July 11, 2006

  • the church of england existed as a separate entity back at the first council of nicea in 325 CE.  except no one was calling themselves the church of anything then, they were all Christian churches and they all considered themselves to be one body. this is why the council of nicea was formed - there were slight-to-large differences in doctrine creeping up (think a game of telephone dealing with complex theological issues spread from constantinople and extending to the celtic isles (modern day ireland/scotland/england)... we know from extant records that the celtic church, the church of england, had a presence at that council in 325CE.


    fast forward 800 years, to when the orthodox churches split from the church centered around rome, and this is when the roman catholic church was formed , not by the "direct word of God" any more than the celtic churches or the orthodox churches or the churches in africa... the split was 50% at least political, since rome felt it could better represent the western churches, and wanted the secular power it had amassed to be reflected in its ecclesiastical power.  the excuse was a portion of the nicene creed that read that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son" which raised an entire theological battle about the composition of the Trinity.


    fast forward another 400 years, to the 1500s and the reign of henry viii... he was a roman catholic, and wanted to divorce, but the church in rome said no.  so he approached the then archbishop of canterbury and said he would give the celtic church the primacy in his country, make it the Church of England, so if they would grant him a decree of divorce.  sadly, the archbishop caved to political ambition, and that is how the celtic church became the Church of England.  later politics would divide it into the Church of Ireland, the Church of Scotland, and the  Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America, and colonial aggression would bring the Anglican church into India and Africa and Canada.  now the anglican church has 38 provinces associated with it, of which the Episcopal church is one....


    long answer, but an essential one, to the question about the origin of the church of england as it relates to henry viii > all he did was give primacy in his country to a church that already existed....