What do such metaphysical concepts as Nominalism, Realism, and Voluntarism have to do with the trans movement, woke politics, and anxiety about one’s salvation?

You’ll find out on this week’s episode of Canterbury Trails, as hosts C. Jay Engel and Jared Lovell welcome back to the show Dr. Thomas Price to discuss these matters and much more.

Don’t overlook this one just because it sounds too abstract or difficult. It’s important to think through these things; and you’ll learn in this episode that you ought to have at least a rudimentary understanding of what’s going on behind the scenes. Why? Because these metaphysical concepts play into everything, including modern politics, the sacraments, the liturgy, your personal spiritual development, and your understanding of the Grace of God in the Christian life.

Dr. Tom Price is Adjunct Professor of Christian Thought at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, where he teaches Theology, Christian Ethics, and Apologetics. He also teaches Theology, Religion, Ethics, and Philosophy at several other institutions. He is ordained and has served the church in a host of teaching, preaching, and equipping engagements. Dr. Price is also one of the co-hosts of The Theology Pugcast. He resides in Connecticut with his wife and two sons. Visit him online below:

Dr. Price’s “Retrieving Babylon” talk at the 2024 Grace RE Church conference, “Shattering the Iron Crown”: https://youtu.be/gB5EbCTIR7Q?si=URAzTwzX5ZYKG67Y

Dr. Price at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary: https://www.gordonconwell.edu/faculty/adjunct/thomas-price/

Theology Pugcast: https://crwiley.com/the-theology-pugcast/

Image of Anglo-Saxon map by Hel-hama - Own work using:InkscapeSource: England and Wales at the time of the Treaty of Chippenham (AD 878). From the Atlas of European History, Earle W Dowe (d. 1946), G Bell and Sons, London, 1910 (see: File:England-878ad.jpg), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19885072

If you want to understand some Christian denominations or churches, you will likely be pointed to a systematic theology or a confession or catechism. In short, you will be given a set of propositions to compare with other systems.

Anglicanism has propositions, to be sure, but to really understand it, you have to understand the history, the unfolding of the actual, dramatic experience of the Church of England.

The Anglican Formularies—The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion; The Book of Common Prayer; The Ordinal; and The Books of Homilies—are the result of this inherited, embodied, historical, approach to theology.

C. Jay and Jared are back for another episode of Canterbury Trails, and today it’s the uniquely historical and national approach to Christian faith and life, as laid out in the Formularies, that they’ll be discussing, as the conclusion to their three-part series on Anglicanism 101.

Anglicanism is unique in that it is a national church tradition. The goal was to keep England together in a difficult time. The Formularies was not the result of a few theologians in an ivory tower hammering out fine points of doctrine. It was a project to publish a worship book and a statement of faith that declared, “this is how we worship, here in England, in these isles, and here is what we believe.”

The Book of Common Prayer, for instance, has a lot of theology, but it’s not just a statement of beliefs—it’s a course of action. And this is where Anglicanism’s historical expression of the Faith meets Christians today. For in reading through the Scriptures at home each day, and by engaging in Morning and Evening prayer, we learn that it is the rhythms of life we get into, and the things we pray for, that most shape us.

Image of Anglo-Saxon map by Hel-hama - Own work using:InkscapeSource: England and Wales at the time of the Treaty of Chippenham (AD 878). From the Atlas of European History, Earle W Dowe (d. 1946), G Bell and Sons, London, 1910 (see: File:England-878ad.jpg), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19885072

One issue that continues to divide Christians is the question of spiritual authority. All Christians agree that the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God. But what about other authoritative voices and claims within the Church? Which authorities have the right to bind the conscience? Is the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura valid, and if so, what is the proper understanding of it? What about pastors, priests, popes?

Anglicans are the third largest group of Christians in the world after Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. But many global Anglicans do not recognize the US Episcopal Church as a true church nor the Archbishop of Canterbury as a true Archbishop. How are we to understand these differences?

Is there authority to be found in the institutional church as it manifests in various denominations? And if church officials or bodies misuse their authority is serious ways, is it best to stay within our ecclesiastical institutions and work for reform? Or should we separate and form new micro-denominations? And what is the effect of all these disagreements on the unity of Christ’s body?

These are among the questions tackled by Jared Lovell and C. Jay Engel in this second installment of our Canterbury Trails series, "Anglicanism 101." And when they’re done, our hosts conclude by asking: how can we best seek Christian unity? The answer will help you to think more clearly about these matters, and how you can work toward genuine unity without compromise.

Image of Anglo-Saxon map by Hel-hama - Own work using:InkscapeSource: England and Wales at the time of the Treaty of Chippenham (AD 878). From the Atlas of European History, Earle W Dowe (d. 1946), G Bell and Sons, London, 1910 (see: File:England-878ad.jpg), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19885072