Interview, Anglican Divines and Antiquity (Part II)

In Episode 5, we had the first part of our discussion with Dr. Quantin, setting the context for the Elizabethan Settlement in the sixteenth century, looking at the constructive work of the Anglican Divines as they framed the identity of the Church of England.In this episode we continue the conversation by looking at the "Descent Clause" in the Apostles Creed ("... He descended into Hell..."), which formed a surprising flash point between the Anglican Church and the puritan dissenters. Today a largely overlooked clause in a relatively non-controversial Creed, in the sixteenth century the Descent Clause helped cause a rift that tore the fabric of the English ecclesiastical scene: the puritans and dissenters sought to do away with the Descent Clause and much else in the Church of England that did not fit their new theology; opposed to them stood the indomitable Anglican Divines who sought to protect the Creed in its entirety, even in its most obscure and difficult aspects. Great debates, stirring struggles of ideas and the future of Anglicanism were all at stake and set in those years. You don't want to miss this interview!