November 13, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Covenant Theology
| Tags: gospel, Biblical theology, sanctification, law and gospel, new covenant, assurance, covenant theology, covenant of grace, covenant of works, mosaic covenant, justification, sola fide, republication, reformed theology, scripture, Reformation Anglicanism, theology, Anglican Theology, MacArthur Study Bible, 1 Peter, exegesis, pastoral theology
This article exposes a serious theological error in the MacArthur Study Bible’s commentary on 1 Peter 1:2, which mistakenly imports the works-principle of the Mosaic Covenant into the New Covenant. By requiring a believer’s “promise of obedience” for covenant entrance, the note confuses law and gospel, collapses justification into sanctification, and undermines the...
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November 7, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Reformation Anglicanism
| Tags: evangelicalism, Reformation, Nicene Creed, creeds, confessions, Word and Sacrament, Anglicanism, scripture, catholicity, Carl Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, Church History, theology, Apostles Creed, Reformation Anglican Identity, Confessional Anglicanism, Protestantism, Mission Statements, Church Culture, Reformation Anglicanism, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
Many Evangelical churches replace historic creeds with corporate-style mission statements, valuing vision over confession. Drawing on Carl Trueman’s The Creedal Imperative, this post argues that every church has a creed—whether public and accountable or private and untested. Reformation Anglicans, by contrast, embrace the ancient creeds “proved by most certain warran...
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November 6, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Reformation Theology
| Tags: gospel, sanctification, law and gospel, assurance, belgic confession, heidelberg catechism, justification, lordship salvation, sola fide, Salvation, Dispensationalism, Reformation, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, reformed theology, Reformation Anglicanism, theology, Westminster Confession, R Scott Clark, John MacArthur, Heidelblog, michael horton
This article offers a pastoral response to a chart circulating on social media titled “Keeping Doctrine in Its Place,” which misclassifies Lordship Salvation as a secondary issue and, in doing so, risks confusing believers about the very heart of the gospel. Drawing on R. Scott Clark’s 25-part critique of John MacArthur’s The Gospel According to Jesus, it argues th...
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Reformation Theology
| Tags: grace, law and gospel, faith, belgic confession, heidelberg catechism, justification, lordship salvation, sola fide, solus christus, sola gratia, Trinity, Holy Spirit, Christology, Reformation, Nicene Creed, Anglican, Thirty-Nine Articles, pneumatology, R. Scott Clark, Confessional Theology, Reformation Anglicanism, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
The Nicene Creed confesses both the Son and the Holy Spirit as Lord. This article shows how Reformation Christianity upholds the one saving Lordship of the triune God, contrasting it with “Lordship Salvation,” which turns the confession “Jesus is Lord” from a declaration of Christ’s deity into a moral condition for salvation. True lordship is confessed in the gos...
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Reformation Theology
| Tags: sanctification, assurance, belgic confession, heidelberg catechism, justification, sola fide, Union with Christ, Reformation, duplex beneficium, George Hunsinger, Jonathan Edwards, dispositional soteriology, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, Protestant Reformation, reformed theology, imputed righteousness, Anglican, Thirty Nine Articles, Reformation Day, Reformation theology, Calvin, Justification by Faith, fides caritate formata, Westminster Confession, forensic justification, Reformation Anglicanism, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
This article contrasts John Calvin’s Reformation doctrine of justification by faith alone with Jonathan Edwards’s later “dispositional soteriology.” Drawing from Calvin’s Institutes (3.11) and the Reformed confessions, it shows that saving faith is receptive—accepting, receiving, and resting on Christ’s righteousness alone—while Edwards’s model redefines ...
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Liturgy
| Tags: Eucharist, Book of Common Prayer, 1662 BCP, Post-Communion Prayer, grace and gratitude, Reformation theology, Lord’s Supper, Prayer of Oblation, Anglican liturgy, Trinitarian prayer, Reformation Anglicanism, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
This reflection explores the Prayer After Communion in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (often called the Prayer of Oblation). Gospel-shaped and Trinitarian, the prayer moves from thanksgiving to Christ’s merits, to self-offering, grace, humility, and doxology. It beautifully embodies the gospel of grace and gratitude: grace first, gratitude second....
