What do Anglican's believe?
The beliefs of Anglicans can be considered quite diverse. The official standard is the Book of Common Prayer but some parts of that book are more clearly doctrinal than others.
The Catechism of the Episcopal Church in the USA summarizes the faith in question-and-answer format.
The ecumenical creeds, both Nicene
and Apostles,
are used by the Anglican Communion in its worship day by day and week by week. They are ancient and universal statements of Christian faith.
In addition, many Anglican churches follow ancient tradition and include the Athanasian Creed among their statements of faith.
The Diocese of Texas offers an 'Anglican primer' online, and you might like to look at the sections on:
Scripture,
Tradition,
and Reason in the church;
The Book of Common Prayer;
The Sacraments;
The Creeds;
and 'being Episcopalian'.
This latter section ('being Episcopalian') is directed particularly to people in the USA wondering about the Episcopal Church.
Another very important ancient statement of faith is the Chalcedonian formula, which defined the limits of Christological Orthodoxy.
The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral describes the general ecumenical principles of Anglicans.
The Thirty-Nine Articles were important at the Reformation, but are less so today.
The BBC World Service has produced a Basic Christianity web page that is well done, if not specifically Anglican.
A Beginner's Guide to the Anglican Church (also on this website.
You'll find the basics of Christian belief, Anglican understanding, what happens in church, and a brief glossary of terms. The Beginner's Guide is from St John's the Evangelist in New Zealand, but is general enough to be useful throughout the communion.
