Christianity · branch
Anglicanism
Deliberately broad: scripture, tradition and reason weighted together, with liturgical form holding together people who disagree doctrinally. Has the widest dispersions of any Christian body here, and that width is the tradition rather than a defect in the data.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional actFurther toward "an intentional act" than most traditions in the matrix.
- C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgmentFurther toward "one life, then judgment" than most traditions in the matrix.
- C3 The human conditionleaning fallen and in need of rescueFurther toward "fallen and in need of rescue" than most traditions in the matrix.
- D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodleaning given as graceFurther toward "given as grace" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly existsThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.98 | 0.06 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | a personal being one can addressThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.92 | 0.08 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | strictly oneThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.12 | 0.09 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | between wholly beyond the world and fully present within itThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.55 | 0.15 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | leaning revealed and fixedThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.32 | 0.18 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | between literal and binding and metaphorical, or no text at allThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.48 | 0.20 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | between clergy and tradition decide and individual conscience decidesThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.42 | 0.18 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | continues in some formThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.94 | 0.08 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | one life, then judgmentThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.03 | 0.04 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | leaning fallen and in need of rescueThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.30 | 0.18 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | leaning given as graceThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.28 | 0.18 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | leaning essential and prescribedThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.20 | 0.15 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | between to be disciplined and to be celebratedThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.48 | 0.18 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | between one true path and many valid pathsThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.48 | 0.22 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | an intentional actThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.05 | 0.06 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | between a people, inherited and an individual choiceThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.55 | 0.16 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacredThirty-Nine Articles (1571) and the Book of Common Prayer | 0.45 | 0.16 |
Further reading
- Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity — The scripture–tradition–reason settlement that produces the wide B-group dispersions.
- The Book of Common Prayer (1662) — Common prayer as the actual unit of unity, rather than common doctrine.
Compared with
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.