Ritualism
1172310
223569738
2008-07-04T17:44:16Z
Lightbot
7178666
Units/dates/other
:''this article is on the Anglican church in particular. See [[orthopraxis]] for ritualism in general.''
{{Anglican Portal}}
'''Ritualism''', in the history of [[Christianity]], refers an emphasis on the [[ritual]]s and ceremony of the church, in particular of [[Holy Communion]].
[[Image:BC St. Ignatius apse window 3.jpg|right|thumb|Image of a [[thurible]] in a stained glass window, St. Ignatius Church, [[Chestnut Hill]], [[Massachusetts|MA]]]]
In the [[Church of England|Anglican church]] the role of ritual became a subject of great, often heated, debate in the nineteenth century, a debate that was associated with struggles between [[High Church]] and [[Low Church]] movements. Opponents of Ritualism considered that it privileged the '''actions''' of the ritual over the '''meanings''' that are meant to be conveyed by it. Supporters believed that a renewed emphasis on ritual was necessary to counter the increasing [[secularisation]] of the church and laity.
== Defining Ritualism in the Church of England and the arguments generated by it ==
In [[Anglicanism]], the term "ritualist" is controversial (i.e. rejected by some of those to whom it is applied) and often used to describe the second generation of the [[Oxford Movement]]/[[Anglo-Catholicism|Anglo-Catholic]]/[[High Church]] revival of the 19th century which sought to introduce into the [[Church of England]] a range of [[Catholic]] [[liturgical]] practices. The term is also used to describe those who follow in their tradition.
When trying to decipher the argument about Ritualism in the [[Church of England]], it is worth remembering that it is partly shaped by opposing (and often unannounced) attitudes towards the concept of ''[[sola scriptura]]'' and the nature of the authority of the [[Bible]] for Christians.
==== Common arguments used by some Anglicans in favour of Ritualism ====
Those who '''support''' the Ritualist outlook in the Church of England have often argued that the adoption of key elements of [[Catholic]] ritual
* gives liturgical expression to the [[Ecclesiology|ecclesiological]] belief that the [[Church of England]] is more [[Catholic]] than [[Protestant]];
* gives liturgical expression to a belief in the [[Real Presence]] and its concommitant that the [[Eucharist]] is the most important act of Church worship and should be the norm;
* is the most effective vehicle for giving expression to the worship of [[heaven]] as it is described in the [[Book of Revelation]] in which the use of white robes and [[incense]] in a setting of considerable beauty is described;
* is a liturgical expression of the story in the [[Gospel of Matthew]] of the response of the [[Magi]] to the birth of [[Jesus]] who brought gifts of [[gold]], [[frankincense]], and [[myrrh]] as an act of [[adoration]];
* enables worshippers to use all of their senses in [[worship]] - worship with the whole person, not just the mind;
* is "[[Incarnation (Christianity)|incarnation]]al" - by placing an emphasis on liturgical action and physical objects, it draws attention to the importance that Christians should attach to the fact that they believe that, in [[Jesus]], "the Word became flesh" ({{bibleverse||John|1}}): [[matter|material]] things are part of what God makes and saves, and not repudiated by Him;
* is the most effective form of [[worship]] for cultures that are either highly visual or in which [[literacy]] rates are low;
* is beautiful and an expression of the human response to God that calls on humans to offer their best in worship - a way of expressing the value ("worth") that they place on God: worship is, [[etymologically]], "worth-ship".
==== Common arguments used by some Anglicans against Ritualism ====
[[Image:John Charles Ryle.png|thumb|150px|[[John Charles Ryle|Bishop Ryle of Liverpool]] - a leading critic of Ritualism [http://www.churchsociety.org/publications/tracts/CAT004_RyleRitualism.pdf] - by [[Carlo Pellegrini]], 1881 (See link to his tract at the bottom of this article).]]
