I’m not episcopal. My background presbyterian.
The low view of Christ means that Jesus is considered to be fully man but not fully God.
The low view of Christ takes the Arian position that was anathematized at the council of Nicea. We recite the Nicean creed because of the disputes of the 325 AD.
In the modern age the low view comes through higher criticism school on the continent—where it took over the protestant seminaries after 1848. It jumped the pond for presbyterians in the 1890’s. And completed the takeover in the 1930’s;
the double speak that came out of the seminaries since then would put the communists to shame.
If you want to see how it happened in the presbyterian church—there’s a good author/pastor from the period called Gresham Machen who wrote a book called christianity and liberalism. you can read it online here.
http://www.extremetheology.com/files/MachenLiberalism.pdf
The USA was fertile ground for the higher criticism school because of the work of Issac Newton back in the 1600’s. He was a unitarian. He held to the low view of christ. He was something of a demigod in the anglo saxon world during the 18th and 19th centuries. People simply deferred to him. If the master said it. Well then it must be true. the theological boundary between the liberals and conservative founders of the USA was defined by who they thought Jesus is.
thanks for the clarification.
Here is the Anglican description of Jesus, right from the 39 Articles:
II. Of the Word or Son of God, which was made very Man.
The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, and of one substance with the Father, took Man’s nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin, of her substance: so that two whole and perfect Natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one Person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God, and very Man; who truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for actual sins of men