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Outside Anglicanism the standard understanding of the term historic episcopate〔The phrase "historic episcopate" is far more common in Anglican writings than "historical episcopate".〕 is that the ministry has descended from the Apostles by a continuous transmission, and that this is the guarantee of grace in the sacraments and the very essence (''esse'') of the Church. However, the Anglican Communion "has never officially endorsed any one particular theory of the origin of the historic episcopate, its exact relation to the apostolate, and the sense in which it should be thought of as God given, and in fact tolerates a wide variety of views on these points".〔, quoting the Anglican-Methodist Unity Commission Report 1968 p.37〕 In the sixteenth century a solid body of Anglican opinion emerged which saw the theological importance of the historic episcopate but refused to 'unchurch' those churches which did not retain it . This was questioned during the earlier part of the seventeenth century and the 1662 Act of Uniformity excluded from pastoral office in England any who lacked episcopal ordination. This was a reaction against the abolition of episcopacy during the Commonwealth period . The refusal of the Non-Jurors to swear allegiance to William III raised the question as to the nature of the Church and its relationship with the state and some theologians such as George Hickes and William Law appealed to an apostolic episcopate as its basis . This concept became part of the thought of the High Church but only came into real prominence with Newman and the Tractarians after 1833 when the possibility of Church reform and possibly disestablishment by parliamentary action became a reality. The tensions were increased by the "romanizing tendencies" of the Tractarians and later the Ritualists and Anglo-Catholics. The historic episcopate has been among the major issues in schemes for church reunion such as the Church of South India and the Anglican-Methodist Conversations of the 1960s which failed and were renewed informally in 1995 and led to a Covenant in 2003 . == From the Reformation(1533) to the Restoration(1662) == When Henry VIII broke away from the jurisdiction of Rome in 1533/4, the English Church retained the episcopal polity and apostolic succession inherent in its Catholic past; however, Protestant theology gained a certain foothold and under his successor, Edward VI what had been an administrative schism became a Protestant reformation under the guiding hand of Thomas Cranmer . Although care was taken to maintain the unbroken sequence of episcopal consecrations, particularly in the case of Matthew Parker after Elizabeth I's coming to the throne , apostolic succession was not seen as a major concern: English Reformers such as Richard Hooker rejected the Catholic position that Apostolic Succession is divinely commanded or necessary for true Christian ministry.〔"While he argues that the rank originated with the Apostles, enjoyed divine approval, and flourished throughout Christendom, he rejects the view inherent in the Catholic position that the office is divinely commanded or is a result of divine law." 〕 The preface to the ''Ordinal'' limits itself to stating historical reasons why episcopal orders are to 'be continued and reverently used in the Church of England' . The "''foreign'' Reformed () Churches" were genuine ones despite the lack of apostolic succession because they had been abandoned by their bishops at the Reformation . This view was of the reformed churches was questioned during the earlier part of the seventeenth century and the 1662 Act of Uniformity formally excluded from pastoral office in England any who lacked episcopal ordination but this was a reaction against the abolition of episcopacy in the Commonwealth period . 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Historic episcopate (Anglican views)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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