Those who '''oppose''' Ritualism in the [[Church of England]] have generally argued that it:
* encourages [[idolatry]] in that it encourages worshippers to focus on ritual objects and actions rather than the things they are meant to symbolise;
* constitutes an attempt to wrest the [[Church of England]] from its [[Protestant]] identity;
* constitutes a downgrading of the significance of [[preaching]] and biblical exposition in regular Christian worship;
* encourages an idolatrous attitude to the [[Eucharist]] because Ritualism is predicated on a belief in the [[Real Presence]];
* uses excessive elaborations in worship that cannot be justified on the basis of the descriptions of worship in the [[Gospels]], the [[Acts of the Apostles]], or the [[Epistles]] in the [[New Testament]];
* undermines a key [[Protestant]] belief that no human actions, even worship precisely and carefully offered, can be of any value when it comes to being [[justification (theology)|justified]] in the eyes of God: worship should be an unfussy, obedient, [[penitent]], grateful, and sponaneously joyful response to the experience of [[salvation|being saved]] by faith in [[Jesus]] - ritual and tradition are merely human inventions;
* has often impeded the understanding of the gospel by wrapping up [[Christian]] [[worship]] in indecipherable [[symbolic]] acts.
==The Ritualist controversies in the Church of England in the 19th century==
==== The origins of Ritualism in the Church of England ====
[[Image:Chasuble.jpg|thumb|A "fiddleback" chasuble, the use of which by the priest could lead to prosecution]]
The development of Ritualism in the Church of England is mainly associated with what is commonly called "Second Generation" [[Anglo-Catholicism]], i.e. the movement as it developed after [[John Henry Newman|Newman]] left the [[Church of England]] to become a [[Roman Catholic]] in 1845. It can be argued that there was a kind of inevitability to the fact that some of the leaders of [[Anglo-Catholicism]] turned their attentions to questions of [[liturgy]] and [[ritual]] and started to champion the use of [[Roman Catholic]] practices and forms of [[worship]] - although there was only a limited enthusiasm amongst Ritualists for trying to introduce the widespread use of [[Ecclesiastical Latin|Latin]] in the [[liturgy]].
[[Image:Biretta.gif|frame|left|100px|A traditional [[biretta]]]]
Where does the perception of the inevitability of the growth of this [[liturgical]] preoccupation spring from? The answer lies in the nature of the origins of the [[Oxford Movement]]. The leaders of the first generation of the [[Anglo-Catholic]] revival (e.g. [[John Henry Newman|Newman]], [[Edward Bouverie Pusey|Pusey]], and [[John Keble|Keble]]) had been primarily concerned with [[Theology|theological]] and [[Ecclesiology|ecclesiological]] questions and had little concern with questions of [[ritual]], i.e. they championed the view that the fundamental identity of the [[Church of England]] was [[Catholic]] rather than [[Reformed]] - they had not been concerned with [[liturgical]] reform and had argued that [[Anglicans]] were bound by obedience to the use of the [[Book of Common Prayer]]. ''[http://anglicanhistory.org/tracts/tract3.html Tract 3]'' of the ''[[Tracts for the Times]]'' had strenuously argued against any revision of the [[Book of Common Prayer]] and saw its use as a matter of absolute obligation. Even ''[[Tract 90]]'', which is an analysis of the ''[[39 Articles]]'' and perhaps the high water mark of the development of the first generation of [[Anglo-Catholicism]], insofar as the ritual aspects of liturgical practice is touched on by the ''[[39 Articles|Articles]]'', is far more concerned with the theological dimension of the issue than any question of altering current liturgical practice in the [[Church of England]].
However, from an ecclesiological point of view, this raised the question: "If the [[Church of England]] is truly [[Catholic]] in its identity, why does it not more visibly express this fact in its worship?" In other words, Ritualism in the late nineteenth century Church of England was, at one level, doing no more than giving [[liturgical]] expression to the theological conviction that the [[Church of England]] had sustained a fundamentally Catholic character after the [[Reformation]]. However, in some circles, this shift of focus to the question of ritual proved to be every bit as provocative as the theological assertions of the first generation of [[Anglo-Catholicism]] had been.