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Anglican Theology & Practice
| Tags: Anglican, Anglicanism, Reformation, Thirty-Nine Articles, Eucharist, Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, sacraments, Eucharistic Adoration, transubstantiation, Book of Common Prayer, Cranmer, Gerald Bray, Anglican Theology, Word and Sacrament, Reformation Anglicanism, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
This article examines whether the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion forbid Eucharistic adoration. Drawing on Articles 25 and 28 and Gerald Bray’s The Faith We Confess, it explains why Anglicans reject reservation, elevation, and adoration of the consecrated elements, and instead embrace Word and Sacrament as Christ’s appointed means of grace....
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Anglican Worship and Liturgy
| Tags: gospel, worship, assurance, evangelical, Prayer, Liturgy, Holy Communion, Discipleship, tradition, Reformation, Book of Common Prayer, Word and Sacrament, historic worship, church, scripture, Anglican, Cranmer, theology, repetition, formation, Reformation Anglicanism, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
Many dismiss the Book of Common Prayer’s liturgy as “mere repetition,” but repetition is what forms us in Christ. Rooted in the Reformation, Anglican worship shapes our hearts, grounds us in Scripture, and offers deeper gospel fluency than the shallow novelties of modern Evangelical worship....
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Reformation Theology
| Tags: faith, worship, assurance, sacraments, Eucharist, Holy Communion, Reformation, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, Mass, scripture, transubstantiation, Anglican, Reformation Day, English Reformation, Oxford Martyrs, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, Lord’s Supper, Cranmer, Church History, theology, Anglican History, Reformation history, Marian martyrs, Black Rubric, Martyrdom, Reformation Anglicanism, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
On Reformation Day we remember Bishop Nicholas Ridley, martyred in 1555, whose Brief Declaration of the Lord’s Supper defended the gospel against transubstantiation. Ridley taught that in Holy Communion believers truly receive Christ by the Spirit through faith — not by the bread changing into flesh — so that faith, not fear, is the way of communion....
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Reformation Anglicanism
| Tags: grace, justification, sola fide, Salvation, Reformation, Council of Trent, Christ alone, virgin Mary, Anglicanism, Protestant Reformation, ACNA, Rome, Anglican, Thirty-Nine Articles, theology, Catechism of the Catholic Church, doctrine, Mariology, Mediatrix, Co-redemptrix, Mater Populi Fidēlis, biblical gospel, GAFCON, Reformation Anglicanism, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
This article examines the Vatican’s recent doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidēlis (“Mother of the Faithful People of God”) from a Reformation Anglican perspective. While the note rejects the Marian title Co-redemptrīx, it leaves untouched Rome’s official teachings on cooperative grace and Mary’s ongoing intercessory role as Mediātrīx. Drawing on the Catechism of...
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Anglican Formularies
| Tags: grace, gospel, justification, sola fide, sola scriptura, sacraments, Salvation, Authority, Reformation, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, Roman Catholic Church, purgatory, imputed righteousness, scripture, Anglican, Reformed confession, Thirty-Nine Articles, Reformation Anglicanism, theology, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Marian doctrines, invocation of saints, relics, images, Adoration, indulgences, pardons, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
This article contrasts the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s teaching on justification with the Reformation Anglican doctrine confessed in the Thirty-Nine Articles. Whereas the Catechism presents justification as an infused, cooperative process involving grace and merit, the Articles proclaim the biblical gospel of justification by faith only—Christ’s righteousness ...
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Reformation Theology
| Tags: Thomas Cranmer, Anglican Formularies, Reformation Anglicanism, 1662 Book of Common Prayer, All Saints Day, Communion of Saints, Articles of Religion, Beatitudes, Revelation 7, Apostles Creed, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
All Saints’ Day is not a celebration of human achievement but of divine grace—the communion of sinners redeemed and united in Christ. Drawing on the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, this reflection explores how the Reformers retained and reformed the feast, freeing it from superstition and re-centering it on the grace of God in the risen Lord who alone is our Mediator and t...
