Latitudinarians, or latitude men, were initially a group of 17th-century English theologiansclerics and academicsfrom the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
who were moderate
Anglicans (members of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
). In particular, they believed that adhering to very specific doctrines, liturgical practices, and church organizational forms, as did the
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
, was not necessary and could be harmful: "The sense that one had special instructions from God made individuals less amenable to moderation and compromise, or to reason itself."
Thus, the latitudinarians supported a broad-based (''
sensu lato'', with "laxitude") Protestantism. They were later referred to as
broad church (see also
Inclusivism
Inclusivism is one of several approaches in religious studies, anthropology, or civics to understand the relationship between different religions, societies, cultures, political factions etc. It asserts that there is beauty in the variety of di ...
).
Examples of the latitudinarian philosophy underlying the theology were found among the
Cambridge Platonists and Sir
Thomas Browne in his ''
Religio Medici''. Additionally, the term latitudinarian has been applied to ministers of the
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland.
A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...
who were educated at the Episcopal-sympathizing universities at
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...
and
StAndrews, and who broadly subscribed to the beliefs of their moderate Anglican English counterparts.
Today, latitudinarianism should not be confused with
ecumenical
Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The wo ...
movements, which seek to draw all Christian churches together, rather than seeking to de-emphasize practical doctrine. The term latitudinarian has taken on a more general meaning, indicating a personal philosophy that includes tolerance of other views, particularly, but not necessarily, on religious matters.
In the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, latitudinarianism was condemned in the 19th-century document ''
Quanta cura''.
Pope Pius IX felt that, with its emphasis on
religious liberty and the freedom to discard traditional Christian doctrines and dogmas, latitudinarianism threatened to undermine the church.
Original meaning
The latitudinarian Anglicans of the 17thcentury built on
Richard Hooker's position in ''
Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity''. Hooker (1554–1600) argues that what God cares about is the moral state of the individual soul. Aspects such as church leadership are "
things indifferent". However, the latitudinarians took a position far beyond Hooker's own and extended it to doctrinal matters.
As a positive position, the latitudinarian view held that human reason, when combined with the
Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts ...
, is a sufficient guide for the determination of truth in doctrinal contests; therefore, legal and doctrinal rulings that constrain reason and the freedom of the believer were neither necessary nor beneficial. At the time, their position was referred to as an aspect of
low church (in contrast to the
high church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originat ...
position). Later, the latitudinarian position was called
broad church.
While always officially opposed by the Anglican church, the latitudinarian philosophy was, nevertheless, dominant in 18th-century England. Because of the Hanoverian reluctance
[George I was actually born in the Germanic state of Brunswick-Luneberg, the capital of which was Hanover. He was the Elector of Hanover until his accession to the British throne in 1714 at the age of 54. Because he was not a member of the ]Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
, when he arrived, and despite becoming its head, his lack of knowledge and experience would have limited his authority to intervene in fact, if not in law. to act in church affairs, and the various groups of the religious debates being balanced against one another, the dioceses became tolerant of variation in local practice. Furthermore, after
George I of Great Britain
George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the firs ...
dismissed the
Convocation, there was very little internal Church power to either sanction or approve.
Thus, with no
Archbishop of Canterbury officially announcing it, nor Lords adopting it, latitudinarianism was the operative philosophy of the English church in the 18th century. For the 18th-century English church in the United States (which would become the
Episcopal Church after the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolu ...
), some are of the opinion that latitudinarianism was the only practical course because the nation had official pluralism, diversity of opinion, and diffusion of clerical power.
See also
*
Anglo-Catholic
*
Antinomianism
*
Bangorian Controversy
*
Liberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, also known as Liberal Theology and historically as Christian Modernism (see Catholic modernism and Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy), is a movement that interprets Christian teaching by taking into consideration ...
*
John Tillotson
References
*
{{Christian theology by tradition , Protestant
Anglicanism
Christian terminology
Anglican Churchmanship