The clearest illustration of the shift that took place within [[Anglo-Catholicism]] from theological to liturgical questions is to be found in [[Edward Bouverie Pusey|Pusey]]'s attitude towards Ritualism. Pusey, the only pre-eminent first-generation leader of [[Anglo-Catholicism]] to survive into the second generation, had no sympathy with the preoccupation with [[ritual]]: he once famously asked, "What is a [[cope]]?", a question displaying an ignorance of [[ritual]] that no self-respecting Ritualist would dare display. However, when priests started to be prosecuted and imprisoned as a result of the [[Public Worship Regulation Act 1874]], [[Edward Bouverie Pusey|Pusey]] was quick to show his support for those who were prosecuted.
==== The early Ritualist controversies in 19th century England ====
===== "Bells and Smells": the controversial ritual practices =====
From the 1850s to the 1890s, several [[liturgical]] practices espoused by many Ritualists led to some occasional and intense local controversies - some leading to prosecutions (most notably as a result of the [[Public Worship Regulation Act 1874]]). Those considered most important by adherents of the Catholic movement were known as the "six points":
* the use of Eucharistic [[vestments]] such as the [[chasuble]], [[stole]], [[alb]] and [[Maniple (vestment)|maniple]]
* the use of a [[thurible]] and [[incense]]
* the use of "lights" (especially the practice of putting six candles on the high [[altar]])
* the use of unleavened (wafer) bread in [[Eucharist|communion]]
* eastward facing celebration of the [[Eucharist]] (when the priest celebrates facing the altar from the same side as the people, i.e. the priest faces east with the people, instead of standing at the "north side" of the "table" placed in the chancel or body of the church, as required by the 1662 Book of Common Prayer)
* making the [[sign of the cross]]
* the mixing of sacramental wine with water
Other contentious practices included:
* the use of [[Sacring-Bell|bells]] at the [[Elevation (Liturgy)|elevation]] of the [[Host (Holy Communion)|host]]
* the use of [[Catholic]] terminology such as describing the [[Eucharist]] as the "[[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]"
* the use of liturgical [[processions]]
* the decoration of churches with statues of saints, pictures of religious scenes and [[icons]]
* the veneration of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]] and the practice of the invocation of the [[saints]]
* the practice of [[Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament]]
The Ritualist movement (see [[Cambridge Camden Society]]) also played a substantial role in promoting:
* the restoration of [[chancel]]s in [[parish]] churches
* the use of robed [[choirs]] seated in the [[chancel]] accompanied by [[pipe organ]] rather than by a [[Church band]] and seated in a [[West Gallery music|west gallery]] at the back of the church.
[[Image:FatherTooth.jpeg|thumb|right|Father [[Arthur Tooth]] [[Society of the Holy Cross|SSC]] who was prosecuted for Ritualist practices]]
The prosecution and conviction of [[Arthur Tooth]] in 1876, [[Sidney Faithorn Green]] in 1879 and [[Richard William Enraght]] in 1880 are good illustrative examples of the kind of issues that could be involved in controversies caused by these liturgical practices. The prosecutions (which were often instigated by the [[Church Association]]) gave considerable impetus to the foundation and work of the [[English Church Union]]. SSC (the [[Society of the Holy Cross]]) played a crucial role in championing and developing the use of elements of proscribed [[Catholic]] [[ritual]] in [[Anglicanism]].
===== The perception of Ritualism as a threat to English identity =====
For many who opposed Ritualism, the key concern was to defend what they saw as the fundamentally [[Protestant]] identity of the [[Church of England]]. Nor was this just a matter of an [[ecclesiology|ecclesiological]] argument: for many, there was a sense that [[Catholic]] [[worship]] is somehow "unEnglish". [[Catholicism]] was deeply associated in many minds with cultural identities which, historically, many [[English people]] had commonly treated with suspicion, especially the [[Spanish people|Spanish]], the [[French people|French]], and the [[Irish people|Irish]].
