Impact of the Oxford Movement on Religious Life in England - Case Study Example

Introduction The Oxford movement was a religious movement that occurred between the years 1833-1845 by clergymen from the Church of England. This wasdone as an effort to stimulate the Church of England through certain Catholic rituals and doctrines. They came from a college located in Oxford hence the name of the movement. The effects of the movement trickled down to the people of England starting from the Church of England itself and also to the Anglican Church in general. Some of the common names associated with the movement included John Newman, Richard Froude, and John Keble etc. Their influences were felt in the spiritual and doctrinal levels.1 Why the Oxford movement impacted upon religious life in England The Oxford movement brought to the forefront some of the problems within the Church of England. One of the major forces that caused the movement occurred in the year 1832 where there was the passage of the Reform Act. This Act required that ten Irish bishops be eliminated from the Church. One of the major participants of the movement was John Keble. He voiced his objections against that reform and even described it as a form of apostasy by the nation. He voiced these complaints in a Sermon at Oxford during the year 1833. Leaders within the movement were essential in reminding the people of England that there was a lot of liberalism within the Church of England. Some of the evils which they fought against included; immorality liberalism scepticism rationalism critical rationalism The leaders of the Oxford movement felt that adherents to the Anglican faith were not as devoted as they should be to the church and the clergy. Standards of worship had declined and something needed to be done in order to change this. They also felt that tradition no longer formed a central part of worship and there was a need to return to that. The movement protested against involvement of the government in matters of the Church. This was highlighted in the famous sermon of 1833. Newman asserted that the church was a holy institution and as such should be left to run its own affairs without interruptions from external bodies. He also spoke against the way the government had ruined the apostolic succession principle which required that bishops should be succeeded in a religious and not a political manner.2 Leaders of the movement were also instrumental in making the people of England realise that there were certain linkages between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. These beliefs caused the formulation of the Branch Theory in which The Orthodox, Anglicans and Roman Catholics were termed as branches of the real Catholic Church. These movement’s leaders compared some elements of the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church to prove the latter fact. They asserted that the 39 articles of their church and the Council of Trent were one and the same thing. This latter issue was propagated by Newman. The leaders of the Movement introduced the idea that the Church of England was less of a Protestant Church and more of a Roman Catholic Church. These arguments were further emphasised by the fact that the Church of England still had succession practices of priests and bishops that were quite similar to those ones in the Catholic faith. They also highlighted the fact that most of them still adhered to the Catholic sacraments. These teachings were given in a series of articles called Tracts hence the name Tractarianism. 3 The main belief behind the Tractarian movement (as it was later known) was the fact that the True and Holy Catholic Church was a real body that was bound together by spiritual unity. They were however quick to point out that the Catholic Church had been divided into various sections. Their ideas were based on the premise that there was a sort of continuity between the ancient Catholic Church and the Church of England. They asserted that the connection between the latter two faiths was not something that could be easily broken with time. There was also more emphasis on the role played by fathers and priests. They believed that the Church of England was not giving priests and fathers the opportunity to guide the church as the case should be. In light of these arguments, there was a need for communion between the earlier mentioned three branches of the church. Ways in which the Oxford movement impacted upon religious life in England The Oxford movement changed the way people in the Anglican Church practiced their faith. They paid more attention to ceremony and liturgy. Additionally, they also created religious orders for both genders. The Anglican Church placed more emphasis on the Eucharist. Similarly, there were other Catholic traditions that gained popularity within the Anglican Church. This was topped up by new practices in worship. However, these issues led to disharmony within the Anglican faith to the point of settling matters in court.4 The conflicts were propagated by the fact that most Tractarian Priests were denied the chance to get livings. Consequently, most of them relocated to the ghettos; they started speaking up against certain evils in society like the local, social and national policies prevailing at that time. This eventually led to the creation of the Christian Social Union. Some of the issues that they spoke against included; working conditions within the industrial set up fair wages renting of properties death of infants These issues were clearly highlighted by the Union and it led to some social reforms. The Union had a large following with numerous bishops. Their membership even exceeded the Catholic Crusade. The Movement also affected religion in the sense that there were many conversions of prominent persons in England and its environs. The first of these was the principle leader of the Tractarian Movement; Newman. He made numerous publications trying to link the two churches but after doing much analysis, he realized that his theories did not hold water and decided to join the Roman Catholic Church. This was the reason why the Oxford movement solicited numerous reactions and criticisms. The fact that one of their principal proponents converted to another faith caused critics to label the movement as a Romanising endeavour.5Newman was not the only one who converted. Other prominent figures that left the Anglican faith included; Thomas Allies-an Anglican Priest Edward Badeley- a lawyer Frederick Faber –a Roman Catholic priest Henry Manning –an Archbishop George Mivart –a biologist The main reason behind the conversion