"When men stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing; they believe in anything!" (G. K. Chesterton)

"...in the darkest hours of life, you've got to believe something specific, and that specification is the task of the creed, because, much as some people may not like it, to believe one thing is also to disbelieve another. To say yes is also to say no." ( Jaroslave Pelikan)

Anglicans accept and proclaim the historic Creeds (from the Latin credo = “I believe”) that they share with the historic Christian churches. Either the Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed is used in worship each Sunday. These creeds are ancient (4 th Century) and were developed by councils trying to heal divisions in the early Church. But they have endured as generally acceptable declarations of the Faith, and as instruments of unity.

Another of these “instruments of unity”, the Chicago Lambeth Quadrilateral, which is accepted world-wide in the Anglican Communion, provides a good, brief, summary of the general nature of the Anglican outlook on the Faith.

It is not the practice of Anglicans in general to adopt definitive declarations of the details of faith, to which all members must adhere. There is no document that must be signed to become a member! Even the Thirty-nine Articles of 1571 were not intended as a complete statement of what it means to be a Christian. They were rather meant to clarify certain specific issues that were current at that time.

Anglican practice is to recognize that, as Christians of many cultures pursue the quest for the Holy, they will have a variety of experiences. These will in turn suggest a variety of ideas about what the Holy is, and what is called for us to do. Trying to contain the Holy within a formula of words cannot reflect all of these experiences. Attempting to do so can confuse, not clarify, but it can also lead to new insights. When all believers do not share that insight, disputes can arise, which in turn become entrenched in new statements.  See, for example, the bewildering collection at www.creeds.net.  Maintaining the unity of Christ's Body, his Church, when confronted with this diversity, is a demanding discipline.  There is no body in the Anglican Communion that has the authority to prescribe what is to be “believed”, but the various provinces of the Communion do establish forms of the language of worship, which certainly imply specific understandings. Following is an attempt to write a Christian creed from Tom Harpur, a contemporary religious writer and critic:

We believe, and put our trust in God, Creator and Sustainer of all things, from the farthest-flung galaxies to the most microscopic forms of life; God is above and around and within every one of us and yet so far beyond us in transcendence that our minds cannot fathom the mystery and our only response is wonder and worship. And we believe God sent Jesus, anointing him in the power of Spirit, to declare by word and deed the gospel of personal and social liberation from the power of fear and all injustice and oppression. Though he was cruelly and unjustly murdered, God raised him from death and God's seal is set forever on Jesus' message and ministry. In him we know that God is love, and that forgiveness and acceptance are our always. In him we are called to realize God's kingdom in our own lives and in the lives of others. In him we are called to join with God in making all things new. We believe God has granted to us and to all humanity the same Spirit that was in Jesus, creating community and empowering us to be like him. We believe in a dimension of existence yet to come. We seek to build God's kingdom here, but we also look beyond to a day when wars will end and God's New Jerusalem will be revealed. We believe. God help our unbelief.

And many would say that Christianity is only partly a “head game”, that it is partly about “right belief”, but much more about “right relationship” – with God, with fellow Christians, with the world; partly about belief, but more about following the Way that Christ set before us. Basic to understanding all of these is the Anglican reliance on Scripture, tradition, and reason.

You can best find what Anglicans believe about specific issues in the context of worship, by looking into the prayer books, either the Canadian (Anglican) Book of Common Prayer or the Book of Alternative Services. For example, on marriage, the introduction and the form of the service itself contains the teaching of the Church on that sacrament.