Question. I was brought up in the Anglican church in Australia but have come to believe that salvation is a free gift. Around the middle of last year, I also came to believe that the Calvinism taught in many Anglican churches is wrong. Now I am coming away from that, and I am trying to understand more deeply why it is wrong and whether maybe it’s Satanic like some people say. I think it comes down to the fact that perseverance of the saints is a works-based assurance.
Do you have any resources about what the Anglican church teaches? It’s like they just teach what they do as though it’s Christianity, but now I’ve looked into Calvinism, and many Anglican ministers are openly Calvinistic. I am still attending this Calvinistic church but wanting to move.
Answer. I do not believe we have many resources on Anglicanism in particular. You should search our site for specific names. However, I can say that one of our favorite commentators is Leon Morris, an Australian Anglican NT scholar. He was a moderate Calvinist, I think, but came very close to Free Grace views in some of his books. (e.g., Jesus is the Christ: Studies in the Theology of John).
There are other Anglicans who, while not Free Grace, were at least Free Grace friendly in some of their conclusions. I’m thinking of C. Fitzsimons Allison, Paul F. M. Zahl, and Robert Farrar Capon.
I’m planning on writing a series of articles on each of those men soon.
