gradually, as Biblical authority was subjected to a corrosive influence by the Broad Church and Modernist movements, the accepted fundamentals grew fewer and fewer in number. The result was a theological minimalism which sapped the strength of the Church of England and its daughter churches throughout the world. By the 1970s global Anglicanism was in crisis, as it moved away from the catholic and apostolic faith and towards a kind of liberal theism that was heavily influenced by secular culture. ...

A Question of Identity To ask about the Catholic identity of 「Anglicanism」 or 「Anglo-Catholicism」, as is often done, is to ask the wrong question. These two words correspond to abstractions, strictly speaking. What matters primarily is whether Anglican Churches are or have been Catholic, and to what extent. A secondary question is whether those persons known as Anglo-Catholics are in fact faithful Catholics. The answer to the first will give the answer to the second. ...

The Denver Consecrations The first bishops of the Anglican Church of North America, later named the Anglican Catholic Church (with ACNA kept as an alternate name), were consecrated on 28 January 1978 in Denver, Colorado. In Denver Charles Dale David Doren, sometime Archdeacon of the Diocese of Taejon in South Korea, was consecrated by the Rt Rev’d Albert Arthur Chambers, sometime Bishop of Springfield (Illinois) in the Episcopal Church and Acting Metropolitan of the ACNA. Joining Bishop Chambers in the consecration of Doren was the Rt Rev’d Francisco de Jesus Pagtakhan of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church. Letters of Consent and Desire for the Doren consecration were in hand from the Rt Rev’d Mark Pae (Taejon, Korea). ...

The Norman Conquest Before the coming of St. Augustine in 597, the churches in Britain had little contact with Rome. The Church of England, in fact, was left largely undisturbed until the Norman Conquest in the year 1066. A that time, William, Duke of Normandy (William the Conqueror), had his banners blessed by the Pope before he invaded England and the assumption seems to have been that William would bring the English church further within the sphere of Roman influence. Even so, the new king went on to resist papal claims of world-wide jurisdiction. When Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) demanded that King William pay homage to him as superior authority, he refused on the grounds that none of his predecessors had ever rendered homage to a pope, and that he himself had never promised to do so. In so doing, William set a precedent of independence that would expanded by later English kings. ...

The King’s Great Matter As a boy of eighteen, Henry VIII married the Spanish princess Catherine, the widow of his elder brother. It was a 「Marriage of State,」 arranged to establish a political alliance with Spain and was quite in line with the traditions of royal marriages in most countries. These were not looked upon as private matters, but instead were to be decided according to national interests. Today there is no legal or moral objection to a man marrying his brother’s widow, but in Henry’s time such a marriage was held by the Church to be within the circle of forbidden relationships: in Henry’s case the marriage was allowed by Papal dispensation – it was nothing extraordinary, for exceptions to rules could always be managed for reasons of state. ...

An International Communion By the end of the nineteenth century, English colonialism had produced daughter Churches throughout the world, including the Episcopal Church in the United States and Anglican Provinces in Africa, Australia, Canada and elsewhere. Anglicanism had become more than just the national Church of England. Anglican Orders Near the close of the nineteenth century, a number of English and French Churchmen held a series of unofficial meetings with the aim of bringing about a better understanding between the English and Roman Catholic Churches. Those meetings gave rise to a discussion about Holy Orders and the continuity of the Apostolic Ministry. In the past, there had been in the English Church a good many rebellious Puritans who were opposed to its having an Apostolic Ministry, and said much against retaining that heritage. So the question was raised: had English Churchmen been able to continue the Apostolic Ministry despite the efforts of the Puritans to do away with it? To satisfy the French Churchmen, Pope Leo XIII was asked to give his opinion on the matter. ...

Statement from the Metropolitan Concerning Church Unity The Church of Jesus Christ is 「One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.」 While on earth its unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity are imperfect, all ecclesiastical jurisdictions within the Apostolic Tradition acknowledge the Gospel imperative towards unity which springs from our Lord’s High Priestly Prayer recorded in St. John’s Gospel, in particular: 「I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.」 (John 17:20-23). ...