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Reformation Theology
| Tags: gospel, Eucharist, Holy Communion, faith alone, grace alone, Thomas Cranmer, Book of Common Prayer, comfortable words, Anglican, Reformation Day, Reformation Anglicanism, English Reformation, Oxford Martyrs, Ashley Null, Reformation theology, Lord’s Supper, Church History, Martyrdom, All Saints Day, Archbishop of Canterbury, Real Presence, Spiritual Presence, Edward VI, Stephen Gardiner, Communion of Saints, Paramout Church, Theology of the Sacrament, Cranmer Doctrine, Anglican Worship, Sacrament of Faith, Cranmer’s Defence, Cranmer's Martyrdom, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
On this Reformation Day—the Eve of All Saints’ Day—we remember Thomas Cranmer, the English Reformer and Archbishop of Canterbury who gave the Church the Book of Common Prayer and a gospel-centered vision of the Lord’s Supper. Cranmer taught that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist—not in the bread and wine themselves, but spiritually to the faith of believer...
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Anglican History & Identity
| Tags: sola scriptura, Reformation, Book of Common Prayer, Anglicanism, Anglican Formularies, Thirty-Nine Articles, Reformation Anglicanism, Anglican identity, Ordinal, Classical Anglicanism, Elizabethan Settlement, Homilies, Anglican History, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
Anglicanism isn’t a vague nostalgia—it’s a Reformation identity anchored in Scripture and the historic formularies (Articles, 1662 BCP, Ordinal, Homilies). Here’s why Paramount Church embraces Reformation Anglicanism, articulated by our Rector, John Fonville, Director of the Center for Reformation Anglicanism....
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November 4, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Anglican Theology & Practice
| Tags: Book of Common Prayer, Anglicanism, Anglican Formularies, Reformation Anglicanism, church polity, episcopacy, Bishops, Ashley Null, Cranmer, Anglican Theology, Anglo-Catholicism, Baptist polity, esse, bene esse, apostolic succession, gospel primacy, The Center for Reformation Anglicanism
This article responds to recent criticisms of episcopacy by showing how Reformation Anglicanism distinguishes between the esse and bene esse of the church. While Anglo-Catholics treat bishops as essential to the church’s very existence, Reformation Anglicans hold that the gospel alone is the essence of the church, with qualified episcopacy serving its well-being. Rooted ...
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July 18, 2025
by John Fonville
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Category:
Reformation Theology
| Tags: sola scriptura, gospel-centered, Liturgy, Reformation, Protestant worship, Thomas Cranmer, Reformers, reformed theology, superstition, Anglican, Reformation Anglicanism, Church of England, English Reformation, Cranmer, Church Ceremonies, Church History, Worship Reform, Liturgical Practices, Ceremony, Church Edification, Christian Festivals, Gospel Clarity, Christ-Centered Worship, Justification by Faith, Gospel Proclamation, Biblical Worship, Gospel Reformation, Worship and the Gospel, Ceremonies and the Gospel, Historic Anglicanism
A concise summary of Thomas Cranmer’s reasoning for removing ceremonies that obscured the gospel or burdened consciences, while retaining those that fostered faith, order, and clarity in worship....
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March 31, 2023
by John Fonville
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Category:
Holy Week
| Tags: 1662 BCP, 1662 BCP IE, Holy Week, 1662 BCP Lectionary, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Even, Easter Day, Reformation Anglicanism
Henry Jansma has written a helpful, succinct explanation of the 1662 BCP Holy Week Lectionary. Jansma writes, "If you've never followed holy week in the 1662 BCP, you are in for an incredible experience--so many different angles from which to see our Savior's death for us." The whole week is focused on the cross culminating in the resurrection....
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March 31, 2023
by John Fonville
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Category:
A Commination
| Tags: Book of Common Prayer, Commination, Lent, Ash Wednesday, judgment, Wrath, repentance, law, confession of sin, Mercy, forgiveness, Reformation Anglicanism
A Commination or denouncing of God’s anger and judgements against sinners with certain prayers to be used on the first day of Lent and at other times as the ordinary shall appoint....