For an ideological defence of this position, it was argued that [[English people|English]] identity was closely tied in with England's history as a [[Protestant]] country that, after the [[Reformation]], had played a key role in opposing [[Catholic]] powers in Continental Europe (especially [[Spain]] and then [[France]]). In the minds of such people, Protestantism was inextricably identified with anti-[[despotic]] values and Catholicism with [[autocracy]] that, in the religious arena, hid behind the "disguise" of such things as complicated rituals whose meaning deliberately lacked transparency. The opposition to Ritualism therefore had a deeply cultural and [[symbolic]] significance that extended far beyond purely [[theological]] concerns.
Ritualists themselves were often at pains to try and present the "Englishness" of the Ritual they championed by (mostly) keeping English as the language of the liturgy and reconstructing [[Anglo-Catholicism]] as a recovery of pre-[[Reformation]] Catholic forms that were specifically English: a revival of interest in the [[Sarum Rite]] (the pre-[[Reformation]] [[Catholic]] liturgy of [[Salisbury]]) was sparked off by the Ritualist movement. This tendency was also often expressed in such details as the revival in the use of the pre-Reformation [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic]] forms rather than the [[Baroque]] — the Baroque was more closely linked in the minds of many with specifically continental and [[Counter Reformation]] forms.
===== Ritualism and Christian Socialism =====
Although Ritualism had an aesthetic and ideological appeal for many in the cultural elite, and had a cognate relationship with the [[Gothic Revival]], the idea that it was inextricably linked with an inclination towards political despotism was a misapprehension. Certainly, Ritualism had an appeal for many who were politically [[conservatism|conservative]] and had supporters highly placed in the establishment (e.g. [[Charles Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax|Viscount Halifax]] and [[John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath|the 4th Marquess of Bath]]). However, the outlook of many of the Ritualist [[clergy]] themselves, many of whom inevitably operated in some of the most deprived communities in England, resulted in their becoming politically radicalised by the experience — some became ardent [[Christian Socialists]].
===== Anti-Ritualism and "muscular Christianity" =====
In the spectrum of hostility that it aroused, Ritualism also provoked in some of its opponents a reaction that saw its theatricality and its aestheticism as symptoms of "[[effeminacy]]". <ref>David Hilliard: "UnEnglish and Unmanly: Anglo-Catholicism and Homosexuality": Victorian Studies: (Winter 1982): 181–210.
</ref> A typical charge was that ritualistic clergy were "man milliners", more concerned with lace and brocade than doctrine. This reaction played a significant role in the evolution of the [[Broad Church|Broad]] and [[Low Church]] enthusiasm for "[[muscular Christianity]]".
==== Ritualism and the outreach of the Church of England to the unchurched urban poor ====
One of the key ideological justifications used by many of the early Ritualists, apart from the fact that it was a [[symbolic]] way of affirming their belief in the essentially [[Catholic]] nature of [[Anglicanism]], was the argument that it provided a particularly effective medium for bringing [[Christianity]] to the poorest, "[[slum]] parishes" of the [[Church of England]].
It was argued that [[ritual]] and [[aesthetic]]ally impressive [[liturgy]] did not only provide a powerful contrast to the drabness of the lives of the poor, its emphasis on [[symbol]] and action rather than word was a more effective medium for spreading [[Christian]] faith in areas with poor [[literacy]] rates than the highly cerebral and [[logocentric]] worship that was focused on the [[Book of Common Prayer]]. This argument may have had some merits, but, very often, the respect that the most successful ritualists often gained in the highly impoverished communities they went to serve was based on the fact that they had successfully expressed a genuine [[Pastoral care|pastoral]] concern for the poor amongst whom they lived.