圣母的教义——童贞生子与诞神女 上主的母亲马利亚有许多尊号加身：圣马利亚（Saint Mary）、蒙福童贞女（the Blessed Virgin Mary）、蒙福圣母（the Blessed Mother）、世海之星（our Lady，主要存在于西方教会中）（译者注：该尊号的拉丁原文为「Stella Maris」，在英文中也翻译为「Star of the Sea」或「Star of the Ocean」）、新的夏娃（the New Eve）、天上母后（the Queen of Heaven），诸圣人之后（the Queen of the Saints），诸宗徒之后（the Queen of Apostles），诸为义致命之后（the Queen of Martyrs），凡此种种。根据第三次大公会议的定义，她即是「Theotokos」，这个词在西方教会中经常被翻译为「上帝之母」（Mother of God），也可以从字面上翻译为「怀道者/诞神女」（God-bearer）。在大众的敬虔中，也使用取材于引用自圣经的象征意向，还赋予了她这些尊号：结约之柜（Ark of the Covenant）、义德之镜（Mirror of Justice）、无刺玫瑰（Rose without thorns）、身披日头与星冠之母（the Woman clothed in the sun and stars）。 关于圣母的两个信条都是基于圣经确立的，并且也都是大公教会关于信仰的核心宣认的一部分。这两个信条中的第一个通常被称为「童贞产子」（Virgin Birth），虽然该信条更准确来说是关于上主是童贞女因圣灵降孕所生的教义。也就是说，上主奇妙地借由童贞女所生，却没有肉身上的生父（见《马太福音》1:18-23；《路加福音》1:26-35）。 以弗所会议（Ephesus）所定义的「怀道者/诞神女」（Theotokos）信条，是源自圣经，且是作为基于上主「真人与真神的合一」及圣母「上帝之母」（Mary’s maternity）这两个事实而得出的必然结论的。 Important Beliefs–Perpetual Virginity and the Assumption 重要信仰——永久童贞与升天 与「童贞产子」相比，其他关于圣母的信仰和教义的地位则次之，因为它们不是那么清楚地植根于圣经，也不是那么直接地与「道成肉身」和上主「真人与真神的合一」这两个核心事实相关。然而，圣母「终身童贞」（the Perpetual Virginity）这一观点，从公元五世纪起就几乎被普遍接受，虽然这不是一个信条，但即使是最权威的宗教改革者也相信这一点。「终身童贞」的教义就意味着新约中提到的上主的兄弟姐妹是涉及同父异母的兄弟姐妹（约瑟在早先婚姻时的子女）或堂兄弟姐妹或类似的近亲（这些人在圣经中通常被称为「兄弟」或「姐妹」）。 「终身童贞」也有着大公会议和教父们的支持，圣母曾被许多教父和类似的教会官方称为「永贞女」（ Ever-Virgin），如第五次普世大公会议，即第二次君士坦丁堡会议（Constantinople II） (记载在本次会议的决议和敕令中)，以及公元692年召开的特鲁洛会议（the Synod in Trullo）（记载在该会议的规条一，即Canon 1中）。根据著名的《利奥大卷》（Tome of Leo），圣母诞下上主的全程中是没有痛苦且童贞始终是完整的，即who bore him as she had conceived him, without loss of virginity。 ...