of Newman to Roman Catholicism was the fact that he believed all the divisions within the Christian faith had to be absorbed back into the original Church from where they came from. He traced back the ancestry of the various divisions and found that they all ended in the Roman Catholic Church. After making this realisation, Newman decided to go back to the Roman Catholic Church and began to teach the latter mentioned ideas; that all churches should eventually go back to their roots in the Catholic faith. These beliefs became very important within the Catholic faith thus leading to the ordinance of Newman into a Catholic priest. Many of his teachings put forward by the latter theologian caused thousands of people to follow them. Newman became a very unique historical character because there was no other theologian who had come up with profound teachings for establishment of their faith and at the same time quit this faith for another after citing reasons for doing so. The most important aspect of the Oxford movement was the creation of Anglo Catholicism. After the movement in the eighteen fifties, there were some few conversions to Roman Catholicism but some people still adhered to the Anglican faith after renaming it Anglo Catholicism. However, one must not under look the fact that the Oxford movement also caused certain adherents to remain firmly rooted in their faith. Some people rejected the branch theory and strongly believed that their respective faiths were the true ones. These firm convictions were present in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and even the Anglican Church. The Catholic Church declared some forty years later that the Anglican Church was not part of their group since their orders were not validated. This was put forward despite the fact that most Anglican bishops are usually consecrated through Catholic or even Orthodox routes.6 Perhaps a more positive influence created by the Tractarians was the fact that they created Sisterhoods. Sisterhoods were communities for women; they were formed in order to engrain religion into community life. This was also done in order to ascertain that people within communities were more devoted and committed to the Bible. The founders of this phenomenon were Pusey, Newman and Keble. The Sisterhoods carried out numerous charities and social works. There were some tangible benefits that came to the church as a result of the Oxford Movements. These were seen in the way the church was decorated and also in the way intonation services were conducted. The Church also started including more hymns in its worship sessions. The priests of the Church began adopting certain Roman Catholic influences such as adorning vestments. But is should be noted that these changes did not come easily. Whenever the Church of England introduced a form of practice associated with the Roman Catholic Church, there would be violent oppositions within and these would sometimes be seen in form of riots. One such incident of violence was witnessed in London during the year 1960. This violent incident occurred at St George when there was an attempt to introduce a different form of expression in the Church.7 The Oxford movement caused a lot of uproar in England even leading to court battles and legislations. These confrontations were mostly witnessed in the late nineteenth century between the fifties and nineties. At that time, there was the institution of a Public Worship Regulation Act of 1874. All cases of Anglo Catholicism were outlawed by the Act. This only served to create more conflict between church members and the rest of the governing authority. They asserted that there should be no interference by political parties. They even felt that the Supreme Court; which was the highest judicial body, could not be recognised in their eyes. They asserted that they had no moral authority to judge them. Consequently, most Anglo Catholics would be imprisoned because they did not respect the authority of the high court and did not submit to it. However in the year 1887, the government finally accepted the fact that the Anglo-Catholics had the right to form their opinions and were no longer imprisoned for disregarding the high court or the government of the day.8 The Oxford movement created the seeds of some of the Christian beliefs held in other non-Anglo Catholic faiths. For example, the idea of involving Christians in social lives and problems of the community was initiated by the Tractarians. This was especially after they fought against the evils experienced by slum dwellers hence leading to the development of slum settlements. The Christian Social Union was based upon a similar belief; that Christians should contribute to community welfare. Some of the members of the Christian Social Union in 1889 (the year of its foundation) were Henry Holland and Foss Westcott. Conclusion The Oxford movement got its name from the location of its founding members. They started the movement because they felt that the Church of England was getting complacent. They had forgotten some of their founding principles such as devotion to religion and the roles played by fathers and priests within the Church. They were also disappointed by the fact that there was too much interference by the Government of the day in the Church’s affairs. The leaders of the Movement began publishing a series of articles called the ‘Tracts’ that spoke against these evil. However, there was much resistance that eventually caused an end to the articles. Because of these articles and the strong words of the movement’s proponents, there were numerous impacts in the English religion.9 The major impact was the creation of Anglo-Catholicism which was a go-between the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church. The movement also affected the way the Anglican Church conducted its worship and also the way it went about its activities.It created Sisterhoods and some visible changes in the Church of England through decorations and vestments. Reference: Brilioth (1934): Evangelicals and the Oxford movement, London: OUP, p 202 Chadwick, O. (1983): Newman, Oxford: OUP, p 57 Church, R. (1970): The Oxford movement, Chicago: University of Chicago, p 112 Faber, G. (1974): Oxford Apostles, London: Faber & Faber, p 16 Gilley, S. (1990): Newman and his Age, London: DLT, p 33 Hylson-Smith, L. (1993): High Churchmanship in the Church of England, Edingburgh: T & T Clark, p 142 Ker, I. (1990): John Henry Newman, Oxford: OUP, p 46 Newsome, D. (1993): The Parting of Friends, Leominster; Gracewing, p 85 Rowell, G. (1983): The Vision Glorious, Oxford: OUP, p 109 Read More