The argument for Ritualism in [[Anglicanism]] was also based on the slightly misleading [[analogy]] with the success of the Roman Catholic Church amongst the highly impoverished [[Irish diaspora|Irish migrant communities]] in the urban areas of [[England]] - it was argued by some that ritual played a key role in the growth of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] amongst the poor. However, this argument sometimes overlooked or ignored the fact that the use of ritual probably played little more than a subsidiary role in the success of the [[Catholic Church]] in this area: its success was probably largely due to a special cultural identity that many [[Irish people|Irish]] [[migrants]] felt with the [[Roman Catholic Church]] as one of the few institutions that they encountered in [[Irish diaspora|diaspora]] that was also a key feature of life in their country of origin.
===Drawing conclusions from the Ritualist controversies in the Church of England===
[[Image:Edward King.png|thumb|left|200px|[[Edward King (English bishop)|Edward King]], [[Bishop of Lincoln]], by [[Leslie Ward]] 1890 — King was prosecuted for ritualist practices.]]
==== The legacy of the Ritualist controversies in the Church of England ====
Despite, or because of, the controversies within the Church of England concerning the Ritualists use of [[vestments]] and wafer bread, these practices became widespread, even normative, in the [[Church of England]] for much of the 20th century.
Although many members of the [[Church of England]] today would still be uncomfortable or sceptical about certain Catholic liturgical practices, they can be astonished to be told that, in the late 19th century, using [[incense]], wearing [[vestments]], putting candles on the [[altar]] and using unleavened (wafer) bread in the [[Eucharist]] could spark riots, put [[priest]]s in prison and even lead in 1888–90 to the prosecution of a bishop — [[Edward King (English bishop)|Edward King]], [[Bishop of Lincoln]]. Not all such persecutions have vanished{{Fact|date=June 2008}} . Priests in the Diocese of Sydney, Australia even today are forbidden by their archbishop from wearing the chasuble while presiding at the Eucharist on threat of having their licence revoked{{Fact|date=June 2008}}.
====Deciphering and evaluating the cultural significance of Ritualism in the Church of England====
Perhaps one reflection needs to be made in the light of that aspect of the Ritualist controversy that took it into some of the most economically marginalised communities in [[England]]: maybe it needs to be asked whether part of the appeal of Ritualism, in common with the [[Gothic Revival]] in architecture and the revival of interest in Chivalric forms in art and literature, is an essentially Romantic and nostalgic protest against the growth of industrial and machine civilisation. However, even if such a speculation is true, it cannot provide a global explanation for the phenomenon of Ritualism or its attendant controversies.
From the point of view of many of those open to persuasion by the Ritualist position, [[theologically]] speaking, there can be little doubt that Ritualism, at its best, gave expression to a profoundly [[Incarnation (Christianity)|incarnational]] theology that sought to engage the whole body and the imagination in worship — and gave a vehicle for the expression of [[paternalistic]] concern for the poor amongst its politically conservative supporters and a passionate enthusiasm for improving the lot of the powerless amongst its more politically radical supporters.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* James Bentley: ''Ritualism and Politics in Victorian Britain'': Oxford: Oxford University Press: 1978: ISBN 0-19-826714-2
* Linda Ellsworth: ''Charles Lowder and the Ritualist Movement'': London: Darlton, Longman and Todd: 1982: ISBN 0-232-51535-2
* Gary Graber: ''Ritual Legislation in the Victorian Church of England: Antecedents and Passage of the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874'': San Francisco: Mellen Research University Press: 1993: ISBN 0-7734-2216-1
* David Hilliard: "[http://anglicanhistory.org/academic/hilliard_unenglish.pdf UnEnglish and Unmanly: Anglo-Catholicism and Homosexuality]": ''Victorian Studies'': (Winter 1982): 181–210.
* Kenneth Hylson-Smith: ''High Churchmanship in the Church of England: From the Sixteenth to the Late Twentieth Centuries'': Edinburgh: T&T Clark: 1993: ISBN 0-567-09623-8
* John Shelton Reed: ''Glorious Battle: The Cultural Politics of Victorian Anglo-Catholicism'': Nashville & London: Vanderbilt University Press,: 1996: ISBN 0-8265-1274-7
* Frank Reynolds: ''Martyr of Ritualism: Father MacKonochie of St Albans, Holborn'': London: Faber and Faber: 1965.