乘船抵推罗 1我们离了众人，开船一直行到哥士，次日到了罗底，从那里又到帕大喇。2我们遇见一只要往腓尼基去的船，就上了那只船起行。3望见塞浦路斯，就从南边行过，来到叙利亚，在推罗上岸，因为船要在那里卸货。4寻见门徒，我们在那里住了七日。门徒被圣灵感动，劝保罗不要上耶路撒冷去。5过了这几日，我们起行。众门徒和他们的妻子儿女送我们到城外，我们都跪在海岸上祈祷，6彼此辞别。我们上船，他们回家去了。 到凯撒利亚 7从推罗行到多利买，水路尽了，就问那里弟兄的安，与他们同住了一日。8次日，保罗和我们这跟从他的人同行，来到凯撒利亚，进了传道的腓利家里，与他同住；他是七个执事里的一个执事。9他有四个女儿，都是童女，能说未来的事。10我们在那里住了多日，有一个先知，名叫亚迦布，从犹太下来，11到了我们这里，就拿保罗的腰带，捆上自己的手脚，说：「圣灵说：犹太人在耶路撒冷，必要这样捆上这腰带的主人，交与外邦人手里。」12我们和那地方的人听见这话，都劝保罗不要上耶路撒冷去。13保罗回答说：「你们为什么这样痛哭，使我心里忧伤呢？我为主耶稣的名，不但被人捆绑，就是死在耶路撒冷，也是愿意的。」14我们见保罗不听劝，只得住口，但说：「愿主的旨意成就了吧。」 在耶路撒冷受母教会欢迎 15过了那些日子，我们收拾行李上耶路撒冷去。16有几个凯撒利亚的门徒和我们同行，领我们到一个老门徒家里居住。老门徒是塞浦路斯人，名叫拿孙。 17到了耶路撒冷，弟兄们欢欢喜喜地接待我们。18次日，保罗同我们去见雅各；长老们也都在那里。19保罗问了他们安，就将上帝用他传教，在外邦人中间所行的事，一一述说了。20众人听见，就赞美主，对保罗说：「兄台，你看见犹太信主的有多少万人，都是热心守律法的。21他们听见人说，你教训散住在外邦的犹太人，违背摩西，对他们说，不要给儿子行割礼，不要遵守旧规矩。22众门徒听见你来了，必要聚集，将怎样办呢？23你应当照着我们的话行！我们这里有四个人，曾许过愿。24你带他们去，与他们一同行洁净的礼，替他们捐纳费用，叫他们得以剃发。这样，众人就可知道先前所听见你的事都是虚的，并可知道你自己也是遵行律法的。25至于信主的外邦人，我们已经拟定，写信叫他们不必遵守这样的规矩，只要自己谨防祭偶像的物和血，并勒死的牲畜，与奸淫的事。」26于是，保罗带着那四个人，与他们一同行了洁净的礼，次日进圣殿去，禀报洁净的日期，何时满足，等着为他们各人献祭。 保罗被捕 保罗在圣殿内被捕 27七日将完，有从亚细亚来的犹太人看见保罗在圣殿里，就耸动了众人下手拿他，28喊叫说：「以色列人来帮助。这就是在遍处传教毁谤我们百姓和律法，并这圣地的人。他并且带了希腊人，进了圣殿，污秽了这圣地。」29他们这话是因为曾看见以弗所人特罗斐摩同保罗在城里，以为保罗带他进了圣殿。30合城都震动，百姓都跑来拿住保罗，拉他出圣殿，殿门立刻关了。31众人正要杀保罗，有人报与营里的千夫长说：「耶路撒冷合城都扰乱起来。」32千夫长急忙带几个百夫长和兵丁，跑到他们那里。众人见了千夫长和兵丁，就止住不再打保罗。33于是千夫长上前拿住保罗，吩咐用两条铁链捆锁；又问他是什么人，做的是什么事。34众人有喊叫这个的，有喊叫那个的；千夫长因为这样乱嚷，得不着实情，就吩咐人带他到营里去。35到了台阶上，众人拥拥挤挤，势甚凶猛，兵丁只得将保罗抬起来。36众人跟在后面，喊叫说：「除灭他！」 37将要入营，保罗对千夫长说：「我对你说一句话可以不可以？」他说：「你懂得希腊话吗？38你莫不是从前作乱，带领四千凶徒，往旷野去的那埃及人吗？」39保罗说：「我本是犹太人，生在基利家的大数，不是无名小城的人，求你准我对百姓说话。」40千夫长允准了。保罗就站在台阶上，向百姓摇手，百姓都静默无声。保罗便用希伯来话，对他们讲话。