The difficulty of explaining “why I am an Anglican” is that there are ten thousand reasons, all amounting to one reason: that Anglicanism is true.

I could fill all my space with separate sentences, each beginning with the words, “It is the only thing that…” As, for instance:

1. It is the only thing that truly preserves both the catholicity of the ancient fathers and the Reformation doctrines of grace.
   
2. It is the only thing that holds authority and tradition in balance with Scripture, neither rejecting the past nor imprisoning itself in it.
   
3. It is the only thing that frees a man from the tyranny of denominational sectarianism while also protecting him from the excesses of unchecked ecclesiastical authority.
   
4. It is the only thing that speaks with both the reverence of antiquity and the clarity of reason, embracing mystery without forsaking understanding.
   
5. It is the only type of Christianity that maintains the breadth of the universal Church while upholding the particularity of local expression of the Western Church particularly of the British Church and Celtic spirituality.
   
6. It is the greatest attempt of a Christian Monarch to reform the National Church from within, preserving its continuity while calling it always back to its true foundation: Christ Himself.

Based on Why I am a Catholic by GK Chesterton:

The difficulty of explaining “why I am a Catholic” is that there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true. I could fill all my space with separate sentences each beginning with the words, “It is the only thing that…” As, for instance, (1) It is the only thing that really prevents a sin from being a secret. (2) It is the only thing in which the superior cannot be superior; in the sense of supercilious. (3) It is the only thing that frees a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age. (4) It is the only thing that talks as if it were the truth; as if it were a real messenger refusing to tamper with a real message. (5) It is the only type of Christianity that really contains every type of man; even the respectable man. (6) It is the only large attempt to change the world from the inside; working through wills and not laws; and so on.

From Twelve Modern Apostles and Their Creeds (1926); reprinted in The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, Vol. 3 Ignatius Press, 1990

Steve Macias

Reformed Episcopal Priest. Rector at Saint Paul’s & Headmaster at Canterbury School.

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