Think on These Things: The Compass Writing Ethos
We live in a world of ill will toward others. We easily fall into it. A sharp word, a bitter response, the sense of offense so deep that nothing can mend it. Read the newspapers, watch cable news, or log onto social media: these outlets thrive on that which is unholy, unjust, impure, ugly, scandalous, and downright vicious.
The world assigns us various diametrically opposed identities, causing us to see each other as enemies. Saturated by an us-versus-them society, it’s easy for the Church to fall into the same trap. If this is what we consume, how can we help but follow suit? As the old saying goes, “You are what you eat.”
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As Christians, how can we celebrate the goodness of our Creator if we feed our minds on the aspects of the world humans have made ugly? It’s impossible. For this reason, St. Paul encourages the church in Philippi:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8
This command runs directly opposite to the wills of politicians and modern media. That’s why, amid the often contentious online discourse among Christians, we at Anglican Compass want to strike a different tone.
Remembering Who We Are
It’s easy for the world’s problems to get in the way of remembering who we really are. We forget that, as Christians, we have been reconciled to God through Christ and, therefore, reconciled to one another. We, who were estranged from God by sin—that is to say, all of us—have been united to him and each other in Christ.
St. Paul says that the public image of the Church should be of a gentle, gracious community (Philippians 4:5). The English Standard Version uses “let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” However, the Revised English Bible may translate Paul’s decree best:
Be known to everyone for your consideration of others.
This graciousness to those around us means we should not be quarrelsome amongst ourselves. St. Paul later warns Timothy,
Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.
2 Timothy 2:23-25a
The endless straw-manning, name-calling, and bickering we see in the world are not a representation of God’s good and beautiful world.
Think On These Things
So, as Christians, how can we celebrate the goodness of the Creator if we feed our minds only on the aspects of the world humans have made ugly? Instead, according to St. Paul, we must “think about [or on] these things”—to fill our minds instead with
whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise…
At Anglican Compass, these elements shape the ethos of the articles and books we put together. We want to highlight what in the Anglican tradition is honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. Below are some of the ways this is expressed in our ministry.
True
We seek at all times to be centered on biblical truth. We look to the scriptures as our foremost authority and our forebears’ guidance in its interpretation. We are unapologetic in promoting orthodoxy, holding firmly to scripture and the creeds. We seek to embody the beliefs which have held up Anglicans for centuries:
Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.
Article VI, The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion
Honorable
At the same time, we consciously pursue the high road in discourse. This goes back to our long-time goal of navigating the Anglican tradition with “clarity and charity.” We refuse to descend into polemics. As our social media coordinator, Blake Oliver, recently wrote,
Though we’re not afraid to journey into the theological weeds at Anglican Compass, we purposefully try not to wade into the controversies that divide us…we try to be welcoming, open, and neighborly.
We want our articles to avoid the rancor common in online discourse. We avoid being pejorative or polemical. As the medieval priest and philosopher St. John Cantius is oft-credited with saying,
Fight all error, but do it with good humor, patience, kindness, and love. Harshness will damage your own soul and spoil the best cause.
Just
We love to spotlight ministries around the ACNA that serve those in need. This includes articles on addressing injustice in society, advocating for the persecuted church, and helping those affected by natural disasters. It also includes those needing love and the gospel in situations as diverse as prisons and nursing homes.
Pure
Likewise, we love to spotlight those things that preserve and reflect God’s glory and his thumbprint on the world. To that end, we highlight ministries and write focuses on things as diverse as preserving the natural world and the sanctity of human life.
Lovely
As stained by the fall as the world is, the thumbprint of its maker still exists. To borrow from Tennyson’s Ulysses: “Tho’ much is taken, much abides.” In our modern era of Anglican Compass, we’ve consciously focused on more things that are lovely—in other words (and in other translations), beautiful. This is why we have devoted an entire site section to arts and culture. This has resulted in:
- articles on how churches are implementing art and beauty as part of the church ministries and using art to spread knowledge and truth.
- our Hymn Guides to notable songs of praise,
- reflections on poetry in the Anglican tradition, such as the works of George Herbert, and
- articles on Anglican thinkers who have influenced how we approach art and creativity, such as C.S. Lewis.
Commendable
We also love to highlight resources that are helpful to living out the Christian life: as an individual, as a family, and as a church. Therefore, we’ve begun to write reviews of books and other resources that help the Church or individuals live out the faith more richly. Likewise, we’ve sought the same commendability in the ever-growing number of volumes we’ve published ourselves.
Excellent
In excellence, we try to lead by example. One way we do this is to pay great attention to beauty and clarity in writing. We aim for simplicity, understandability, and good cadence. Two points made by C.S. Lewis come to mind when writing and editing our pieces:
Take great pains to be clear. Remember that though you start by knowing what you mean, the reader doesn’t…
C.S. Lewis, Letter to Thomasine, December 14, 1959, in On Writing (and Writers), pg. 4
[E]very thought can be expressed in a number of different ways: and style is the art of expressing a given though tin the most beautiful words and rhythms of words. For instance, a man might say, “When the constellations which appear at early morning joined in musical exercises and the angelic spirits loudly testified to their satisfaction.” Expressing exactly the same thought, the Authorized [King James] Version says, “When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Thus by the power of style, what was nonsense becomes ineffably beautiful.
C.S. Lewis, “Letter to Arthur Greeves, August 4, 1917,” in On Writing (and Writers), pp. 9-10
This means we consciously avoid grandiose phrasing (Anglicans who read much from previous centuries or come from academia tend to err in that direction). As outlined in our writing guidelines, we avoid a lot of superfluous capitalization, complicated sentences, and long paragraphs. We maintain high standards for grammar and punctuation so we can get ideas across without confusion. To that end, we also define terms that those outside the Anglican world (or even inside it!) might not understand. Yet, we seek to do so with writing that is fluid, rhythmic, and graceful.
Worthy of Praise
Finally, we love to highlight the great saints of the past who have come before and, in doing so, follow in their footsteps. These fellow sinners saved by grace have been examples of the way of the Christian for many years. Therefore, we highlight them, often on their commemorations in the liturgical calendar, such as esteemed saints Aidan, Boniface, Francis, Patrick, Nicholas, and Oswald, Anglican divines such as Lancelot Andrewes, E.B. Pusey, Charles Simeon, and many others.
It is standing on the shoulders of these Christians of the past who now worship Christ in glory that we strive forward as a ministry, hoping, in the spirit of St. Paul’s command, to do so with an ethos of grace.
Photo by scisettialfio from Getty Images, courtesy of Canva.
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