Faith and Practice. Frank E. Wilson

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      FAITH

      AND PRACTICE

      FAITH

      AND PRACTICE

       by the Right Reverend

      Frank E. Wilson, D.D., S.T.D.

      Copyright © 1939, 1941 by Morehouse-Barlow Co.

      Copyright © Renewed 1967 by Florence H. Gold

      Revised Edition

      Thirty-ninth printing, 2009

      Morehouse Publishing, 4775 Linglestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17112

      Morehouse Publishing, 445 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016

       Morehouse Publishing is an imprint of Church Publishing Incorporated.

       Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Wilson, Frank E. (Frank Elmer), b. 1885.

      Faith and practice / Frank E. Wilson.

      p. cm.

      Originally published: 1939

      Includes index.

      ISBN 10 : 0-8192-1082-X (paper)

      ISBN 13 : 978-0-8192-1082-1 (paper)

      1. Episcopal Church—Doctrines. 2. Anglican Communion—Doctrines. 3. Theology, Doctrinal—Popular works. I. Title.

      BX 5930.W483 1992

230’.3—dc20

92-14903

      PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD

      Since its original publication in 1939, Bishop Wilson’s Faith and Practice has been recognized as a basic classic of the teaching, worship, and life of the Episcopal Church. It is safe to say that more than a quarter of a million readers have derived accurate information, inspiration, and enjoyment from its reading.

      Now, on the occasion of renewal of the original copyright, the publisher has gone over it with care to revise it and bring it up to date. It is remarkable how little change has been required. The author was one of the most forward-looking Churchmen of his day, a leader in the movement to renew the Church and to encourage the social and ecumenical concerns that were then stirring. He anticipated many subsequent developments in these and other areas. Thus relatively little change has been necessary, and the book should continue to serve a new generation of Church people and inquirers as faithfully as in the past.

      The original edition was affectionately dedicated by the author to the clergy of the diocese of Eau Claire, whose Bishop and Shepherd he was. The publisher ventures now to re-dedicate it to the memory of Frank E. Wilson, whose faithful witness continues long after his entrance into Eternal Life.

      C.P.M.

      CONTENTS

       PREFACE

       I. WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

       II. BELIEF IN GOD

       III. REVELATION

       IV. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

       V. THE HOLY TRINITY

       VI. CREEDS AND DOCTRINE

       VII. THE INCARNATION

       VIII. THE ATONEMENT

       IX. RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION

       X. THE HOLY SPIRIT

       XI. THE CHURCH

       XII. THE USE OF PRAYER

       XIII. CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS

       XIV. HOLY BAPTISM

       XV. HOLY COMMUNION

       XVI. CONFIRMATION

       XVII. CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE

       XVIII. THE CHURCH’S MINISTRY

       XIX. CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

       XX. THE MINISTRY OF HEALING

       XXI. ETERNAL LIFE

       XXII. PARADISE

       XXIII. JUDGMENT, HELL, AND HEAVEN

       XXIV. THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

       XXV. CHRISTIAN WORSHIP

       XXVI. THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

       XXVII. CHRISTIAN MORALITY

       XXVIII. CHRISTIAN MISSIONS

       XXIX. CHRISTIAN WITNESS

       XXX. CHRISTIANITY IN PRACTICE

       INDEX

      PREFACE

      I listened one day to rather a dull speech in which the orator urged that we forget all this business of doctrine and theology, and go out to help our fellowmen. At the end of it, a college president approached me and said:

      “The students walk across our campus delighting in the flowers and shrubs which beautify the grounds. Few of them ever realize how the gardeners toil day after day, digging and planting, and weeding and watering. But if the underground work were neglected, there would be no flowers to admire.”

      True enough. The fruits of Christian living are beautiful to behold, but if the stability of the Faith were not maintained, the fruits would soon wither away.

      This book presumes to do a little digging among the roots and to uncover some of the whys and wherefores of the Christian convictions which blossom more or less luxuriantly