William Laud

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Saints in Anglicanism Chancellor of Oxford In 1630 Laud was elected as Chancellor of the University of Oxford and became much more closely involved in the running of the university than many of his predecessors had been.Laud was instrumental in establishing Oxford’s Chair of Arabic, appointing Edward Pococke and took an interest in acquiring Arabic…

Saints in Anglicanism Chancellor of Oxford
In 1630 Laud was elected as Chancellor of the University of Oxford and became much more closely involved in the running of the university than many of his predecessors had been.Laud was instrumental in establishing Oxford’s Chair of Arabic, appointing Edward Pococke and took an interest in acquiring Arabic manuscripts for the Bodleian Library.He was also supportive of the study of Hebrew at the University.The chair in Hebrew had only recently been established; Laud believed that “the close study of the original Hebrew of the Old Testament would provide vital support for the Church of England in its doctrinal struggle with the Roman Catholics.” He also wanted to make Oxford, known then for “intellectual torpor” a “place for international learning.” [8] He was also interested to know more about Christian in the East and to enjoy contact with them.[9] His most significant contribution was the creation of a new set of statutes for the university, a task completed in 1636.The reforms that Laud implemented at Oxford Laud served as the fifth Chancellor of the University of Dublin between 1633 and 1645.High church policy
He was a great believer in the importance of symbol and of ceremonial and ritual being correctly performed as well as on the wearing of what he considered to be “the right vestments.” He wrote, “they are small things, but willful contempt of them, and breach of public order, is no small offense before God” and “without ceremony it is not possible to keep any order or quiet discipline.” [10] Hutton says that Laud’s description of the Eucharist leaves open the possibility of a “fully Catholic interpretation.” Laud wrote, “The Altar is the place of God ‘s presence; and the sacrament commemorates and represents (i.e.

presents again in memorial) the great sacrifice offered up by Christ himself.” [11] He believed in what he referred to as the “Beauty of holiness” and wanted to ensure that worship was majestic, and ministry properly sacerdotal.

This became known as Laudianism.[12] Laud in Cassell’s History of the United States .
Laud was a sincere Anglican and loyal Englishman, who must have been frustrated at the charges of Popery leveled against him by the Puritan element in the Church.In fact, he rejected the concept of the primacy of Rome, arguing that bishops were equal in status.[13] Some saw the political dangers of Puritanism, Laud saw the threat to the episcopacy.

However, the Puritans themselves felt threatened: the Counter-Reformation was succeeding abroad, and the Thirty Years’ War was not progressing to the advantage of the Protestants.It was inevitable that in this climate, Laud’s aggressive high church policy was seen as a sinister development.A year after Laud’s appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury, the ship Griffin left for America, carrying religious dissidents such as Anne Hutchinson , Rev.John Lothropp, and Rev.

Zechariah Symmes.
Laud’s policy was influenced by another aspect of his character: His desire to impose total uniformity on the Church.This, too, was driven by a sincere belief that this was the duty of his office, but, to those of even slightly differing views, it came as persecution.He was convinced that to remain part of the true church, in continuity with the apostolic church, it needed to adhere to the historical creeds.In 1637, William Prynne, John Bastwick, and Henry Burton were convicted of seditious libel and had their ears cropped and their cheeks branded.

Prynne reinterpreted the “SL” (“Seditious libeller”) branded on his forehead as “Stigmata Laudis.” [14] Laud’s effort to impose the Book of Common Prayer on the Scottish church following his 1633 visit led to the Bishops Wars of 1639 and 1640, which the Scots won.[15] Subsequently, the Church of Scotland would be non-episcopal.Laud though that churches without bishops lay outside the true church; the Catholic Church, though “corrupt was a true church of Christ” which “raised fears of a crypto-Catholic conspiracy which would make the Church of England an enemy to king and parliament alike.” [16] Trial and execution
The Long Parliament of 1640 accused him of treason and named him as a chief culprit in the Grand Remonstrance of 1641.Laud was imprisoned in the Tower of London , where he remained throughout the early stages of the English Civil War .In the spring of 1644, he was brought to trial, but it ended without being able to reach a verdict.

During the proceeding, he was accused of having changed Charles’ coronation oath so as to “deny parliament a role in the making of the law.” [17] The parliament took up the issue, and eventually passed a bill of attainder under which he was beheaded on January, 10 1645 on Tower Hill, notwithstanding being granted a royal pardon.Laud requested that his execution be by beheading, not by hanging.[18] He preached a sermon from the scaffold.Until 1660, the Church of England had no bishops and the liturgy that laud loved was suspended.Podmore comments that if this period had lasted longer, the Church of England’s “Episcopal succession might have been extinguished.” [19] He believed that God had ordained bishops and that while human law could change what is incidental to their calling, the calling itself is ” jure divino ” and “cannot be taken away.” [20]
The famous pun “give great praise to the Lord, and little laud to the devil” is a warning to Charles attributed to the official court jester or “fool” Archie Armstrong.

Laud was known to be touchy about his diminutive stature.His body was interred in All Hallows Barking.

In 1663 his body was moved to St John’s, Oxford.Legacy
William Laud is remembered in both the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with a Commemoration on January 10.The collect for the day reads:
Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, that, like your servant William Laud, we may live in your fear, die in your favor, and rest in your peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.[21]
In the nineteenth century, the Anglo-Catholic Oxford movement “adopted Laud as their patron saint.” [22] The 1940 biography by Trevor-Roper (his first book) was unsympathetic, treating Laud as a “reactionary politician” [22] Laud’s legacy is controversial; he has been praised or vilified depending on the perspective of the writer.On the one hand, he did commit excesses in his effort to impose common doctrines and a common liturgy on all Christians in the land.On the other hand, the idea that people should be free to choose their own faith and practice had hardly any support; Oliver Cromwell was equally if not more ruthless in dealing with those with whom he disagreed.
On the other hand, what Laud represented is still honored by the Church of England; it continues to honor the liturgy he loved; it continues to regard itself as part of the apostolic church and, as Laud insisted, of the Catholic Church with bishop in apostolic succession.This has enabled the Anglican Communion to become a type of ecclesiastical bridge between different traditions, such as the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches.

Laud debated with the Catholic Church but left open the possible of reconciliation.He refused to “join in the fashionable denunciations of Rome.” [23] He wrote, “I have ever wished, and heartily prayed for, the unity of the whole Church of Christ, and the peace and reconciliation of torn and divided Christendom” but he believed that this must “preserve all the foundations on religion entre.” [24] Laud was indeed conscious of how the Church of England was “between” the Catholic Church on one side, and the Separatists on the other, writing, “She professes the ancient Catholic faith, and yet the Romanists condemns her of novelty in her doctrine; she practices Church government as it hath been in use in all ages and in places where the Church of Christ hath taken any rooting, both in and ever since the apostles’ times, and yet the Separatists condemns her for anti-Christinanism in her doctrines.” [25]
The Communion that Laud played a major role in shaping has played an important and constructive role in fostering ecumenical relations and greater unity among various Christian churches.For example, some non-Anglican bodies have entered into communion with the Anglican Communion, despite having non-Anglican origins and traditions, such as the Old Catholic Church and Lutherans of the Porvoo Communion, the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church and The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada.Anglicans in India united with Methodists , Presbyterians, Congregationalists and others to form the Churches of South and North India (where some Baptists also entered the union.) Anglicans have championed ecumenical dialogue.However, they have departed from Laud in valuing unity in diversity.[26] Political offices.

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