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March 31, 2023
by John Fonville
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Category:
Anglicanism
| Tags: sacraments, Liturgy, Book of Common Prayer, Anglican Formularies, Protestant Reformation, Richard Hooker, Oxford movement, GAFCON Australasia 2022, Mark Earngey, Moore Theological College, Anglican identity, Via Media, Three-legged Stool, Canterbury Tales, Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, Book of Homilies, Ordinal, John Keble, Edward Pusey, John Henry Newman, Tracts for the Times, Lambeth Conference, Reformation Anglicanism
Dr. Mark Earngey, head of Church History and Christian Doctrine at Moore Theological College, recently spoke at GAFCON Australasia 2022 answering the question, "What is an authentic approach to Anglican identity?"...
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March 31, 2023
by John Fonville
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Category:
Morning and Evening Prayer
| Tags: Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, 1662 Book of Common Prayer, Family Worship, An English Prayer Book, Daily Office, Reformation Anglicanism
An abbreviated version of Family Morning and Evening Prayer adapted from An English Prayer Book (The Church Society, 1994) and The 1662 Book of Common Prayer: International Edition (IVP Academic 2021)....
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March 31, 2023
by John Fonville
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Category:
1662 BCP
| Tags: sacraments, Sacrifice, Holy Communion, altar, table, Mass, sacerdotalism, 1662 BCP, Reformation Anglicanism, Anglican Foundations
Instead of using the word "altar," the 1662 BCP uses the word, "Table." The word, "sacrifice" is used carefully....
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July 26, 2022
by John Fonville
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Category:
Idolatry
| Tags: Idolatry, Anglican Formularies, Reformation Anglicanism, The Book of Homilies, images, Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (1571), Article 22 Of Purgatory
The homily, 'Against Peril of Idolatry,' in the Second Book of Homilies, makes four key points against the use of images, which, it says, are idols under another name. ...
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April 11, 2022
by John Fonville
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Category:
1662 BCP
| Tags: Anglican Formularies, Palm Sunday, 1662 BCP, The Sunday Next Before Easter, Reformation Anglicanism
Why does the 1662 BCP have "The Sunday Next Before Easter" rather than "Palm Sunday?"...
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November 5, 2021
by John Fonville
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Category:
Reformation Anglicanism
| Tags: justification, sola fide, solus christus, sola gratia, Reformation Anglicanism, Katherine Parr, good works
In her book, The Lamentation of a Sinner, Katherine Parr recounts her conversion to the truth of the gospel of justification by grace, through faith, in Christ alone....
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October 25, 2021
by John Fonville
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Category:
Liturgy
| Tags: Holy Communion, confession of sin, confession of sins, general confession, Reformation Anglicanism, 1552 Book of Common Prayer, 1662 Book of Common Prayer, Morning & Evening Prayer, divine service, auricular confession, priestly absolution, Liturgy
From 1552 onward, the striking thing about the daily services [in the Book of Common Prayer) was the prominent place given to the general confession of sins in corporate worship....
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October 11, 2021
by John Fonville
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Category:
Confessional Anglicanism
| Tags: Anglicanism, Oxford movement, Reformation Anglicanism, Protestant Reformation, Mark Chapman, Michael Jensen, 19th Century
Mark Chapman writes about the historical distortion of history made by the 19th century Oxford movement. ...
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October 5, 2021
by John Fonville
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Category:
Liturgy
| Tags: Liturgist, Liturgy, Reformation Anglicanism, Protestant Reformation, Thomas Cranmer, public reading of Scripture, Protestant Reformers, English Reformation, Reformation Sunday
A distinctive feature of Thomas Cranmer's reforms of the worship of the English church was the prominent place he gave to the extensive reading of Scripture. ...
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May 1, 2020
by John Fonville
| Tags: graeme goldsworthy, Reformation, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, Five Solas, Scripture alone, Reformation solas, Reformation Anglicanism, hermeneutics
Graeme Goldsworthy on the Four Reformation Solas: Grace alone, Christ alone, Scripture alone, Faith alone....
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