Why and in what ways did the Oxford Movement make an impact on Essay

Why and in what ways did the Oxford Movement make an impact on religious life in England - Essay Example Their influences were felt in the spiritual and doctrinal levels.1 The Oxford movement brought to the forefront some of the problems within the Church of England. One of the major forces that caused the movement occurred in the year 1832 where there was the passage of the Reform Act. This Act required that ten Irish bishops be eliminated from the Church. One of the major participants of the movement was John Keble. He voiced his objections against that reform and even described it as a form of apostasy by the nation. He voiced these complaints in a Sermon at Oxford during the year 1833. The leaders of the Oxford movement felt that adherents to the Anglican faith were not as devoted as they should be to the church and the clergy. Standards of worship had declined and something needed to be done in order to change this. They also felt that tradition no longer formed a central part of worship and there was a need to return to that. The movement protested against involvement of the government in matters of the Church. This was highlighted in the famous sermon of 1833. Newman asserted that the church was a holy institution and as such should be left to run its own affairs without interruptions from external bodies. He also spoke against the way the government had ruined the apostolic succession principle which required that bishops should be succeeded in a religious and not a political manner.2 Leaders of the movement were also instrumental in making the people of England realise that there were certain linkages between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. These beliefs caused the formulation of the Branch Theory in which The Orthodox, Anglicans and Roman Catholics were termed as branches of the real Catholic Church. These movement’s leaders compared some elements of the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church to prove the latter fact. They asserted that the 39 articles of their church and the Council of Trent were one