Like its predecessor, the Evangelical Movement, it was more a movement of the heart than of the head. Unlike the Clapham Sect, the Oxford men were deeply troubled by the direction of English society. They saw the reforms of the government as attacks upon the sanctity of the Church of England and they determined to resist the intrusions of the world. With the Reform Act of 1832 the balance of power in Parliament shifted away from the aristocracy and the Anglican Church into the hands of "profane politicians". The Oxford men felt that the Church of England needed to affirm that its authority did not rest on authority from the state, it came from God. Bishops of the Church were not empowered by social position but by an apostolic commission. Even if the Church were completely separated from the state, the Church of England could still claim the allegiance of

(1832)

This act shifted the balance of power in Parliament from the landed gentry to the middle class and signified a new sensitivity to democratic forces. This action meant that many of the new members of Parliament, though not members of the Church of England, wielded significant power over the Church.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, Church-of-England, ChurchRodent, history, Reform-Act[/tags]