Episcopalian Beliefs
by PTTW Staff
What do we believe? Come worship with us. We know, a non-answer, really, but even in public worship we develop our own individual understanding of worship, and of the scripture lessons, and of the meaning to everything we do.
- The Books
- The Episcopal Church is established upon the Bible. It is our backbone. We also use the BCP and an authorized Hymnal. The BCP contains directions for public worship and the Hymnal contains most of our music.
- The Three-Legged Stool
- This is a common metaphor of the Anglican way. Three legs are stable on more surfaces than a four-legged stool. We use Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. Greater theologians than us have written on this, and we're looking for appropriate quotations.
- The Sacraments
- The Episcopal Church has two "great sacraments" (BCP p. 858): Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist. Traditional sacraments are confirmation, ordination, matrimony, reconciliation, and unction (ibid.). More about sacraments can be found in An Outline of the Faith commonally called the Catechism.
- The Church as The Body of Christ
- The Church is Christ's mystical Body (Colossians 1:24 & I Corinthians 12:13-27). Christ is the head of the Church; all baptized persons are its members. The Church is called Catholic because it is intended for all people and all times (Griswold, p.7).
- One God in Three Persons - The Holy Trinity
- God is a Spirit (St. John 4:24); God is self-existent (Exodus 3:14); eternal (St. Matthew 19:17); holy (Job 4:18); almighty (St. Mark 10:27 & St. Luke 1:37); omnipresent, i.e., exists in every place (Hebrews 4:12-13). God is love (I John 4:8). There are Three Persons in one God, - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These Three Persons are co-equal in all things. "The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods, but one God." This is the doctrine of the Trinity, taught by the Church, and proved by Scripture. The Bible teaches that there is one God, but it speaks of each of the Three Persons as God, and thus declares to us their co-equal Godhead. If we could thoroughly understand the Trinity we would be as God. It is a mystery, just as the relation of our bodies, minds, and spirits is a mystery; just as the relation of matter and mind in human life is a mystery. We do not understand perfectly anything that we commonly accept and act upon. So we can hardly hope to fathom the depest things of God's life (adapted from Griswold, p.21).