* Martin Wellings, ''Evangelicals Embattled: Responses of Evangelicals in the Church of England to Ritualism, Darwinism and Theological Liberalism (1890–1930):'' Carlisle: Paternoster Press: 2003: ISBN 1-84227-049-4
* James Whisenant: A ''Fragile Unity: Anti-Ritualism and the Division of Anglican Evangelicalism in the Nineteenth Century'': Carlisle: Paternoster Press: 2003: ISBN 1-84227-105-9
* Nigel Yates: ''Anglican Ritualism in Victorian Britain: (1830–1910)''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999: ISBN 0-19-826989-7
== See also ==
[[Image:Monstrans.jpg|thumb|right|[[Neo-Gothic]] "solar" [[monstrance]] used for [[Benediction]].]]
*[[Anglicanism]]
*[[Anglo-Catholicism]]
*[[The Book of Common Prayer]]
*[[Cambridge Camden Society]]
*[[Christian Social Union (Church of England)|Christian Social Union]]
* The [[Church Association]]
*[[The Church of England]]
*[[Richard William Enraght]] (prosecuted for Ritualist practices)
*[[T. Pelham Dale]] (prosecuted for Ritualist practices)
*[[Percy Dearmer]]
*[[James DeKoven]]
*[[George Anthony Denison]]
*[[Robert William Radclyffe Dolling]]
*[[Charles Fuge Lowder]]
*[[Alexander Heriot Mackonochie]]
*The [[English Church Union]]
* The [[English Hymnal]]
*[[Legalism (theology)]]
*[[Liturgical Movement]]
*[[Gothic Revival]]
*[[William Augustus Mühlenberg]]
* The [[Oxford Movement]]
*[[Public Worship Regulation Act 1874]]
*[[John Purchas]]
*[[John Charles Ryle]]
*[[Society of the Holy Cross|SSC (Society of the Holy Cross)]]
*[[Arthur Tooth]] (prosecuted for Ritualist practices)
*[[Vestments controversy]]
*[[Walsingham]]
==External links==
*[http://anglicanhistory.org/ritualism/index.html Project Canterbury: Ritualism]
*[http://www.sanctaecrucis.org/ SSC Official Website]
*[http://www.churchunion.co.uk/ The Church Union Official Website]
*[http://www.anglocatholicsocialism.org/ Anglo-Catholic Socialism]
*[http://www.churchsociety.org/issues/liturgy/iss_liturgy_vestments.htm Contemporary views on ritualism as expressed by Church Society (the current form of the anti-Ritualist Church Association)]
*[http://anglicanhistory.org/misc/denison.html A contemporary view of the Ritualist controversies from one of its qualified supporters: Archdeacon Denison]
*[http://www.infed.org/christianeducation/muscular_christianity.htm Infed's take on Muscular Christianity]
*[http://www.churchsociety.org/publications/leaflets/Leaf_ScarfStole.pdf "Scarfs or Stoles?" - An Evangelical Anglican critique of the use of vestments]
*[http://www.churchsociety.org/publications/tracts/CAT004_RyleRitualism.pdf "The Teaching of the Ritualists not the Teaching of the Church of England", by John Charles Ryle critical of Ritualism]
*{{CathEncy|wstitle=Ritualists}}
[[Category:Anglo-Catholicism]]
[[Category:Ritual]]
[[Category:Anglicanism]]
[[Category:Cultural conventions]]
[[Category:History of the Church of England]]
[[Category:Religion in England]]
[[Category:Sacraments]]
[[Category:Christian liturgy, rites, and worship services]]
[[Category:Ceremonies]]
[[Category:Religious law]]
[[Category:Christian law]]
[[fr:Ritualisme (anglicanisme)]]