latitudinarian
/ˌlatɪtjuːdɪˈnɛːrɪən
/adjective
Allowing latitude in religion; showing no preference among varying creeds and forms of worship: the latitudinarian clergy of the established Church...
- Surges of fashionable liberalism such as latitudinarian complacency in the early part of the century drew the fire of much satirical scepticism.
- Like their English counterparts, American latitudinarian Anglicans, such as Alexander Garden, also shaped Enlightened Dissent.
- In specifying severe judgment, as is widely recommended, are the bishops engaged in a form of retribution for having erred in the past by latitudinarian excess?
noun
A person with a latitudinarian attitude.Wishy-washy latitudinarians that we are, the editors emphasize that each group is independent and works out whatever works best for participants....
- It is a commonplace to associate the low view of the episcopate not only with latitudinarians, but also with nineteenth-century evangelicals.
- However, the writings of latitudinarians Tillotson, Stillingfleet, and Wilkins received the most accolades.
Derivatives
latitudinarianism
- Actually, some figures of the period, such as Hans Denck and Sebastian Franck, did; but latitudinarianism was itself regarded as a heresy.
- The latitudinarianism of the incumbent rabbi was attuned to the religious outlook of the congregation's membership, for whom Orthodoxy was a matter of preference, not of practice.
- He spurns the label of ‘laxity’ for latitudinarianism and defends Anglicanism as a venerable bulwark against the encroachments and excesses of Rome.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from Latin latitudo 'breadth' (see latitude) + -arian. The term was first applied in a derogatory sense to more liberal and tolerant Anglican clerics.