WCF and Anglicanism

[Quatchu]

If the WCF was commissioned by the Anglican Church, then why is it not the confession of that denomination? In fact I have come across a Anglican Church that adheres to the Westminster Standards.

 

[Jash Comstock]

Remember, the WCF was not commissioned by the Church of England proper, rather by the "Westminster Assembly", a group of reformers within the Church of England. So from the outset, the WCF has almost been at odds with Anglicanism proper. True, there are a few Reformed Anglicans today, but most of today's church stems from the rest of Anglicanism that the Westminster Assembly was trying to reform.

 

[NaphtaliPress]

The Westminster Assembly was a creation of the Parliament; the church had become legally disestablished (episcopacy that is) and the business was to re-establish the English church after the best form of the reformed churches.

 

[Edward]

The Anglican Communion generally uses the Thirty-Nine Articles for its Standards.

 

[timmopussycat]

Not all of Anglican communion uses the 39 in the same way that Presbyterian micro denoms use the WCF (i.e. as singular and authoritative confessional standards). Depending on where in the AC you are, you can find the 39 ignored, politely referenced as one standard. While it may be that some national Anglican churches to hold the 39 as the fully normative standard, I can't name anybody that does.

 

[Marrow Man]

The historical events after the Westminster Assembly virtually assured that the WCF would not become a lasting document in England (execution of Charles I, Crowellian period, reinstitution of the monarchy under Charles II and the marginalization of the Puritans, etc.). It was actually the Church of Scotland's adopting of the WCF (in place of the Scottish Confession) that preserved it and has established its lasting significance.